Cymothoe

[Cabintom]

Here's Cymothoe reinholdi vitalis Rebel, 1914

Male: 3/VI/2015 Kasugho, Nord Kivu (ex. R. Ducarme)


Female: 24/V/2014 Along the Tumani River, near Mbogi, Ituri (1°41'N, 30°07'E) 1250m (My sole example)

[MAC]

Not in the best of condition, but unusual none the less

[daveuk]

Lovely. My specimens of this species come from Central African Republic. Another surprisingly large one.

[daveuk]

The red species of Cymothoe are particularly nice I think.
Two male C coccinata & the same two males with two females
Two pairs of C distincta trolliae.
All from Central African Republic.

[daveuk]

Cymothie oemilius
A pair & a female verso.
Bonzo, Democratic Republic of Congo

[Cabintom]

The red species of Cymothoe are particularly nice I think.
Two male C coccinata & the same two males with two females
Two pairs of C distincta trolliae.
All from Central African Republic.

C. distincta trolliae is a synonym of the nominate ssp.

Do you have specific data for the coccinata? None of my books have CAR in range.

[daveuk]

The red species of Cymothoe are particularly nice I think.
Two male C coccinata & the same two males with two females
Two pairs of C distincta trolliae.
All from Central African Republic.

C. distincta trolliae is a synonym of the nominate ssp.

Do you have specific data for the coccinata? None of my books have CAR in range.

Here is the data for the C coccinata. The two pairs came from Ken Thorne.

[Cabintom]

I wonder if that should be "Bambari"? I'm not finding "Bambiri" online. If it is Bambari, that would seem to be an interesting location quite north of where publications have the species' range, and in a region which is much more savanna than forest.

[daveuk]

I wonder if that should be "Bambari"? I'm not finding "Bambiri" online. If it is Bambari, that would seem to be an interesting location quite north of where publications have the species' range, and in a region which is much more savanna than forest.

I agree that it should be Bambari. Much of my Central African Republic material has the same data. I have a similar situation with Agentinian material. I found out from someone who lives in & has collected in Argentina that the data only applied to the city in Argentina where all the dealers specimens were sold from so is sadly inaccurate.
I have a feeling the same may be true here.
How safe are you collecting & in general in DRC? Africa is one of two continents I have yet to visit(the other being Antarctica). Personal safety has always been a concern especially as far as Africa in general is concerned. Though I would love to visit that continent one day.

[Cabintom]

I wonder if that should be "Bambari"? I'm not finding "Bambiri" online. If it is Bambari, that would seem to be an interesting location quite north of where publications have the species' range, and in a region which is much more savanna than forest.

I agree that it should be Bambari. Much of my Central African Republic material has the same data. I have a similar situation with Agentinian material. I found out from someone who lives in & has collected in Argentina that the data only applied to the city in Argentina where all the dealers specimens were sold from so is sadly inaccurate.
I have a feeling the same may be true here.
How safe are you collecting & in general in DRC? Africa is one of two continents I have yet to visit(the other being Antarctica). Personal safety has always been a concern especially as far as Africa in general is concerned. Though I would love to visit that continent one day.

... Your question is a complicated one. There's a lot of nuance and it's all relative. A large part of Ituri province, where I live, is controlled by one rebel group or another. I haven't been been able to collect in Djugu territory in about 5 years, Irumu territory has been off limits for 3 years. I collected in a small town of Lolwa, Mambasa territory in September of 2020, that area is now one of the most dangerous in the country. That said, other parts of the country are comparatively very safe.
The challenge is that the long and unfortunate history of the country has created a culture of suspicion. As a stranger & foreigner showing up to a new place, people will be very wary of you and your motives. They see you collecting butterflies, an activity that honestly makes no practical sense to the average Congolese person, and they assume it's a cover for more nefarious and better understood activities (prospecting, spying, mercenary work, etc.) or the assume your another person in the long line of westerners who've "become rich" exploiting natural resources (they assume you know something about these butterflies that they don't).
I'm able to mitigate the suspicion because I work with a Congolese church denomination. When I travel, it's as a known member of the church, traveling with known church leaders, to visit our pastors and churches. Collecting is a secondary activity which I plan into downtime. I give opportunity to church members to participate in collecting with me. I spend time explaining to the pastors, and whomever else listening (usually a decent crowd), what I am doing (the Bible records that the first task God gave Adam was to name the animals, a task which carries on to today). I spend time educating about the wonders & value of nature, and especially butterflies - their habits, life-cycle, etc., even working it into preaching.
Doing all of this well, means that, more often than not, I no longer need to explain myself when I visit new places. Instead one of my friends/colleagues takes the time to explain, (usually it's just before we set off into the forest together) which leads to almost universal acceptance of the activity. So, instead of being a suspicious foreigner, I'm just a sort of strange entertainment.

All of that said, most African countries are far safer and less complicated than DRC. Even so, I wouldn't plan on collecting anywhere unless accompanied by a trusted national (trusted both by me and nationals) - relationships are key to avoiding or getting out of needless trouble.

[Cabintom]

Cymothoe weymeri weymeri Suffert, 1904
(male)



and the very similar,
Cymothoe herminia herminia (Grose-Smith, 1887)
(males)

18/ix/2017 Near Nyankunde, Irumu Territory, Ituri (1°25'42"N, 30°02'18"E) 1250m


24/v/2014 near Mbogi, Djugu Territory, Ituri (1°41'N, 30°07'E) 1250m


(females)

24/v/2014 near Mbogi, Djugu Territory, Ituri (1°41'N, 30°07'E) 1250m


9/ix/2017 Near Mbogi, Djugu Territory, Ituri (1°41'55"N, 30°07'35"E) 1250-1300m

[daveuk]

Some wonderful specimens there.
Thank you for your very detailed & interesting reply about safety in DRC & your life there in general. It sounds as though as a member of the church your collecting activities have been accepted. Even if it is as a form of entertainment. Thanks for all the good advice. Will bear all of that in mind if ever I am lucky enough to find myself in Africa & planning on collecting there.

[Cabintom]

Well, it's less that collecting itself is seen as a form of entertainment, and more that the tall white man swinging a net around is the entertainment.

[Cabintom]

Cymothoe indamora indamora (Hewitson, [1866]) (Edit: not zenkeri as has been pointed out.)
(male)

[Cabintom]

Cymothoe jodutta (Westwood, [1850])
In my experience, this is one of the most common Cymothoe. The white band in the females is variable in width.

(males)



(females)


6/VII/2014 Nebobongo, Haut-Uele (2°27'N, 27°37'E) 790m

*N.B. This last specimen was photographed under different lighting conditions

[Cabintom]

There are apparently 3 subspecies of jodutta found in DRC:

According to Berger ("Les Papillons du Zaire"):

ciceronis: found in the extreme west of the country, around the mouth of the Congo river. It's range extends north throughout the Mayombe region (in Gabon, Rep. of Congo, Cameroon). It's differentiated from the West African nominate ssp. by the presence of the white discal band and white post-discal chevrons in the female.

mostinckxi: found across the north to the north-east (just into Uganda). Males have the same form as ciceronis, while females have comparatively reduced white chevrons.

ehmckei: more or less found south of the equator. In the male, the subapical spot (space 5) is (almost) surrounded by black. In the female, the white chevrons are even more reduced/less marked, but the HW band is wider.


Given these descriptions, unless I'm mistaken, I have collected a mix of both mostinckxi & ehmckei, which makes me wonder if these eastern susbpecies are valid.
According to the descriptions, both of my males above would be referable to ehmckei, but they were found at the northern limit of the country. I have ragged male specimens from North Kivu that are prefect fits for mostinckxi.
The first female I figured, would also be ehmckei, while the second would be mostinckxi (at this locality I collected both ssp.).

[Cabintom]

I ought to mention that Berger treated ciceronis as a separate species from jodutta. Larsen (Butterflies of West Africa, 2005) & Vande Weghe (Papillons du Gabon, 2010) both treat ciceronis as a subspecies of jodutta.
Van Velzen, in his doctoral thesis (https://edepot.wur.nl/283400), shows that the genetics supports Berger's position. So, it may be more appropriate to refer to DRC specimens as Cymothoe ciceronis .

[daveuk]

More lovely specimens superbly set with impeccable data plus some great information about them. I have Larsen's two volumes Butterflies of West Africa but not the Vande Weghe Papillons du Gabon.

[daveuk]

A pair of C fumana(?)from Cameroun & a badly set (by me) male C haynae from DRC. I am not sure if this is just a form of fumana.

[adamcotton]

I ought to mention that Berger treated ciceronis as a separate species from jodutta. Larsen (Butterflies of West Africa, 2005) & Vande Weghe (Papillons du Gabon, 2010) both treat ciceronis as a subspecies of jodutta.
Van Velzen, in his doctoral thesis (https://edepot.wur.nl/283400), shows that the genetics supports Berger's position. So, it may be more appropriate to refer to DRC specimens as Cymothoe ciceronis .

In cases like this where two phenotypes occur in the same general area it does suggest that there may be more than one species involved, and further studies are needed.

Adam.