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Post by nomad on Oct 14, 2019 10:50:13 GMT
I think the locality is probably correct, as it came from a collector in England, who has one of the biggest world Delias collections, and is very knowledgeable, he started collecting in the 1970s, and has been to New Guinea, and collected with the late Mastright, in several places in the highlands. He has received much material from Henk, but is a "very private collector" who does not usually sell or exchange. He had just as rare/rarer goodies, including females, but a well known vendor/collector had already snapped many of these these up before the show opened, as his prices were very reasonable indeed. He had several paratypes of West New Guinea species from the original collections by Mastright for sale, but my pocket is ever shallow at the present. His two tables of well set Delias at the show were a glory to behold , and I had a very interesting chat with him, about his collecting expeditions with Mastright, the difficulties of collecting in New Guinea etc, and saw photos of his magnificent collections, and several images of drawers containing New Guinea rarities were amazing. Some drawers contained very long series of much sought after Delias. A good experience for a Delias collector, to re-kindle the ever burning flame brighter.
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 14, 2019 15:59:46 GMT
Looks like a great encounter indeed ! I think the Pass Valley locality can be good, as Pass Valley is rather large and 2 different ssp may occur there.
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Post by trehopr1 on Oct 16, 2019 0:27:13 GMT
Are the life histories of many of these rare Delias still largely unknown? How about foodplant preferences?
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 16, 2019 13:43:48 GMT
The life histories of Papuan Delias are largely unknown, even for some common species in collections. This also explains why some females are not found in collections (as they stay in the canopy).
We know that Papuan Delias should eat some kinds of mistletoes.
The life histories of Asian Delias are known, except for rare mountainous species.
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 17, 2019 13:20:38 GMT
A recent addition to my collection, a very rare Delias raymondi shirahatai : I got it in exchange with a very good friend.
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Post by wollastoni on Nov 6, 2019 16:19:17 GMT
One of the few known females of Delias virgo ! Central Mts, Papua, Coll Pequin
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