Sáfián Szabolcs, a leading authority on West African butterflies from the Institute of Silviculture and Forest Protection, University of West Hungary, and an IITA collaborator, has discovered a new species of butterfly in Cross River, southeast Nigeria.
The new species was named Neurellipes rhoko after the Rhoko River conservation area in the Cross River Loop where it was first discovered during an exploratory trip by Szabolcs and his supervisor, Deni Bown, Manager of the IITA Forest Project, to the Rhoko Forest Reserve.
The conservation area is maintained by the Centre for Education, Research and Conservation of Primates and Nature (CERCOPAN). The aim of the trip was to compare the richness and abundance of flora and butterflies in the Rhoko Reserve and the IITA Forest. Specimens of N. rhoko were caught and compared with species in the same genus at the IITA Forest and with specimens at the African Butterfly Research Institute, Nairobi. Differences in appearance, coloring, behavior, and genitalia confirmed the status of N. rhoko as a new species.
The newly discovered species belongs to the forest dwelling Neurellipes mahota group in which scientists had long recognized three species: N. georgiadisi, N. gola, and N. mahota. These are separated by bio-geographical gaps and subtle differences in appearance and structure. But despite extensive scientific studies of butterflies in West Africa, the newly discovered species had remained unknown until now.
Details of the discovery, published in the September 2014 edition of Zootaxa–the foremost journal in zoological taxonomy– conclusively validates the discovery, providing in the process, new and exciting knowledge on entomology in general and the scientific study of butterflies in particular.
Butterflies are indicators of a healthy environment and ecosystems and part of the natural heritage. They have been studied for centuries to investigate many areas of biological research, including such diverse fields as navigation, pest control, evolution, genetics, population dynamics, and biodiversity conservation. The IITA Forest Reserve is one of the few surviving secondary forests in southwest Nigeria and is the best protected, with more than 230 different butterfly species. It has been at the forefront of butterfly research in Nigeria, partnering with academics in facilitating ground- breaking research such as this.
For more details, please contact: Andrea Gros, a.gros@cgiar.org
About IITA www.iita.org
The International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) is one of the world’s leading research partners in finding solutions for hunger, malnutrition, and poverty. Its award-winning research for development (R4D) approach addresses the development needs of tropical countries. IITA works with partners to enhance crop quality and productivity, reduce producer and consumer risks, and generate wealth from agriculture. IITA is a non-profit organization founded in 1967 in Nigeria and governed by a Board of Trustees. IITA works on the following crops: cowpea, soybean, banana/plantain, yam, cassava, and maize. IITA is a member of CGIAR, a global agriculture research partnership for a food secure future.
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