335 Genus Aethiopana Bethune-Baker

AFROTROPICAL BUTTERFLIES 17th edition (2018). MARK C. WILLIAMS. http://www.lepsocafrica.org/?p=publications&s=atb

Genus Aethiopana Bethune-Baker, 1915

Annals and Magazine of Natural History (8) 16: 191 (186-203). Type-species: Papilio honorius Fabricius, by original designation.

The genus Aethiopana belongs to the Family Lycaenidae Leach, 1815; Subfamily Poritiini Doherty, 1886; Tribe Epitolini Jackson, 1962. The other genera in the Tribe Epitolini in the Afrotropical Region are Iridana, Teratoneura, Epitola, Cerautola, Hewitola, Geritola, Stempfferia, Cephetola, Deloneura, Batelusia, Tumerepedes, Pseudoneaveia, Neaveia, Epitolina, Hypophytala, Phytala, Neoepitola, Hewitsonia, and Powellana.

Aethiopana (Acraea Blue) is a purely Afrotropical genus containing a single species.

*Aethiopana honorius (Fabricius, 1793) Acraea Blue

Papilio honorius Fabricius, 1793. Entomologia Systematica emendata et aucta 3 (1): 151 (488 pp.). Aethiopana honorius (Fabricius, 1793). Bethune-Baker, 1915: 191. Aethiopana honorius Fabricius, 1793. d’Abrera, 2009: 666.

Aethiopana honorius honorius. Male. Left – upperside; right – underside. Kanyatsi, 15 km east of Kasuo, N. Kivu, DRC. March 2013. ABRI leg. Images M. C. Williams ex P. Ward collection.

Type locality: No locality given. Distribution: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda. Habitat: Forest, including forest showing a fair degree of degradation (Larsen, 2005a). Habits: Usually encountered in one’s or two’s, perching on twigs. On rare occasions it feeds at extrafloral nectaries on the tendrils of Marantaceae. Males display along rides, flying back and forth at great speed, usually at around 11h00 (Larsen, 2005a). Early stages:

Farquharson, 1921. Larvae were found on Crematogaster-infested tree-bark. The larvae were snuff-brown, very hairy, and moth-like. They were broad anteriorly.

Eltringham, 1921b: 475 [ex Farquharson, Shagamu, Nigeria]. “Larva. (Plate XII, fig. 17). Medium dark ground-colour with still darker markings forming a rather complicated pattern. (Farquharson describes the general colour as brown.) Each segment with four tubercles

1 from which arise tufts of fine sharp spines, and also longer delicate branched hairs. The whole cuticle is sparsely covered with fine short hairs. Length 16 mm. Pupa. (Plate XII, fig. 16). Of the shape and appearance shown in the figure. A prominent and characteristic dark marking on the thorax. Dorsal and lateral tubercles from which arise irregularly curved spines. Abdominal segments bear groups of chitinanths, each being surrounded by a dark ring on the cuticle. Dense hairs on the terminal segments combine with those of the larval skin to form a cushion round the point of attachment, the pupa lying nearly parallel to its support. Length 15 mm.”

Larval food: Nothing published. Associated ant: Crematogaster species (Formicidae) [Farquharson, 1921].

Aethiopana honorius honorius (Fabricius, 1793)

Aethiopana honorius honorius. Male. Left – upperside; right – underside. Kanyatsi, 15 km east of Kasuo, N. Kivu, DRC. March 2013. ABRI leg. Images M. C. Williams ex P. Ward collection.

Type locality: No locality given. Distribution: Nigeria (south and Cross River loop), Cameroon, Gabon, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo (Mongala, Uele, Tshopo, Tshuapa, Equateur, Kinshasa, Sankuru, Lualaba), Uganda (west). Specific localities: Nigeria – Shagamu (Eltringham, 1921b). Gabon – Ndjole (Vande weghe, 2010); Waka (Vande weghe, 2010); Langoue (Vande weghe, 2010); Ipassa (Vande weghe, 2010); camp Nouna (Vande weghe, 2010); Kebiri Forest, Bateke Plateau (Vande weghe, 2010). Democratic Republic of Congo – Stanleyville (Hulstaert, 1924).

teresa Hewitson, 1869 (as sp. of Epitola). Entomologist’s Monthly Magazine 6: 86 (86). Cameroon: “Cameroun”.

coarctata Hulstaert, 1924 (as ab. of Epitola honorius). Revue de Zoologie et de Botanique Africaine 12: 118 (112-122, 173-194). [Democratic Republic of Congo]: “Stanleyville à Ponthierville”.

Aethiopana honorius divisa (Butler, 1901)

Epitola divisa Butler, 1901. Annals and Magazine of Natural History (7) 7: 289 (288-291). Aethiopana honorius divisa Butler, 1901. d’Abrera, 2009: 666.

Type locality: Sierra Leone: “Sierra Leone”. Distribution: Guinea, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria (west of the Niger

2 River). Specific localities: Ghana – Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary (Larsen et al., 2007).

Note: The population in eastern Nigeria represents a cline between subspecies divisa and the nominate subspecies (Larsen, 2005a).