Ypthima asterope subsp. asterope asterope (Klug 1832

[Ypthima asterope asterope (Klug, 1832)]

Kielland 1982: pl.1, figs 1 – 8. Larsen 1996: pl. 30, fig. 428 i, ii. d ’ Abrera 1997: 231 (2 figs). SI: Figure 11e – h.

Forewing length: male 12.5 – 15.5 mm [mean (n = 4) 14.35 mm, SD = 0.656]; female 16.0 – 18.0 mm [mean (n = 2) 16.85 mm, SD = 0.354].

Note: as indicated by Kielland (1990, p. 85), who only knew of one reliable record for Tanzania based on a single male collected near Amani by T.H.E. Jackson, without dissection this butterfly is very difficult to separate from other species. Larsen (1996, p. 274), however, offered exophenotypic characters for separation, including a difference in antennal segment number between Y. asterope and Ypthima yatta Kielland, 1982, a Kenyan and Ethiopian species considered otherwise to be ‘ similar ’. These differences were first noted by Kielland (1982, p. 108), including Y. asterope reported as having 32 antennal ‘ joints ’ [segments], but only 29 in Y. yatta.

According to notes apparently made by the late Jan Kielland, a pair of Ypthima from Lake Manyara in BMNH (collected by Cooper), formerly identified as Y. asterope, are Ypthima antennata van Son, 1955 (SI: Figure 12a – d). Moehlman and Liseki (2003) list Y. antennata as rare during the wet season at Lake Manyara National Park. Ypthima asterope is included here as a possible member of the lower slopes fauna based on four males and two females in OUMNH, long standing over the name Y. asterope, and which do not appear to be Y. antennata, collected by Rogers at Taveta, c. 2500 ft, on various dates in 1905. Supposedly found mainly in arid bush, according to Ackery et al. (1995, p. 305), Y. asterope occurs from India through parts of the Arabian peninsula and much of Africa south of the Sahara, with a separate subspecies (or replacement species: Larsen 1996, p. 275) recognized in the southwest (western Cape, Namibia and Angola). However, Kielland (1982, p. 107) noted that he had not seen reliable specimens or records from DCR to southern Nigeria and Ghana, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda or Malawi. Heath et al. (2002) did not include it among the 11 species they recorded for Zambia. Gifford (1965, p. 92) did include asterope for Malawi, but his material (presumed to be in RSM Edinburgh), identified long before Kielland ’ s 1982 revision, needs to be checked. If possible, a long series of Ypthima should be sought from various areas on the lower slopes, and subject to critical examination.