REVISION OF THE GENUS YPTHIMA IN THE ETHIOPIAN REGION EXCLUDING MADAGASCAR (LEPIDOPTERA, SATYRIDAE) by JAN KIELLAND 4916 Boröy, Norway Abstract The Afrotropical species of the genus Ypthima are revised. All known species and sub-species are described, including the following new taxa: Y. condamini, Y. jacksoni, Y. lam-to, Y. vuattouxi, Y. yatta, Y. antennata comesi, Y. condamini nigeriae and Y. pupillaris obscurata. The female of Y. diplommata Overlaet is described for the first time. Keys are provided based on the male and female genitalia. Photographs of the butterflies and free-hand drawings of the male and female genitalia are given, as well as distribution maps of all known species and subspecies. Introduction The genus Ypthima was erected and de-scribed by Hübner (1818). Ypthima huebnen (Kirby, 1871) (an Indian species), was desig-nated type-species by the Commission. Since Elwes & Edwards (1893) revised the genus, no attempt has been made to give a complete sur-vey of the Ypthima species occurring on the Af-rican continent. Other students have dealt with species from certain parts of Africa only, mainly from relatively well accessible areas. This has led to many misidentifications and a confusing synonymy. In this paper an attempt is made to give an up-to-date account of the genus Ypthima occur-ring on the African continent. Work was long hampered and delayed due to the difficulty in obtaining enough material of some of the spe-cies from various parts of Africa. To get a com-paratively clear picture of the distribution of the various species, it has been necessary to write to many private collectors and institutions for loan or exchange of material. To start with, the au-thor's private collection from Tanzania and the large collection in the National Museum, Nai-robi, were studied and arranged. It was soon ap-parent that this was by no means enough, so re-quests were made for type material and photo-graphs from various museums in Europe and South Africa. They were generously supplied and did help to a great extent. Later, large col-lections from the Ivory Coast revealed species not yet described and many other interesting facts. Finally, a study was made of the extensive Ypthima collections in the British Museum (Nat. Hist.) and this revealed further interesting facts and helped to clear up some difficulties. As many of the Ypthima species are extreme-ly variable during the seasons and often external characters alone are of little use in identifica-tion, extensive dissections were carried out and a key was made, mainly based on the genitalia of both males and females. Apart from the geni-talia, also antennae, labial palps and fore legs were examined. In spite of generous help from institutions and private persons, further study is needed on this group, particularly with regard to distribu-tion and subspeciation. There are many parts of Africa from where it is not easy to obtain enough material. Acknowledgements The writer is greatly indebted to Mr. M. Clif-ton of the National Museum, Nairobi, for loan of specimens and free access to the Museum's collections, for undertaking photographing and for sound advice; to the keeper of Entomology and staff of the British Museum (Nat. Hist.'), particularly to Mr. T. G. Howarth, Mr. R. I. Vane-Wright and Mr. P. R. Ackery for dissect-ing types, for presenting the writer with photo-copies of Hterature, loan of specimens, free ac-cess to the museum's collections and valuable information and advice; to Dr. M. Condamin, I.F.A.N., Dakar for presenting 40 specimens of 99
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