Graphium bouyeri birketsmithi, Bollino & Bouyer, 2024

Bollino, Maurizio & Bouyer, Thierry, 2024, A new subspecies of Graphium bouyeri Cipolla, 2021 and notes on taxonomic status of Graphium biokoensis Gauthier, 1984 (Lepidoptera, Papilionidae), Faunitaxys 12 (8), pp. 1-6 : 2

Graphium bouyeri birketsmithi n. ssp.

( Fig. 1 a-d)

ZooBank:https://zoobank.org/ 9FDE243D-C59D-4672-9235-4AF6D95575BB

Holotype, ♂, Cameroun – South Province / near Lolodorf / ~ 3°14' N 10°44' E / january 2020 - m 450 / Lgt. J. Fouda - coll. M. Bollino presently in MBLI (Lecce, Italy), will be deposited in BMNH (London, United Kingdom) .

Paratype s (41 ♂, 7 ♀)

- 2 ♂, 1 ♀,Cameroun- régiondu Sud/ nearLolodorf village/ (départementde l'Océan) / ~ 3°14'N 10°44'E / V.2021 - m 450 / Lg. J. Fouda - coll. M.Bollino;

- 8 ♂, 1 ♀, Cameroun –SouthProvince /near Lolodorf / ~ 3°14'N 10°44' E / january 2020 - m 450 / Lgt. J. Fouda - coll. M. Bollino;

- 3 ♂, 1 ♀, Cameroun - région du Sud / near Ebodjévillage /(département de l'Océan) / ~ 2°34' N 9°49' E / VI.2020 - m 50-100 / Lg. J. Fouda - coll. M. Bollino;

- 2 ♂, 1 ♀, Cameroon / Bidou, Kribi (South Region) / ~ 3°00’ N 10°04’E / X-XII.2018 – m 70 / Lg. J. Fouda - coll. Bollino;

- 1 ♂, Cameroon – Kribì/near Bidjap / ~ 2°25’N 10°41’E / m 300 – I.2002 / Lg. NicolasAyissi / coll. Bollino;

- 1 ♀, Cameroon - Upper Nyong Div. / near Somalomo / Réserve de faune du Dja / ~ 3°22'N 12°43'E / IX.2021 - m 650 / Lg. M. Owono - coll. Bollino;

- 2 ♂, Cameroon / Near Ebogo / ( Lekié Dept .) / ~ 3°23’N 11°28’E / XI. 2000 / coll. Maurizio Bollino;

- 4 ♂, Cameroon / near Ebogo / October –December2000 / local collectors/ coll. Bollino;

- 2 ♂, Cameroon – near Ebogo / Zoatoupsi / February 1999 / coll. Bollino;

- 2 ♂, Cameroun / Ekombitié ( Mbalmayo ) / IV.2002 / Lg. local people / coll. Bollino;

- 1 ♂, Cameroun / Mbalmayo / III-V.2003 / Lg. local people / coll. Bollino;

- 4 ♂, Cameroon / Ekali / (32 km. E. Yaoundé) / m 500 – XII.2000 / Local collectors / coll. Bollino;

- 2 ♂, Cameroon / Mbalmayo / (Dept. Nyong-et-So’o) / february 2023, Lg. local people – coll Bollino, all in MBLI;

- 1 ♂, Cameroun: Mont Kala / (1120m), 4 - I – 1975 / leg Ph. Darge;

- 1 ♂, Cameroun: Ayos / ( River du Nyong ) / 25 - IV – 1974 / leg. Ph. Darge;

- 1 ♀, Cameroun / Département du Nyong - et - So'o / Environ de Nseng – Nlong / 9 - IV – 1990 / local Collector / Coll. Ph. Oremans.;

- 1 ♀, Réserve Forestière / d’Ototomo / ( Cameroun) / 24-I-1971 / Chasses Ph. Darge // Neallotype / Ph. Darge 1993, all in POMB;

- 1 ♂, South / Cameroun / Ndanga near Djoum / February 2014 / local collector / coll. C. Belcastro;

- 2 ♂, Cameroun / Ebogo / Dec. 2014 / local collector / coll. C. Belcastro;

- 1 ♂,Sud Cameroun / Mount Bikoka/Bet.KribiLolodorf / Dec.2013 /local collector / coll. C. Belcastro, all in CBRI;

- 1 ♂, Cameroun, Mengueme-Bane , leg. A. Mbarga Ndi, in CTB;

- 1 ♂, Cameroun, Lolodorf, X-2022, leg. local collector in CTB .

Diagnosis. – Species very similar to Graphium liponesco (Suffert, 1904) from which it is easily distinguished by its male genitalia; differs from G. policenoides in the absence of a clear discal stripe in hindwing upperside cell M3; it differs distinctly from G. policenes by the more elongated dark submarginal spots in R 1 and R 2, separated from the marginal spots by a narrow light space.

Remark. – Since most of the characters of the new subspecies are shared with the nominate subspecies, we will avoid giving a verbose detailed description of the holotype, referring to Cipolla (2021a) for this, and limiting ourselves to highlighting the differences between the two subspecies, distributed respectively in the east of the Congo Basin, in Western Uganda and in North Angola ( Graphium bouyeri bouyeri ) and west of the Congo basin and Southern Cameroon ( Graphium bouyeri birketsmithi n. ssp.).

Graphium bouyeri birketsmithi n. ssp.

A1: Transverse bars of the FW discal cell very thin.

B1: Postdiscal marks in FW cells M3-CuA2 smaller and separated by a dark space along veins.

C1: Outer margin of the FWs more prominently concave at vein M2.

D1:Dark submarginal spots in R1 and R2 of the hindwing rectangular, covering more than half the corresponding space.

Larger: FW length 41.07-45.87, average 44.15, n= 33 males.

Male genitalia ( Fig. 3 ). – General scheme typical of the Graphium policenes group. Dorsal terminal process with a large internal upper branch, and the external lower branch formed by a serrated basal tooth. The dorsal harpe is more finely serrated than in G. policenes .

Etymology. – The new subspecies is dedicated to the late Jorgen Birket-Smith (*1920-†1983), who first (1960) suspected that a species closely related to Graphium policenes existed in Cameroon and neighboring regions.

Distribution. – Western-central Africa, including Cameroon, Republic of Congo, western Democratic Republic of Congo.

We take this opportunity to summarize in a diagram the external differences between Graphium policenes and Graphium bouyeri plus Graphium liponesco (the latter two easily distinguishable from each other due to the different male genital pattern) ( Fig. 3 ).

Figures

Fig. 1. a-d. Graphium bouyeri birketsmithi n. ssp. a-b. Male holotype. c-d. Female paratype. a & c. Dorsal. b & d. Ventral.

Fig. 3. Differential characters between Graphium policenes subspecies (a) and Graphium bouyeri birketsmithi n. ssp. (b) / Graphium bouyeri bouyeri. Refer to the text for the legend.