Cephetola praecox Sáfián sp. nov.

urn:lsid:zoobank.org:act:

(Figs 11C, D, 12A, D; 15)

Holotype: • ♂ LIBERIA, Grand Gedeh County, Mount Jideh Ridge, Putu Range 18.XII.2012 Leg.: Sáfián, Sz., Tropek, R. Coordinates: 5°38’23.32»N, 8°11’7.60»W, altitude: 700-760 m asl. ANHRT unique ID number: ANHRTUK00056662. Gen. prep.: SAFI00384. Deposited in ANHRT.

Description. Forewing length: 13 mm. Wingspan: 25 mm. Forewing shape typical for Cephetola, triangular with acute apex and slightly convex, curving outer margin. Upperside colour dark chocolate brown with no pattern and blue scales (Fig. 11C). Underside slightly lighter brown with large blackish-brown patch on forewing, covering spaces 1B, 2, 3, 4 and almost entire cell with 1 mm lighter brown margin near outer edge of wing. Shades of lunules visible in apex. Hindwing underside with 0.5 mm broad dark brown central band across wing from the costa, broadens to 1.5 mm spot in cell before tapering down towards inner margin. Shades of darker lunules along wing margin visible. Body brown, darker on top, lighter below (Fig 11D). Antennae, legs black, chequered with white.

Male genitalia. 1.3 mm along dorsoventral axis. Slender and rather simple, similar to other species in the group. No coremata. Tegumen broad, uncus triangular in lateral view, sub-unci angled, slender, longer arm slightly upcurving. Valva broadening from base, broadest in the outer third, narrows down to rounded, blunt tip. Its dorsal edge rounded, ventral edge almost straight. Saccus slender, shorter than half the length of the valva (Fig. 12A). Aedeagus typical to many species in the genus, spear-shaped with triangular tooth on dorsal edge, broad in the middle. Anterior end rounded, tip sharply tapering (Fig. 12B).

Female. Unknown.

Diagnosis. In West Africa, C. obscura is one of two other species in the genus, where males appear with only scattered blue scaling on the upper wing surface (Figs 11E–H), and sometimes completely brown specimens also occur. However, C. obscura lacks any dark brown central band on the hindwing underside, which is otherwise known to be present in C. orientalis (Roche, 1954), which has also extensive blue pattern on the upperside. The other one is C. obscuralis, a newly described species (Libert 2020), closely related to C. praecox. C. praecox has a narrower central band on the hindwing, which broadens in the cell, while the central band on the hindwing of C. obscuralis is relatively of even width. Their male genitalia are also similar, with the difference in the shape of valva, which is broadest in the middle in C. obscuralis, and is broadest in the outer third towards the tip with narrower base in C. praecox in lateral view (Fig. 12).

Etymology. Qualifying adjective when the neuter adjective is compounded with a feminine generic name where gender agreement is not required (Art. 31.2.3). The name praecox refers to the males’ early morning activity, which is not well documented in Afrotropical butterflies.

Distribution. Known from the type locality in Liberia.

Bionomics. The holotype was collected in December 2012 at 7.30 a.m. in the first sunbeam, displaying on the narrow ridge of Mount Jideh in the Putu Range, a unique upland habitat in Eastern Liberia (Fig. 15). It was flying up and down rapidly between 3 to 10 metres high along a tree-trunk with other specimens, normally out of reach. Only the holotype could be collected, and the author was not able to return and secure more specimens. The habitat has since been further altered by mining exploration and the tree trunk along which the males were observed displaying was found completely overgrown by young trees in January 2018, when the author was trying to locate the site on his brief visit. Finding new species in Cephetola is not unique (see Libert 2020), given the scarcity of several known species, the very localised occurrence (many are restricted to individual ant trees), and the fact that majority of species tend to display and rest in higher strata of the canopy (depending on species). They also have synchronised display time, and the activity windows are sometimes extremely short, can be limited to 10–20 minutes per day, which could also be the case in C. praecox. Also, the males seem to display very early in the morning, when no butterfly activity is expected and therefore field lepidopterists are rarely out during this time. It is also important to emphasize that the Putu Range in Eastern Liberia lies in a unique geographical position facing the humid air masses blown from the Atlantic Ocean by the south-westerly winds, which result in rather generally distribute high annual rainfall in the area. Putu is also known to harbour an incredibly rich and unique butterfly fauna based on Sáfián’s field studies between 2010 and 2018 (unpublished), including two further species, which were found exclusively on the ridge of Mount Jideh in upland forest: Iolaus jadwigae Sáfián, 2017 (Sáfián 2017) and Liptena nr. batesana (Sáfián unpublished) and other restricted-range taxa associated with upland forest: Abantis ja usheri Collins & Larsen, 2008, Telchinia kraka kraka (Aurivillius, 1893), Pilodeudorix putu Sáfián, 2015, P. intermedia Sáfián, 2015 (Sáfián et al. 2015).

Note: The status of the single female from Southern Cameroon mentioned and illustrated by Libert (2020) and its the locality on Fig. 15 as C. obscuralis ssp. could not be assessed.