The types of Liptena augusta Suffert, 1904 and Liptena subundularis (Staudinger, 1892) (Papilionoidea: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae)
Author
Libert, Michel
text
Metamorphosis
2021
2021-05-08
32
1
13
14
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/met.v32i1.2
journal article
10.4314/met.v32i1.2
2307-5031
14118512
ABBBFC07-2EB8-4D69-AEE8-B933CE174EEF
Liptena subundularis
(Staudinger, 1892)
Stempffer (1957)
attributed the
three females
from Bipindi to
L. augusta
when he reinstated this species, but they are clearly females of
L. subundularis
.
The description of this species is based on "several" males from
Gabon
(Ogowe,
leg
.
Mocquerys
) and
one female
from
Cameroon
[Victoria (now
Limbe
),
leg
.
Teusz
]. Here again,
Stempffer
et al.
(1974: 156)
considered that "Staudinger’s types of [
L subundularis
] were mostly destroyed in the last war". But they found in the collection of the London Museum a male collected in Ogowe by Mocquerys “which is believed to be one of the original series” and which bears an “Origin” label [like those that Staudinger associated with his typical material], and they designated it as a
lectotype
.
Five of Staudinger's
syntypes
have also been rediscovered in the Berlin Museum [
four males
from Ogowe and the female from Victoria).
Figure 1
– Male lectotype of
Liptena augusta
with labels.
Figure 2
– Male genitalia of ♂ lectotype of
Liptena augusta
(prép. Libert, 120-030) –
A
: right lateral view;
B
: ventral view of sternites 7 & 8;
C
: dorsal view of uncus.
D
: reproduction of Fig. 4 in
Stempffer 1957
.
One of the males (the one with the best drawn underside) bears a label indicating that it is illustrated by Grose-Smith (1892 pl. XVIII, Figs 9 & 10). Grose-Smith’s publication offers "photographic representations of the type specimens in the (Berlin Museum)”, and one could conclude that the male illustrated by Grose-Smith is the type. But the
lectotype
designated by
Stempffer
et al
. (1974)
is also a
syntype
, from the same locality, and it was furthermore, dissected by one of the authors (Bennett), and it does not seem justified to reverse this designation.