Antinephele bouyeri Deschamps, 2017

Antinephele bouyeri was distinguished from Antinephele achlora by its on average slightly smaller size and darker brown forewing upperside ground colour, the finer postdiscal lines on the forewing upperside and the more reduced and clearly elongate small white spots near to the postdiscal band, although Deschamps (2017) (STI 21724) considered that “the differences between the two populations [taxa] are not very important”. However, they were, in addition to a DNA barcode divergence of 1.87% and the geographical range disjunction, considered sufficient to justify species status for Antinephele bouyeri. Examination of 26 putative Antinephele achlora and 10 Antinephele bouyeri in the NHMUK has confirmed that none of the habitus characters holds as being diagnostic for Antinephele bouyeri, at least in older specimens (fresh material may show a clearer colour difference). The DNA barcode divergence of 1.87% (and it was not stated whether this was a minimum or maximum value) is that between two Antinephele achlora from a locality in central Democratic Republic of Congo and three Antinephele bouyeri from essentially one locality in Togo. Given the small sample size, and that the former species may range from Nigeria to western Kenya and the latter west from Togo to Sierra Leone, the cited divergence of 1.87% is indicative at best. The male and female genitalia were not studied and so it is not known whether there are any differences in the morphology of these structures. In view of these uncertainties, species status for Antinephele bouyeri is maintained here but with reservations.