Euliphyra leucyania (Hewitson 1874)

Euliphyra leucyania Hewitson
Liphyra leucyania Hewitson, 1874c: 355; 1878 [1862-1878] supplement: 34; pi. 5b, fig. 2 [S only; 9 described (and fig. 1)=9 E. mirifica Holland (see below); described as from Old Calabar, but may have been from Sierra Leone (see Bethune-Baker and Eltringham, in Lamborn et al., 1914: 504)]. Euliphyra leucyania: Bethune-Baker and Eltringham, in Lamborn et al., 1914: 504 ff., pi. 27, figs. 1-4. Aurivillius, 1920 [1908-1925]: 344; pi. 64c. Bethune-Baker, 1925: 204. =Euliphyra sjostedti Aurivillius, 1895b: 204; fig. 13 ( ? ).
For some strange reason Bethune-Baker and Eltringham {in Lamborn, 1914: 506) and later Bethune-Baker alone (1925: 204) referred Aurivillius' name sjostedti to E. mirifica as a subspecies, in which they have been followed by Stempffer (1957a: 24). Aurivillius' figure (1895b) is unmistakable and he later (1920) correctly synonymized it himself.
This species ranges possibly from Sierra Leone (see above) to Nigeria, south through Cameroon and Gabon, at least to the lower Congo River (near Leopoldville, in C. M.). It has not previously been reported from Liberia.
Liberia: Bigtown, 1 2 (Naysmith); Harbel, 1 <5 , 1, 1 $ , IV (Fox).

Euliphyra leucyania, the lesser moth butterfly, is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It is found in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, southern Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Sankuru), western Uganda and north-western Tanzania. The habitat consists of forests.

Adults have a weak, moth-like flight.

The larvae live in the nests of the ant species Oecophylla longinoda (weaver ant).