Descriptions of seven new <i>Pilodeudorix<i. Druce, 1891 from equatorial Africa (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Theclinae)

Recent field surveys have revealed three new species of Pilodeudorix from Liberia, P. putu sp. nov. and P. intermedia sp. nov., which might be associated with upland forests, plus P. mano sp. nov. from the submontane zone of the East Nimba Nature Reserve. Another four new species were discovered amongst the Pilodeudorix material at the African Butterfly Research Institute, Nairobi. Three were collected recently, P. minuta sp. nov. and P. csomae sp. nov. in Cameroon and P. nyungwe sp. nov. in the Nyungwe Forest, in the highlands of south-western Rwanda. The fourth species, P. virgatoides sp. nov. from Central Africa, was found by DNA-sequencing of P. virgata specimens, which showed a significant 3,5% difference between the sequences of the central and eastern populations on one hand and those of the western population on the other hand.