Taxonomic revision of Iolaus lalos Druce, 1896 and proposal of the I. lalos species group in the subgenus Argiolaus Druce, 1891 (Lepidoptera, Lycaenidae, Theclinae) with description of five new taxa

The conspecificity of Iolaus lalos lalos and I. lalos kigezi was doubted based on external characters. The examination of them, supplemented by genitalia characters and distribution patterns of a series of specimens tentatively identified as I. lalos lalos or I. lalos kigezi resulted in the recognition of I. kigezi stat. nov. as a distinct species, as well as four new species, I. ungujensis sp. nov., I. zimbabwensis sp. nov., I. tukuyu sp. nov. and I. rondoensis sp. nov. from the island of Zanzibar, from mountainous forests in Zimbabwe, and from Tanzania, all placed in the newly established “Iolaus lalos species group”. A further new species of different appearance, I. mabuensis sp. nov. from Mount Mabu of Mozambique proved to be a member of this species group, based on genitalia characters.