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Publications (184)
Moth diversity on Mount Cameroon, a critical biodiversity hotspot in the Afrotropics, remains understudied despite the region’s rich and unique ecosystems. In this study, 34 species of plume moths (Pterophoridae) were recorded from the Mount Cameroon region, including four species new to science: Titanoptilus bigoti Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n...
Aim
Grass‐yellow butterflies ( Eurema ) are a group of pantropical Pieridae distributed throughout Asia, Australasia, Africa and the New World. However, little is known about their diversification, including the biogeographic mechanism(s) explaining their circumglobal distribution. We present the first densely sampled, time‐calibrated phylogeny and...
573 Zootaxa 5588 (4): 573-580 https://www.mapress.com/zt/ Abstract In this study, two new species of African Sesiidae are described from coastal Kenya. Melittia mida sp. nov. (Melittiini) from a series of eight males from Mida village at the edge of the Arabuko-Sokoke Forest, and Homogyna fenestra sp. nov. (Osminiini) from ten males collected acros...
Ctenoplusia psileia Dufay, 1975 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Plusiinae), a very poorly known species from tropical Africa that has never been reported since its original description, is rediscovered, redescribed, and compared to the potentially closest taxa. Habitus of the species and male genitalia are illustrated for the first time.
A new green epitoline butterfly species (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Poritiinae: Liptenini: Epitolina) representing the genus Hewitsonia Kirby, [1871] is recognised and described from Angola’s Northern Escarpment forests, in comparison with the similar congeners H. bitjeana Bethune-Baker, 1915, H. beryllina Schultze, 1916, and H. magdalenae Stempffer,...
A new genus and species, Afranthrene cinerea gen. & sp. nov., from Angola is described and depicted. The new genus belongs to the Adixoa Hampson, [1893] genera group and is related to the African genera Fortikona Bartsch & Sáfián, 2023, Rubukona Fischer, 2007 and Thyranthrene Hampson, 1919. The female, early instars and host plant of the new specie...
Four new species of the hairstreak butterfly genus Capys Hewitson, [1865] (Lepidoptera:
Lycaenidae: Theclinae: Deudorigini) are described: C. arba Sáfián et Fric, sp. n. (type locality:
Ethiopia, Dorze Lodge), C. moroto Sáfián et Collins, sp. n. (type locality: Uganda, Mount Moroto),
C. robertsi Collins et Sáfián, sp. n. (type locality: Kenya, Moun...
Despite considerable research efforts in recent years, the deeper phylogenetic relationships among skipperbutterflies (Hesperiidae) remain unresolved. This is primarily because of limited sampling, especially withinAsian and African lineages. In this study, we consolidated previous data and extensively sampled Asian andAfrican taxa to elucidate the...
This study confirms Mount Cameroon as an unprecedented hotspot for the diversity of many-plumed moths, with the discovery and description of nine new species: Alucita fako Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita pyrczi Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita sroczki Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita potockyi Ustjuzhanin & Kovtu...
Temperature is thought to be a key factor influencing global species richness patterns. We investigate the link between temperature and diversification in the butterfly family Pieridae by combining next generation DNA sequences and published molecular data with fine-grained distribution data. We sampled nearly 600 pierid butterfly species to infer...
In this study, a new genus of African Paranthrenini, Fortikona Bartsch & Sáfián, gen. n. and three new species, Fortikona rhynchiformis Sáfián & Bartsch, sp. n. from Liberia, Fortikona aethiopica Bartsch & Sáfián, sp. n. from Guinea and Fortikona dalaba Sáfián & Bartsch, sp. n. from Ethiopia, are described and depicted. The type species Fortikona x...
A new species of clearwing moth, Cicinnoscelis grandiosus Bartsch & Sáfián, sp. n. from Sierra Leone and Liberia in West Africa, is described and depicted. Two female specimens were collected while they were laying eggs on the freshly damaged stump of an unidentified tree. A third female was found in the collection of the Berlin Natural History Mus...
The only known western population of Neurellipes helpsi (Larsen, 1994), found by the authors in the Ziama Massif, Guinea is clearly distinct from the nomino typical population, which was recorded in the Atewa Range in Ghana and a couple of stray specimens from Tano Ofin (Ghana) and Banco Forest (Ivory Coast). A male specimen of the Guinean populati...
Paysandisia archon (Burmeister, 1879), as well as the family Castniidae (Lepidoptera), is reported for the first time from Hungary.
Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to
have evolved with plants and dispersed throughout the world in response
to key geological events. However, these hypotheses have not been
extensively tested because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and
datasets for butterfly larval hosts and global distributions are la...
Africa has undergone a progressive aridification during the last 20 My that presumably impacted organisms and fostered the evolution of life history adaptations. We test the hypothesis that shift to living in ant nests and feeding on ant brood by larvae of phyto-predaceous Lepidochrysops butterflies was an adaptive response to the aridification of...
Simple Summary
Butterflies are best known because of their coloured wings. The colours are not for decorative but for crucial purposes within their reproductive strategy. One of these is sexual signalling, where the colours used for communication prior to mating are not chemical (based on pigments), but physical (based on nano-sized architectures)....
A new species in the genus Precis (Papilionoidea, Nymphalidae, Nymphalinae), described in this paper as P. koivoguii sp. n., was discovered in the Nimba Mountains, Guinea, West Africa, and specimens were also identified from the neighbouring mountainous area in Ivory Coast in the broader Guinea Highlands. In appearance the species is similar to som...
The Poritiinae are a diverse subfamily of lycaenid butterflies with about 700 species divided into two major groups: the Asian endemic tribe Poritiini, and the African endemic tribe Liptenini. Among these, the Liptenini are notable for their lichenivorous diet and the strong but apparently non‐mutualistic ant associations of many species. We presen...
Similarities in male and female genitalic structure isolate a small group of taxa in the genus Iolaus Hübner, [1819], subgenus Philiolaus Stempffer & Bennett, 1958, related to Iolaus aequatorialis Stempffer & Bennett, 1958. They are assigned to the newly proposed I. aequatorialis species group with two new species recognised and described. This act...
Temperature is thought to be a key variable explaining global patterns of species richness. However, to investigate this relationship carefully, it is necessary to study clades with broad geographic ranges that are comprised of species inhabiting diverse biomes with well-characterized species ranges. In the present study, we investigate the link be...
A new species, Iolaus freyaallanae sp. nov. in the subgenus Iolaphilus Stempffer & Bennett, 1958 is described from forests in north-western Zambia. Its general appearance suggests, and examination of male and female genitalia confirms, a close relationship with I. gabunica Riley, 1928 and I. liberiana Sáfián, 2017. For easier navigation between
the...
In this study, two remarkable species and genera of African Synanthedonini are described from the Nimba Mountains, Liberia: Nimbamina blei gen. & sp. nov., maybe related to Tipulamima Holland, 1893, and Chlorosphecia bele gen. & sp. nov., related to the genera Lepidopoda Hampson, 1900, Macrotarsipodes Le Cerf, 1916 and Macrotarsipus Hampson, [1893]...
Butterflies are a diverse and charismatic insect group that are thought to have diversified via coevolution with plants and in response to dispersals following key geological events. These hypotheses have been poorly tested at the macroevolutionary scale because a comprehensive phylogenetic framework and datasets on global distributions and larval...
1. The conversion of tropical forests into agriculture reduces biodiversity dramatically. However, species might differ in their responses, depending on their habitat specialisation and geographic origin. In this study, we assess how butterfly assemblages differ between old-growth forests, forest fragments, forest-derived vanilla agroforests, fallo...
A new species in the genus Iolaus (Papilionoidea, Lycaenidae, Theclinae) is described from the Gatamaiyu Forest, Aberdare Mountains, Central Highlands, Kenya. Morphologically, I. gatamaiyu sp. n. is similar to I. manasei Libert, 1993, a species of submontane forests of the Cameroon Highlands, which has very different male genitalia. The male genita...
Four new Iolaus Hübner, 1819 species are described in the subgenus Philiolaus Stempffer & Bennett, 1958. They are assigned to the newly formed I. maritimus species group. Members of the group occur in the coastal forests of Kenya, submontane and montane forests in Tanzania and Mozambique, and are locally distributed in montane forests at the wester...
In this study, two genera of Afrotropical Sesiidae, Tipulamima Holland, 1893 and Macrotarsipodes Le Cerf, 1916 stat. rev., are redefined and redescribed, the latter being resurrected from synonymy with the former as a valid genus. Both genera are confirmed to belong to the tribe Synanthedonini. The genera closest to Tipulamima are unknown. Macrotar...
Capture of the first female in the Nimba Mountains, Liberia reveals new identity to an Iridana Aurivillius, 1920 species (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Poritiinae), previously identified from the male as I. agneshorvathae Collins, Larsen & Sáfián, 2008. The male and the matching female represent an undescribed species and is named as I. languyi sp. nov....
Ancylogastra Bassi & Poltavsky gen. n. is described to accommodate Cypholomia amphiaula Meyrick, 1934 (as A. amphiaula, comb. n.) and seven new species, all described and illustrated, as: A. boireaui Bassi & Sáfián sp. n., A. burundiana Bassi sp. n., A. coronata Bassi sp. n., A. endroedyi Bassi sp. n., A. gangraensis Bassi, Sáfián, Müller & †Kravch...
Compared to other regions, the drivers of diversification in Africa are poorly understood. We studied a radiation of insects with over 100 species occurring in a wide range of habitats across the Afrotropics to investigate the fundamental evolutionary processes and geological events that generate and maintain patterns of species richness on the con...
During mass-blooming in the dry season, the highly invasive Siam Weed, Chromolaena odorata, appears to be a prime nectar source for butterflies and a range of diurnal moths and other insects in West Africa. About 10 % of the West African butterfly fauna were recorded visiting C. odorata flowers between Sierra Leone and Western Cameroon as a result...
The Liptena augusta Suffert, 1904 and L. batesana Bethune-Baker, 1926 species complexes are revisited following the capture of a specimen in Liberia, far outside the known range of any members of these groups. Four new species in the genus Liptena Westwood, [1851] are described: L. neiltennanti sp. n., L. chrislowei sp. n., L. introspectionem sp. n...
The tribe Junoniini is a predominantly Paleotropical group of the cosmopolitan butterfly subfamily Nymphalinae (Nymphalidae), with highest diversity in the Afrotropical region. Its systematics and relationships are not entirely resolved. Question marks remain concerning the validity of some genera; and the apparently close relationship between the...
Five new species of Epitola s.l. (Lycaenidae: Poritiinae) are described in the genera Stempfferia Jackson, 1962 and Cephetola Libert, 1999. Stempfferia salonga sp. n. was found in the ‘Cuvette Centrale’ of the Democratic Republic of Congo and a single specimen was identified also from southern Cameroon. The similar S. buea sp. n. is known only from...
Butterflies and moths are conspicuous flower visitors but their role in plant-pollinator interactions has rarely been quantified, especially in tropical rainforests. Moreover, we have virtually no knowledge of environmental factors affecting the role of lepidopterans in pollination networks. We videorecorded flower-visiting butterflies and hawkmoth...
Mechanisms structuring tropical communities are still under‐studied, especially in Afrotropical rainforests. Although insect herbivores are considered to depend on plant diversity, we hypothesized that vegetation structure, together with other microhabitat characteristics, can be more important for some insects. Here, we compared habitat associatio...
1. Butterflies and moths are well-visible flower visitors. Nevertheless, almost no quantification of their role in plant-pollinator interactions exists at a community level, especially from tropical rainforests. Moreover, we have virtually no knowledge on environmental and other factors affecting lepidopteran flower visits.
2. We focused on the ro...
Five field surveys targeting the butterfly fauna across the transboundary landscape that encompasses the Ziama Massif in Guinea and the Wologizi and Wonegizi Mountains in Liberia (collectively called as the Ziama-Wonegizi-Wologizi Transboundary Forest Landscape) were conducted between November 2017 and April 2019. Altogether 564 species of butterfl...
In this paper, the full life-history of Mylothris chloris chloris is discussed with morphological descriptions of its early stages and multiple photo illustrations, documented in Liberia, West Africa. The early stages of M. chloris are compared with those of M. agathina.
In this paper, the full life-history of Mylothris rhodope is discussed with a morphological description of its early stages including multiple photo illustrations, as documented in Liberia, West Africa.
Amauris nossima Ward (Nymphalidae, Danainae) was known before this study only from Madagascar and the island of Mayotte, without clearly defined subspecies, but with five names considered invalid or infrasubspecific. It has generally been considered a rare species of butterfly classified by IUCN as vulnerable (Vu B1 + 2c). Here, it is reported for...
Three new species, Apallaga klaudiae sp. n., Gorgyra ziama sp. n., Andronymus teresae sp. n. and a new subspecies, Eagris tetrastigma lomana ssp. n., of skipper butterflies (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) from the tropical forest zone of Africa are described in comparison with their presumed closest relatives.
Several new butterfly species in the family Lycaenidae were found during recent field surveys in Liberia. Amongst these, quite a few were collected as singletons or in small series, represented by only one of the sexes. This paper describes and illustrates the previously unknown sexes of four of those species which were subsequently found, adding n...
A morphologically distinct subspecies of Telchinia pseudepaea from the Guinea Highlands, Liberian subregion is described. Although male genitalia show no differences among the examined populations, both external morphology and geographic distribution support the recognition of the Liberian subregion population as a new subspecies.
Mount Cameroon, SW Cameroon, has already been described as a unique hotspot of the many-plumed moth (Lepidoptera, Alucitidae), with their local diversity unrivalled in the entire Afrotropics. We confirm its importance with description of seven new species: Alucita bakweri Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. nov., Alucita jana Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich,...
Abstract: During five entomological field expeditions between 2008 and 2019, butterfly specimens were collected in Oman, and a total of 492 specimens of 46 species were documented. Faunistic and distribution data for each species is presented, along a short overview of the physical geography of Oman and biogeographical notes of the butterfly fauna....
We present records of further 87 butterfly species to the checklist of Mpanga Forest, Mpigi, Uganda, increasing the number of known species to 401. Over half of all newly recorded butterflies are skippers (Hesperiidae), also, a significant proportion of the new records pertain to species which tend to occur in more open habitats and forest-edges, a...
The biodiversity of West and Central Africa is understudied, including butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). Cameroon, through its position in between few biogeographic regions and diversity of habitats, is an important hotspot of lepidopteran diversity. However, the country also ranks low when it comes to local biodiversity knowledge. During our lo...
Aim
Temporal dynamics of biodiversity along tropical elevational gradients are unknown. We studied seasonal changes of Lepidoptera biodiversity along the only complete forest elevational gradient in the Afrotropics. We focused on shifts of species richness patterns, seasonal turnover of communities and seasonal shifts of species’ elevational ranges...
Recent distribution records of Iridana agneshorvathae (Collins, Larsen & Sáfián 2008), a very rare West African Lycaenida are presented and discussed with description of the previously unknown female. The species is newly recorded from Liberia and Benin showing a significant range extension. The record from Benin is of biogeographic significance as...
During extensive field research of fruit-feeding Lepidoptera in various West African forests, we have collected a rich material of several rare or poorly known species. Among them we identified four species, where only one of the sexes was described. Here, we describe unknown females of Euriphene lomaensis Belcastro, 1986, E. taigola Sáfián & Warre...
The Amerila syntomina complex, comprising four similar species from the
African tropics, is circumscribed and reviewed on the basis of external features, characters
of the genitalia and strong molecular evidence. Amerila alexandrae sp. nov. is described
from West Africa, along with the hitherto unknown female of A. syntomina and previously
unstudie...
The article provides an illustrated
description of three new species, Holcoceroides
cheick Yakovlev, Müller, Kravchenko et Petrany,
sp.n. (type locality — Guinea Konakri, Macenta
Prefecture, Ziama Forest), Politzariella edita Yakovlev,
Müller, Kravchenko et Petrany, sp.n. (type
locality — Guinea Konakri, Macenta Prefecture,
Ziama Forest, Mt. Nimba)...
Cover pages of the book
Pictures of the book
Amerila is one of the most studied Afrotropical genera of Arctiinae. However, based on a regionally constrained sample of specimens from Mount Cameroon, we show how superficial our knowledge on these tiger moths is. Among six collected Amerila species, A. femina’s female is described here for the first time, and A. mulleri and A. roseomarginata had...
New distribution records of the Guinea Highlands endemic Nymphalid Hypolimnas aubergeri are presented, supplemented by behavioural observations of adults and information on its habitats and potential conservation issues.
Selected invertebrate groups of the landscape protected area of Sopron-mts including Collembola, Arachnoidea, Orthoptera, Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Odonata and other aquatic invertebrates, Macrolepidoptera, Coleoptera (xilofag and saproxil groups), gall inducing insects with general descriptions and praeface
Landscape Protected Area of Sopron-mts. - Monographic studies of the natural and cultural values of the Sopron-mountains
During extensive field work in West Africa (Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Sierra Leone), the authors collected two skipper species in the genus Andronymus (Lepidoptera, Hesperiidae), which would not fit the descriptions of any existing taxa. Both are described as new, A. magma sp. nov. is known only from Cameroon, while A. fenestra sp. nov. was f...
During a moth diversity survey, 106 species of Pyraloidea were collected in march and april 2017 in the nimba mountains (east nimba nature reserve and Mount Gangra) in Liberia. In total, 86 species were identified and for another ten species identification was provided to the genus level only. Seventy six of the 86 species are new records for liber...
The knowledge of the clearwing moth genus Lolibaia Gorbunov & Gurko, 2017, recently described from South Sudan and until now known only from a single, damaged specimen, is extended by three new species from different parts of Africa including the as yet unknown female of the genus. L. jurateae sp. nov. is based on a single male from Kakamega Forest...
A new taxon of Junonia near ansorgei was collected by the author during a butterfly survey in the Nimba Mountains, Guinea in 2017. Careful comparison with a series of J. ansorgei from various localities throughout its distribution, including examination of the COI gene of both taxa revealed that the two are not conspecific and the new species is de...
Although seasonality in the tropics is often less pronounced than in temperate areas, tropical ecosystems show seasonal dynamics as well. Nevertheless, individual tropical insects’ phenological patterns are still poorly understood, especially in the Afrotropics. To fill this gap, we investigated biodiversity patterns of Lepidoptera communities at t...
A new species of Sesiidae, discovered during a Lepidoptera survey in the Nimba Mountains, Guinea (West Africa) is described as Conopsia puehringeri sp. nov. The new species is compared to its potential sister species C. bicolor (Le Cerf, 1917), in sense of external morphology and genitalia structure. Male specimens and genitalia of both studied spe...
Fifteen species of many-plumed moths are recorded from the Mount Cameroon area, SW Cameroon, West Africa. Nine species: Alucitalongipenis Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n. , A.lidiya Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n. , A.ludmila Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n. , A.escobari Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich, sp. n. , A.mischenini Ustjuzhanin & Kovtunovich...
The butterfly Mimeresia neavei (Joicey & Talbot, 1921) is the only species in the exclusively African subtribal clade Mimacraeina (Lipteninae: Lycaenidae: Lepidoptera) having sexual dimorphism expressed by structurally blue-colored male and pigmentary colored orange-red female phenotypes. We investigated the optical mechanism generating the male bl...
A new subspecies of Cymothoe fumana is described from Western Nigeria. It differs from the other three recognized subspecies significantly in the colour patterns of the females, but the males are nearly indistinguishable. The new taxon is yet another example of endemism among western Nigeria butterflies.
Abstract. The results of field work conducted during the second Afrotropical Workshop (2014) on Lepidoptera in Kibale National Park and Mpanga Forest (Mpigi District) in Uganda are published.The aim was to establish a species inventory for these locations. Following a description of the investigated sites a comprehensive annotated species lists for...
Two new species, Iolaus jadwigae sp.nov. and I. liberiana sp.nov., were collected recently in Liberia during field surveys in the Putu Range and the Nimba Mountains, respectively. They are described with I. kupe sp.nov., a third species, which was recognised as undescribed in the Lepidoptera collection of the African Butterfly Research Institute, N...
There have been no special studies on plume moths of Liberia until recently. In the World Catalogue of Insects (Gielis 2003) only two species are reported from Liberia: Agdistis tamaricis (Zeller, 1847) and Megalorhipida leucodactyla (Fabricius, 1794) despite its well-known richness for other Lepidoptera groups (Fox et al. 1965, Larsen 2005) and it...
Male secondary sexual characters have been discovered on the hindwing verso of genera Aphnaeus Hübner,
[1819], Cigaritis Donzel, 1847, Lipaphnaeus Aurivillius, 1916 and Pseudaletis Druce, 1888 representing the Palaeotropical subfamily Aphnaeinae (Lycaenidae: Lepidoptera). Relevant wing parts are illustrated, described, and some observations on the...
The PREDICTS project—Projecting Responses of Ecological Diversity In Changing Terrestrial Systems (www.predicts.org.uk)—has collated from published studies a large, reasonably representative database of comparable samples of biodiversity from multiple sites that differ in the nature or intensity of human impacts relating to land use. We have used t...
Questions
Question (1)
We are planning a radio-tracking project on the Giant African Swallowtail - Papilio antimachus in Liberia. Of course, it will not be an easy task to do, so we would like to gather as much information on the available techniques as possible, before we invest in the equipments. My colleagues are trying to convince me, that we should use various fixed and geologially well positioned receiver stations but I would still vote for a single mobile flying unit, which will be able to follow the tracked butterfly. My biggest problem is the real-time communication between the receivers and a server to ensure that actually the receivers can sense the signal and from the signal we are able to position the specimen. These questions might sound trivial to many of you, but as I am not good at maths and physics I need clear explanations.
The questions are:
1. Is it possible to calculate-estimate position if the signal is received by a single station (like a radar), or I would certainly need three signals for triangulation?
2. Is it possible to equipe the receivers with a communication device, which would allow real-time transmission between the specimen and our data-server? We would prefer mobile communication or mobile internet, as there is 100% coverage in the area.
3. If we equip more than a single receiver on a traverse, would the distance between our receivers sufficient enough for accurate triangulation?
4. In certain papers there was mention of rovers, which followed the specimens using the existing road network. This equipment-receiver should also calculate direction and distance from a single signal, but I found no further explanation on this method.
5. Is there any afforable method and equipment to follow the specimen in the air e.g. drones, quadrocopters, which can carry a gps unit and or digital camera and has battery capacity to stay in the air for 5-6 hours a day?
Of course your answers will raise further questions, but this is the first "batch".
I hope many of you can help me to understand the methods and the entire radio-tracking process better at the end .
