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Post by cabintom on Aug 26, 2018 13:34:29 GMT
On the left is a typical Hypolycaena nigra, on the right... I'm not sure. Thoughts?
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Post by mcheki on Aug 26, 2018 16:14:38 GMT
I agree with your Hypolycaena nigra being the one on the left. As for the right hand specimen may I suggest that it is a female of Hypolycaena dubia? Hypolycaena kakumi has a similar female but I do not think that this species occurs as far east as Kivu.
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Post by africaone on Aug 26, 2018 16:46:15 GMT
one of the most fascinating genus ..and difficult to get (or set) in good condition. Yes there are 2 distinct sp as James told.
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Post by cabintom on Aug 26, 2018 18:03:01 GMT
may I suggest that it is a female of Hypolycaena dubia? It certainly is a possibility. I assumed the females in the genus shared the trait of well-rounded forewings, with these being distinctly pointed I was thinking it must be a male. I have female H. lebona/H. dubia (I've read they're very difficult to separate from each other) and the wing shape is rather different. (Edit: There is also a significant difference in the anal fold (I think that's the right term...) which seem to be a clean white in my female specimens of lebona/dubia.)
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Post by cabintom on Aug 26, 2018 19:41:36 GMT
H. lebona/H. dubia female on the left.
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Post by africaone on Aug 27, 2018 7:42:26 GMT
upper marginal line (underside HW) is very thin on the right sp and thick on the left one
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Post by cabintom on Aug 27, 2018 10:32:47 GMT
upper marginal line (underside HW) is very thin on the right sp and thick on the left one That's an interesting observation, and holds true compared to my other specimens of H. lebona/dubia (male specimens included).
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Post by mcheki on Aug 27, 2018 10:52:34 GMT
Here is a photo of what I think are two male Hyploycaena dubia. Both come from Ma'an in Cameroon.
Attachment Deleted
I am sorry this is a small picture but I have not yet reorganised myself since the disaster over Photobucket.
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Post by cabintom on Aug 27, 2018 18:05:29 GMT
Here is a photo of what I think are two male Hyploycaena dubia. The androconial pit is pretty clear on the dorsal specimen, so as far as I'm aware, it has to be H. dubia. For my unidentified specimen, where I'm at right now is that: - it's not nigra- though it's the right size, it's neither a male nor a female lebona or dubia
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Post by mcheki on Aug 28, 2018 15:36:10 GMT
I am not in a position to check my specimens and give a full answer at the moment. Do you know what the females of Hypolycaena jacksoni and H similis are like? Also H schubotzi? These are the only other Hypolycaena species that I have on my checklist that come from the Kivu/ east DRC area. I will check the H lebona/dubia female when I get a chance as to me it looks a bit large for these species. The fact that you flipped the picture of the specimen in question horizontally threw me momentarily, but not for long!!!!
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Post by cabintom on Aug 28, 2018 18:01:47 GMT
Do you know what the females of Hypolycaena jacksoni and H similis are like? Also H schubotzi? These are the only other Hypolycaena species that I have on my checklist that come from the Kivu/ east DRC area. Looking at Papillons du Zaire H. jacksoni is not similar (closer to H. philippus in some respects). Apparently H. schubotzi is only known from one specimen which may be H. kadiskos. Unfortunately I've not seen any figures of either of these species. I'm also reading that H similis may be a synonym of antifaunus... but again I haven't seen any figures.
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Post by cabintom on Aug 28, 2018 18:28:22 GMT
Actually, I hadn't noticed since there is no corresponding figure, but Berger in Les Papillons du Zaire includes a description of H. schubotzi which reads:
"Le dessus des ailes est gris avec un reflet poupre. Les taches des ailes inférieures sont disposées comme chez nigra, mais le verso est semblable à celui d'antifaunus, c'est-à-dire que les bandes jaunes des ailes inférieures sont dans le prolongement de celles des ailes supérieures, ce qui n'est pas le cas de nigra. Espéce décrite d'après un seul mâle capturé à Yakoma (Mongala)." (The upper side of the wings is gray with a purple reflection, the hindwing spots are arranged as in nigra, but the verso is similar to that of antifaunus, that is, the yellow bands of the hindwings are an extension of those of the forewings, which is not the case of nigra. Species described from a single male captured in Yakoma (Mongala).)
Outside of the "purple reflection" this description is pretty spot on for the specimen in question. The dorsal side markings are like those of nigra, and now that I'm looking at it the underside is very similar to antifaunus. The locality Berger mentions is likely in NW DRC. Yakoma is a town in the province of Nord-Ubangi near the border with CAR. Mongala is the province to the south of Nord-Ubangi. Honestly, there's a long distance separating that locality and Mbau, Nord Kivu where my specimen was collected.
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Post by cabintom on Aug 28, 2018 18:56:46 GMT
I'd be curious to see what Larsen writes about H. kadiskos. I have a very poor scan of the Hypolycaena figures from Butterflies of West Africa, and H. kadiskos is present there, but from what I can tell it does not seem to be a good fit. (Edit: Reading Druce's description of H. kadiskos makes it fairly clear that this isn't it.)
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Post by mcheki on Sept 4, 2018 13:46:21 GMT
Here is another female that I have not managed to determine satisfactorily. It comes from Pateka in Kivu District of DRC. Any suggestions? It is of the size expected with lebona and dubia.
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Post by mcheki on Sept 4, 2018 13:47:30 GMT
And also the underside:-
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