Liptena fatima

Libert, Michel, 2022, Taxonomic notes on Liptena fatima (Kirby, 1890), with description of a new subspecies (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae), Metamorphosis 33 (1), pp. 79-84 : 82-83

Liptena fatima ssp. (Figs 22–23)

As early as 1924, two males of L. fatima were collected by Barns in the Semuliki Valley (Stempffer et al., 1974: 134); these authors mention only four other records in this region (Beni, Irumu), but more specimens were recently collected

2 Two specimens from Inga and Sierra Cananga in NW Angola in the Lisbon museum ( Portugal; Bivar de Souza , pers. com) .

by Robert Ducarme in several localities in NE DRC. The differences between specimens given by R. Ducarme, and those from Cameroon in CML are at the origin of this study; the differences are specified in the description, but an isolated specimen can be difficult to identify.

The difference is less between the male genitalia of the two populations, but the strongest argument for the existence of two taxa is the relatively large difference between the barcodes of a male from Cameroon and a female from Kivu [1.4% on a ML tree built with 130 sequences obtained for many species of Liptena ( Libert, 2022b: 157; 2023: 46)]. It is likely that the eastern taxon is confined to Kivu, but the great variability in the facies of specimens collected in Central Africa (see above) does not allow determining the western limit of its distribution.

It is therefore preferable to wait until the barcodes of further specimens are sequenced to name this taxon; on the map, grey circles represent localities considered 'uncertain' (approximately east of longitude 16° East).

Description & diagnosis

The most apparent difference with the nominate subspecies is the colour of the upperside, which is whiter (but not as much as in nigeriana ssp. nov.). At the base of wings, yellow is restricted to the base of the costal edge (6–7 mm), and it is often mixed with black scales that are sometimes very dense; the apical patch is slightly narrower and rarely goes beyond vein 3 and the discoidal spots are also slightly smaller. The same differences are found on the underside. Females are not different from the males.

Distribution

About forty specimens were examined; all were collected in several localities in NE DRC (Beni, Biakatu, Epulu, Makusa, Mamove, Mapimbi and Nduye), but L. fatima has not been observed in any of the high-altitude localities of the Mitumba Mountains where the mountain forest reigns. It also does not seem to be present in the forests of western Uganda east of the Albertine Rift, many of which have been extensively prospected, and the Semuliki marks the eastern limit of the species' distribution.