The Strange History Of Delias mayrhoferi
Oct 5, 2015 12:35:20 GMT
wollastoni, deliasfanatic, and 3 more like this
Post by nomad on Oct 5, 2015 12:35:20 GMT
Delias mayrhoferi is a very beautiful and rare Delias species that occurs in Mountains of Eastern New Britain. In 1995 a Male of D. mayrhoferi was captured in the Baining Mountains and named as D. shunichii by a Japanese collector Morita. The fact that this species was named and published by Bang Haas in 1939 was missed by Morita and a number of the more recent authors that published on Delias. The types of D. mayrhoferi only turned up in 2004 during a review of the Pieridae in German museums. It seems D. mayrhoferi was a forgotten species, having not been collected for over half a century.
Dr Mayrhofer sent three type specimens of D. mayrhoferi to Otto Bang-Haas along with the type specimen of the still almost unknown Papilio moerneri mayrhoferi from the Baining mountains of Eastern New Britain in 1938 or early 1939. Information on Mayrhofer was provided by Axel Steiner of the Museum of Natural History at Karlsruhe in Germany. Axel is one of the joint authors of the paper on D. Mayrhoferi (2009). Since the publication of that paper Axel has found further information on Dr A. Mayrhofer who discovered this rare and beautiful Delias species. His name was P. Alfrons Mayrhofer ( The P. standing for ' Pater or Father ' ). He was a missionari sacratissimi cordis - a missionary of the Sacred Heart. He founded a mission station in the Baining Mountains of eastern New Britian at Lamingi in 1935. He contributed to the ethnological and linguistic studies of the island. Collecting butterflies in this part of New Britain was no easy matter, the terrain was very rough and the natives were often hostile. Quite a few missionaries in this area of New Britain became martyrs to their cause at the hands of the natives. Mayrhofer was in fact tragically killed not by the natives but during the Japanese occupation of that Island. This information was found by Steiner in a ethnological paper by a missionary colleague of Mayrhofer, P. Carl Laufer. Laufer occasionally mentions authors with their academic titles ' Dr ', he does not in the case of A. Mayrhofer. This could have been a error of Bang-Haas or perhaps a corruption of the ' P' before his first name . Axel mentions he is not sure of his nationality either. The name Mayrhofer is common in parts of Austria, not rare in Bavaria and very rare in other parts of Germany and Switzerland. It is not known if he was related to the missionary at Ramale, John Mayrhofer.
On a recent visit to New Britain to look for rare Delias, Chris Davenport came across the grave of P.A. Mayrhofer ( 1905-1943) in the cemetery of the Vunapope Mission, Kokopo near Rabaul. See below.
Delias mayrhoferi male from my collection. Caught in the Baining Mountains of New Britain by Laurie Wills.
Dr Mayrhofer sent three type specimens of D. mayrhoferi to Otto Bang-Haas along with the type specimen of the still almost unknown Papilio moerneri mayrhoferi from the Baining mountains of Eastern New Britain in 1938 or early 1939. Information on Mayrhofer was provided by Axel Steiner of the Museum of Natural History at Karlsruhe in Germany. Axel is one of the joint authors of the paper on D. Mayrhoferi (2009). Since the publication of that paper Axel has found further information on Dr A. Mayrhofer who discovered this rare and beautiful Delias species. His name was P. Alfrons Mayrhofer ( The P. standing for ' Pater or Father ' ). He was a missionari sacratissimi cordis - a missionary of the Sacred Heart. He founded a mission station in the Baining Mountains of eastern New Britian at Lamingi in 1935. He contributed to the ethnological and linguistic studies of the island. Collecting butterflies in this part of New Britain was no easy matter, the terrain was very rough and the natives were often hostile. Quite a few missionaries in this area of New Britain became martyrs to their cause at the hands of the natives. Mayrhofer was in fact tragically killed not by the natives but during the Japanese occupation of that Island. This information was found by Steiner in a ethnological paper by a missionary colleague of Mayrhofer, P. Carl Laufer. Laufer occasionally mentions authors with their academic titles ' Dr ', he does not in the case of A. Mayrhofer. This could have been a error of Bang-Haas or perhaps a corruption of the ' P' before his first name . Axel mentions he is not sure of his nationality either. The name Mayrhofer is common in parts of Austria, not rare in Bavaria and very rare in other parts of Germany and Switzerland. It is not known if he was related to the missionary at Ramale, John Mayrhofer.
On a recent visit to New Britain to look for rare Delias, Chris Davenport came across the grave of P.A. Mayrhofer ( 1905-1943) in the cemetery of the Vunapope Mission, Kokopo near Rabaul. See below.
Delias mayrhoferi male from my collection. Caught in the Baining Mountains of New Britain by Laurie Wills.
