Liptena fatima (Kirby, 1890)

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 : 79-81

Liptena fatima (Kirby, 1890) (Figs 18–27)

Tingra fatima Kirby, 1890 . – Descriptions of new species of African Lycaenidae , chiefly from the collections of Dr. Staudinger and Mr. Henley Grose Smith. – Annals and Magazine of Natural History, 6(6): 268 [ Cameroon; illustrated in Grose-Smith, 1891 (pl. XV, Figs 8, 9)].

The original description of Liptena fatima was based on specimens from the Staudinger collection from Cameroon; the localities of collection, the number of specimens and the name of the collector were not specified.

Stempffer et al. (1974: 133) wrote that the types were probably destroyed, without designating a neotype, or a lectotype; however despite this statement, a “Typus” label has been placed next to two specimens from the Staudinger collection (a male and a female) in the MfN .

Both were collected by Preuss in western Cameroon ("Kamer. Int."); they bear a purple label characteristic of the typical material of the Staudinger collection, and therefore they can be considered as syntypes. The male is designated below as a lectotype and the female as a neallotype .

There are also some fifteen other specimens from Cameroon in this museum, at least seven of which were collected in the same area, including Barombi and Johann Albrecht Höhe Station. At least two other specimens were collected in southern Cameroon (Schultze collection; MfN); they differ from the previous ones by the slightly more extensive black apical patch on the forewings upperside.

On the other hand, the apical patch is greatly reduced in the many specimens collected in eastern Nigeria (Stempffer collection, MNHN), and the difference of facies justifies the description of the subspecies nigeriana (genitalia are similar in males from Nigeria and Cameroon).