Rediscovery of the Endangered Pseudophilotes fatma (Oberthür, 1890) (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) in Algeria after 71 years, with an update on its distribution and designation of a lectotype Author Bouam, Idriss 0000-0002-4394-9297 Laboratory “ Biodiversity, Biotechnology, and Sustainable Development ”, Faculty of Natural and Life Sciences, University of Batna 2, Fesdis 05078, Batna, Algeria. idriss.bouam@univ-batna2.dz Author Tennent, W. John 0000-0001-7096-4946 Scientific Associate, Department of Life Sciences, Natural History Museum, London SW 7 5 BD, England. & Honorary Associate, Oxford University Museum of Natural History, Parks Road, Oxford OX 1 3 PW, England. johntennent@hotmail.co.uk Author Abdennebi, Ahmed 0009-0003-0827-4188 Forest Conservation of Batna Province, Nouvelle cité administrative la verdure, Batna 05000, Batna, Algeria. abdennebiredouan@gmail.com Author Benmokhtar, Elalmi 0009-0007-4874-1261 Algerian Wildlife Watchers Association, Cité El-Hay, BT 53, nº 8, Hassi Bahbah 17002, Djelfa, Algeria. lalmibenmokhtar@gmail.com text Zootaxa 2024 2024-12-03 5543 2 287 295 https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5543.2.10 journal article 10.11646/zootaxa.5543.2.10 1175-5326 14385818 B2485B08-F4A1-4E0C-AEB6-65789437E26B On 20-IV-2024 , A.A. photographed a male Pseudophilotes fatma ( Fig. 2A ) mud-puddling on soil at Djebel Refaa ( 35°32'19.3"N , 5°51'46.4"E ; 1,696 m asl ), Province of Batna , northeastern Algeria . Subsequently, on 18-V-2024 , E.B. photographed another male specimen ( Fig. 2B ) nectar feeding approximately 4 km north of the first location ( 35°34'27.1"N , 5°52'53.8"E ; 1,675 m asl ). Both observation sites are meadows within Atlas cedar forests, where the species’ larval host plant, Salvia argentea , is present ( Fig. 2C ). Both localities are subject to significant overgrazing ( Fig. 2D ). Climatic data for these localities, extracted from the WorldClim database at ~ 1 km ² resolution ( Fick & Hijmans 2017 ), indicate that both sites fall within the superior semi-arid Mediterranean bioclimatic zone, characterised by cold winters and a mean annual precipitation of 500 mm . The new locality records are situated approximately 35 km northwest of the type locality and 15–18 km west of the nearest most recently confirmed locality, Col de Telmet in the Belezma Biosphere Reserve ( Fig. 3 ). The latter locality was reported in the literature ( Tennent 1996 ; Tolman & Lewington 1997 ), based on an original record by the French lepidopterist Guy Barragué (pers comm. to J.T.). Part of Barragué’s collection is currently housed at the Muséum des Sciences Naturelles d'Angers, France (MHNAn), although it remains the property of the “Groupe d'Information de Recherche et d'Animation sur les Zygaenidae ” (GIRAZ) (Benoît Mellier, pers comm.). This collection includes several unvouchered specimens of P . fatma from Algeria and Morocco (see Tab. 1 ), including the aforementioned specimen collected from Col de Telmet in 1953 ( Fig. 4 ). This specimen represents the most recent known record of P . fatma in Algeria prior to our observations, indicating a 71-year gap in the species’ records for the country. Newly reported occurrences of P . fatma indicate minimal changes to its known range, as they fall within the IUCN species distribution range ( van Swaay et al . 2015 ). The updated distribution map ( Fig. 3 ) suggests that although the IUCN inferred limits of P . fatma in Algeria encompass the entire Aurès Mountains range, the actual current distribution of the species appears to be more restricted, confined primarily to the western part of the Aurès Mountains, within Batna Province . In Morocco , the species is predominantly found in Ifrane Province, with fewer occurrences reported in Khénifra, Midelt, and Séfrou. TABLE. 1. Locality, year of record, coordinates, and source of available records for Pseudophilotes fatma ( Oberthür, 1890 ) . Lat: Latitude; Lon: Longitude; N/A: Not available; NHM: Natural History Museum, London, UK; MHNAn: Muséum des Sciences Naturelles d'Angers, Angers, France. Population status according to Tarrier (2020) : (*) Extinct locality; (**) Endangered locality; (***) Either endangered or extinct locality .

Record	Locality	Year(s) of record		Lat	Lon	Province	Country	Source(s)
1	Lambèse	1887; 1913	35.47	6.25	Batna	Algeria	Oberthür (1890) ; Oberthür (1915); Tennent (1996) ; Tolman & Lewington (1997)
2	Southern slope of Djebel Refaa	2024	35.53	5.86	Batna	Algeria	Present study
3	Northern slope of Djebel Refaa	2024	35.57	5.88	Batna	Algeria	Present study
4	Vallée de Tafrent, Sgag	1913	35.37	6.18	Batna	Algeria	Oberthür (1915b)
5	Titouguelt	N/A	35.48	6.12	Batna	Algeria	NHM
6	Djebel Ich'Ali	N/A	35.48	6.17	Batna	Algeria	NHM
7	Timthemam	1913	35.49	6.15	Batna	Algeria	Oberthür (1915b) ; NHM
8	Col de Telmet	1953	35.58	6.04	Batna	Algeria	Tennent (1996) ; Tolman MHNAn	&	Lewington	(1997);
9	Col du Zad and Tabourite, south of Timahdite**	1990–2020	33.01	-5.07	Ifrane	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
10	Bakrit	1971	33.06	-5.22	Ifrane	Morocco	MHNAn
11	Bou Anguer	1973	33.10	-5.02	Ifrane	Morocco	MHNAn
12	Inifife, south of Tamahdite**	1990–2020; 2014	2000–	33.11	-4.98	Ifrane	Morocco	Todisco et al. (2018) ; Tarrier (2020) ; GBIF (2024)
13	Foum Kheneg	1973	33.15	-5.06	Ifrane	Morocco	MHNAn
14	Above Ain Leuh	1920	33.30	-5.33	Ifrane	Morocco	Oberthür (1922)
15	Ousmaa, south of Azrou*	1990–2020	33.37	-5.22	Ifrane	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
16	Source de Toumliline	1921	33.41	-5.20	Ifrane	Morocco	Oberthür (1922)
17	Azrou	N/A	33.43	-5.23	Ifrane	Morocco	Tennent (1996) ; Tolman & Lewington (1997)
18	South of Ras-el-Ma***	1990–2020	33.44	-5.14	Ifrane	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
19	Termilat***	1990–2020	33.50	-5.09	Ifrane	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
20	The Roches Valley***	1990–2020	33.50	-5.05	Ifrane	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
21	Ito Plateau, north of Azrou*	1990–2020	33.51	-5.30	Ifrane	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)

......Continued on the next page TABLE. 1. (Continued)

Record	Locality	Year(s) of record	Lat	Lon	Province	Country	Source(s)
22	Ifrane	1972; 1973; 1975;	33.52	-5.11	Ifrane	Morocco	de Worms (1973) ; Tennent (1996) ; Tolman &
1988; 2000–2014	Lewington (1997); Coutsis (2008) ; Todisco et al. (2018) ; GBIF (2024) ; MHNAn
23	Tizi-Tanout-ou-Fillali, south of El-Kebab*	1990–2020	32.67	-5.45	Khénifra	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
24	Around the Ouiouane Forest House, south of Aïn-Leuh*	1990–2020	33.13	-5.34	Khénifra	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
25	Tanordit, north of Boumia	1990–2020	32.85	-5.21	Midelt	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
26	Djebel Tarharhat, west of Itzer*	1990–2020	32.88	-5.19	Midelt	Morocco	Tarrier (2020)
27	Annoceur	N/A	33.66	-4.85	Séfrou	Morocco	Tennent (1996) ; Tolman & Lewington (1997)
28	Imouzzer	N/A	33.73	-5.00	Séfrou	Morocco	Tennent (1996) ; Tolman & Lewington (1997)

Tarrier (2020) reported that Fatma’s Blue has become extinct in several localities in Morocco and is endangered in others ( Tab. 1 ). In Algeria , the status of the species remains uncertain in most localities and it may be extinct in the Belezma Biosphere Reserve, where recent targeted surveys failed to detect its presence ( Berkane et al . 2019 ). In this study, newly identified localities for the species fall outside protected areas, rendering them vulnerable to threats such as livestock overgrazing ( Fig. 2D ). The precarious conservation status of P . fatma necessitates immediate conservation actions. These should include the implementation of area-based management plans in historical distribution sites to prevent further decline and ensure the species’ persistence. The bulk of Oberthür’s collection is now in the NHM, London , and contains a long series of fatma including, judging from the labels, many reared by the French lepidopterist Guy Barragué in France . The two specimens provided to Oberthür by Staudinger are among these specimens. Oberthür (1890: 19) did not designate a type specimen; we here formally designate and illustrate a lectotype , and recognise a paralectotype , as follows: Lectotype ♂ ( Figs. 5A–C ), with the labels (1) handwritten “ Lycaena Bavius - Fatma Obthr. Etud. d’Ent. XIIIe livon pl. 7. Fig. 50 Djebel Aurès (Staudinger) 1887”; (2) printed / handwritten “John Tennent Butt. of Morocco, Algeria & Tunisia Pl. 11 Fig. 53”; (3) red-bordered, circular, printed “Type”; (4) printed “Lectotype: Lycaena Bavius var. Fatma Oberthür, 1890 (designated by Bouam & Tennent , 2024)”; (5) purple-bordered, circular, printed “Lectotype”. Paralectotype ♂ ( Figs. 5D–F ), with the labels (1) handwritten “ Lycaena Bavius - Fatma Obthr. Etud. d’Ent. XIIIe livon pl. 7. Fig. 51 Djebel Aurès (Staudinger) 1887”; (2) yellow-bordered, circular, printed “Paratype”; (3) printed “Paralectotype: Lycaena Bavius var. Fatma Oberthür, 1890 (designated by Bouam & Tennent , 2024)”; (4) blue-bordered, circular, printed “Paralectotype”.