Geritola wardi Sáfián & Collins, 2015

Sáfián, Szabolcs, Collins, Steve C. & Libert, Michel, 2015, Two new species in the genus Geritola Libert, 1999 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae, Epitolini), Zootaxa 3931 (2), pp. 286-292 : 288-291

Geritola wardi Sáfián & Collins sp. n.

( Figs 1 E, F, 2 C, D, 3 C)

Holotype. ♂ Uganda, Radio Hill, Mabira Forest 6. II. 2011. Leg. P.R.F. Ward. Gen. prep.: SAFI 00073 (deposited in the ABRI collection, genitalia stored in micro-vial and pinned to specimen). Coordinates: 0°23'20.10"N, 33°0'39.85"E. Elevation: 1340 m.

Allotype. ♀ Uganda, Mabira Forest, Jinja V. 1999. Leg. Steve Collins (deposited in the ABRI collection).

Paratypes. 5♂ Uganda, Radio Hill, Mabira Forest. 9.I.2011 and 9.VII.2011. Leg.: P.R.F. Ward (in coll.: ABRI), 2♂ Radio Hill, Mabira Forest, Uganda. 1-2.V.2011. Leg.: Peter Ward & Szabolcs Sáfián (deposited in the ABRI and Sáfián’s reference collections).

Description of the holotype. Forewing length: 16.5 mm. Antenna: 8 mm. Approximately half of the forewing upperside is shiny light blue typical of Geritola , covering most of spaces 2dA, Cu2 and the discoidal cell, slightly less in spaces Cu1, M3 and M2. The blue area broadens evenly on its outer margin from vein M2 to vein C2, being, again, slightly narrower in space 2dA. The outer margin of the blue patch is broken up by black scaling along veins 2dA, Cu2, Cu1, M3, forming lobes or “fingers” of blue with their evenly rounded tip. The apex of the forewing is fairly narrow, the termen is almost straight or even slightly concave; the length of the swollen section of vein 2dA is shorter than half of the vein, 6 mm on the holotype. The hindwing upperside is mostly covered with light, iridescent blue scaling, leaving only spaces M1, R s and Sc+R1 without blue. The colour of the wing in space R s is black, turning lighter greyish towards the costa. The hindwing has only a very fine black margin (restricted mostly to the cilia) between the apex and the tornus. The underside is dirty white, without the usual mottled Geritola pattern. Only shades of light brown sub-marginal lines on the forewings are visible.

Genitalia. The general appearance of the genitalia is similar to those of other Geritola . The uncus is blunt, hood-like, without any projections. It is densely covered with fine hairs. The subunci are rather short and very narrow, scythe-like and not hooked at their tip. The valvae are rather slender with even, gently curving edges; they do not show any projections, apart from a prolonged lobe on the tips, which taper downwards. The tip of the lobe is curved from the dorsal side, although its edge is even and gently curving on the ventral side. The aedeagus is relatively broad with a spear-like tip, but it broadens significantly towards the middle-section with a sharp break on the dorsal side, but rather flatter on the ventral side. It narrows down again, sharply towards its basal tip, with an even edge.

Description of the allotype. Forewing length: 19 mm. Antenna: 9.5 mm. Approximately half of the forewing upperside is pale blue, forming an irregular triangle from the base along the inner margin almost to the tornus and to the middle of the space between M3 and M2 beyond the discoidal cell. The costa, the apex and the outer margin are paler black. The hindwing is almost entirely covered with pale blue scales, leaving the costa greyish, without any blue scaling beyond vein M1. The blue area is very slightly paler, rather silvery in the post-discal and submarginal area of the hindwing, also on the forewing beyond the discoidal cell. The hindwing has a very narrow black-brown margin (1 mm), broadening slightly at the apex. The underside is dirty white, with only traces of yellowish shades of the usual mottled Geritola pattern, rather than real lines.

Diagnosis. The male of G. w a rd i is slightly smaller than G. nitidica (wingspan of holotypes 34 mm and 38 mm respectively), and the termen of its forewing is straight or slightly concave; the termen of the forewing is slightly convex in G. nitidica and G. pacifica . The swollen section of vein 2dA on the forewing is always longer than half the length of the vein in G. nitidica , while it is shorter than half the length of the vein on all males of G. w a rd i. On the forewing, the blue area does not broaden evenly in G. nitidica , being broader in spaces between 2dA, Cu2 and M3, M2. The outer edge of the blue area in G. pacifica is not conspicuously separated by the black scales along the veins, forming lobed tips, as in the case of G. w a rd i, apart from the space between veins M3 and M2. The blue area between Cu2 and M3 even has a squat outer edge, which is never the case in G. w a rd i. The male holotype of G. pacifica (described above) has the blue area on the forewing rather even in width, apart from the inner margin, where the blue extends further towards the tornus, leaving only a 2 mm black margin. In G. pacifica , the lobes or “fingers” at the outer edge of the blue area in the spaces have narrower tip, as the black scaling conspicuously intervene the blue area along the veins. The swollen section of vein 2dA on the forewing in G. pacifica is also longer than half of the vein length, and the hindwing has a broader black margin (1 mm, similarly to that of G. nitidica ). Male genitalia of G. w a rd i are very different from those of G. nitidica and G. pacifica , especially the subunci, which are significantly shorter than in the other two species, and the tip of the valvae, which are pointed in G. wardi but evenly rounded in both G. nitidica and G. pacifica .

The females of G. nitidica and G. wardi are also similar, but despite their relatively unmarked, uniformly white underside, they are rather easy to distinguish. While G. w a rd i has only a narrow (1 mm along the outer margin, broadens to 2 mm at the apex) black-brown margin on the hindwing upperside, G. nitidica has a broad black-brown margin at the apex (4 mm) and no well-defined margin at all. In G. nitidica , the outer edge of the blue scaling on the hindwing is very diffuse, dusting the 4-5 mm broad blackish marginal area with pale blue scales. The tone of the blue is also uniform in G. nitidica and not changing to lighter, almost whitish-blue from the base towards the edge, which is very characteristic to G. w a rd i.

Discussion. G. w a rd i was found only in the Mabira Forest in Eastern Uganda, which is an eastern outlier forest of the Congolian rainforest zone, with slightly impoverished but rather specialised butterfly fauna. Although no comprehensive publication dealing with the butterflies of Mabira exists, many records in the ABRI collection and in recent scientific papers prove that Mabira constitutes the eastern boundary of the distribution of many rainforest species or species groups, including a few of restricted range, e.g. Pseudopontia mabira Mitter & Collins, 2011 and Pseudaletis barnetti Libert & Collins, 2013 ( Mitter et al. 2011, Libert & Collins 2013). G. w a rd i might be among the species of biogeographic importance, as it is quite unlikely that it had been overlooked during the extensive collecting in the Congo Basin.

Etymology. It is a pleasure to name this beautiful Geritola after Peter Ward, a fellow lepidopterist and a good friend from South Africa, who first found G. w a rd i at the radio masts in Mabira Forest, Uganda (referred to as Radio Hill). Peter has a never-cooling enthusiasm for butterflies and a good sense of finding hill-tops, where Epitola sensu lato and other Lipteninae congregate to display.

Figures

FIGURE 1. Geritola pacifica male upperside (A) and underside (B) (holotype), G. nitidica male upperside (C) and underside (D) (holotype, Ebogo, Central Cameroon) and G. w a rd i male upperside (E) and underside (F) (holotype).