Iolaus brazza Sáfián & Collins 2022, sp. nov.
Creators: name: Sáfián, Szabolcs
name: Collins, Steve C.
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Arthropoda
Insecta
Lepidoptera
Lycaenidae
Iolaus
Iolaus brazza

description: Iolaus brazza sp. nov.
FIGS. 2H,J; 3H,J; 4E; 5E; 6C, F; 7C; 8C
Holotype: ♂ CONGO, Foulakari R. 85 Km SW Brazzaville I /93. Leg.: S.Collins. Deposited in ABRI.
Paratype: ♀ CONGO, Foulakari R. 85 Km SW Brazzaville 7/92 (bred) Leg.: S.Collins. Deposited in ABRI.
Note: The male specimen illustrated by d’Abrera (2009) as Iolaphilus aequatorialis aequatorialis may represent this taxon, as its upperside colour and other features are identical with that of the holotype (although the blue colours of Iolaus are difficult to reproduce in high fidelity).
Description of male. Forewing length: 19 mm.Wingspan: 37.5 mm. General appearance and main morphological features as for I. ivani, but blue colour on upperside royal blue, lacking the turquoise or slight greenish tinge. Submarginal line on forewing underside fine, very faint.
Male genitalia. General morphology as for other species in the group as described above in detail. Dorsoventrally the posterior one-third of the right valva narrows down sharply towards the inward turning tip. The left valva remains broad almost all the way to its unusually broad and blunt tip. The ventral edge of the valvae is almost straight in lateral view, slightly bent inwardly. The two strong cornuti on the tip of the aedeagus and on the membrane of the vesica are shorter than those of I. aequatorialis and I. ivani sp. n.
Description of female. Forewing length: 18.5 mm. Wingspan: 36 mm. General appearance and main morphological features as for I. ivani sp. n., but outer edge of blue area on forewing upperside more scalloped by black indentations along veins 2, 3 and 4. Whitish area completely missing. Underside orange line on forewing brighter orange.
Female genitalia. Papillae anales rather small (<1 mm dorsoventrally) with almost no hairs. Posterior edge flat with rounded dorsal and ventral edges. Apophyses posterior straight, longer than dorsoventral length of papillae. Only middle section of ductus bursae sclerotised and creased longitudinally; antrum swollen, membranous, including its anterior section before mouth of corpus. Corpus bursae oval, completely membranous with no signum; length slightly longer than half the length of ductus. The lamellae ante and postvaginalis are almost fused, shell-shaped in lateral view; lamella antevaginalis shield-shaped in ventral view, its width approximately 2 mm at its widest with two ear-like lobes laterally, and straight posterior edge.
Diagnosis. The male of I. brazza sp. n. has a distinctive tone of royal blue on the upperside, with no turquoise or greenish tinge (Figs. 2H, J). The female lacks the whitish-blue area (Figs. 6C, F) present in the three other species in the group. In the male genitalia I. brazza sp. n. differs from I. aequatorialis and I. ivani in the shorter and blunter tip and the straighter ventral edge of the valvae (Figs. 3H; 4E; 5E). The cornuti on the tip of the aedeagus and on the membrane of the vesica are very short (more similar to I. mane) (Figs. 3F, J). In the female genitalia only the middle section of the ductus bursae is sclerotised (the antrum and the anterior section are membranous), while almost the entire bursa is sclerotised in I. aequatorialis and I. ivani (Fig. 7). The lamella antevaginalis of I. brazza sp. n. in ventral view is shield-shape with two ear-like lobes ventrally, similar to that of I. aequatorialis, but the posterior edge is almost straight in I. brazza sp. n., and slightly undulate in I. aequatorialis.
Etymology. The name of the new species refers to Brazzaville, the capital city of the Republic of Congo, the broader type locality of the species.
Discussion. So far, the species is confirmed from the broader Brazzaville area of the Republic of Congo south of the Congolian Forest Zone, in the transition toward the southern African woodland and savanna areas. Further records from the forest zone proper need confirmation (see also below).
description: Published as part of Sáfián, Szabolcs & Collins, Steve C., 2022, Revisional notes on Iolaus aequatorialis Stempffer & Bennett, 1958 and related species in the subgenus Philiolaus Stempffer & Bennett, 1958 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Theclinae), with description of two new species, pp. 176-188 in Zootaxa 5214 (2) on pages 183-185, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5214.2.2, http://zenodo.org/record/7384822