Bicyclus brakefieldi Brattstrom

Bicyclus brakefieldi Brattström

(Figs. 15–18, 29, 36)

Bicyclus brakefieldi Brattström 2012 (Medje, DRC)

Material studied. Type material. Holotype: ♂, DRC, Orientale Province, Medje (2°25’N, 27°15’E), iv-vi.1910, Exp. Lang-Chapin leg., OB–TER–0108 (MRAC). Paratypes: ♂, DRC, Equateur Province, Bamanya, 300 m. a.s.l. (0°01’S, 18°20’E), 28.ix.1961, Rev. G. Hulstaert leg., OB–TER–0009 (MRAC). ♀, DRC, Orientale Province, Elisabetha, 400 m. a.s.l. (1°14’N, 23°36’E), no date, Mme. Tinant leg., OB–TER–0110 (MRAC). ♀, DRC, Equateur Province, Eala (0°05’N, 18°20’E), i.1936, Lieut. J. Ghesquière leg., OB–TER–0110 (MRAC), Misidentified paratype (belongs to B. ignobilis).

None-type material. DRC: Baliko/Basayo (0°28’N, 25°24’E): 2 ♂, 1 ♀. Cantine (0°31’N, 29°12’E): 1 ♂. Kasuo (0°14’S, 29°03’E): 2 ♂. Kilau (0°11’S, 29°06’E): 1 ♂. Kwokoro (2°40’N, 19°44’E): 1 ♂. Lukolela (1°03’S, 17°12’E): 3 ♂, 1 ♀. Maliva (0°10’N, 29°01’E): 2 ♂. Mt Kirima (0°11’N, 29°06’E): 1 ♀. Pateka (0°48’N, 29°18’E): 3 ♂, 1 ♀.

Diagnosis. The lack of any brush in space 1b on the dorsal forewing, and the absence of any markedly enlarged parts of vein 1b on the hindwing, sets the male of this species apart from all of the other four small members of the species-group (Fig. 18). The hindwing is covered in shiny dark hairs in the anal area, making the males similar to B. rileyi, but the latter species is of a much larger size, and has more elongated and scalloped forewings clearly setting them apart from B. brakefieldi. The female of B. brakefieldi has a yellow-white apical patch with less well-defined borders than similar species (Fig. 16). Accurately separating the female from similar species remains one of the more challenging tasks when dealing with the ignobilis -group. However, now that our suggested pairing has been verified by our molecular phylogeny, we feel confident in our re-evaluation of the female morphology (see separate section about female morphology below).

Distribution. DRC from Lukolela to North Kivu, mainly found north of River Congo (Fig. 29). There is a set of three specimens belonging to the type series at MRAC, all from different collection sites across DRC. A further set of nineteen specimens has now been identified from recently collected material at ABRI, slightly widening the distribution to include the Kivu area. All known specimens are still from the northern parts of DRC, and the distribution is unlikely to extend beyond the western side of River Congo and Ubangi. B. brakefieldi is broadly sympatric with B. ignobilis throughout its range, and there is a small rather surprising overlap with B. rileyi as evidenced from a single specimen of the latter from Lukolela in western DRC.

Comments. This species was originally described by Brattström (2012) based on a male holotype and three paratypes, one male and two females. With much more material available and a molecular phylogeny to verify our re-evaluation of the female morphology within the ignobilis -group, we are certain that one paratype of B. brakefieldi collected in Eala, DRC (OB-TER–0110), is actually a B. ignobilis.