Notes On Some Papuan Delias From The Owen Stanley Range.
Dec 13, 2015 9:50:00 GMT
wollastoni, deliasfanatic, and 7 more like this
Post by nomad on Dec 13, 2015 9:50:00 GMT
Notes On Some Papuan Delias From The Owen Stanley Range.
Emil Weiske (1867-1950) from Germany, was the first natural history collector to follow one of the Papuan rivers from the coast up into the mountains of the Owen Stanley Range. Between December 1899 and January 1900, Weiske camped at 3000 feet at the Aroa River on the south side of the Owen Stanley Range. Weiske's chosen camping ground produced a wonderful array of new butterflies especially of the Pierine genus Delias. Weiske sent his specimens to his fellow collector Carl Ribbe ( 1860-1934) of Dresden, Germany, who then described the new butterflies. Carl Ribbe, an insect dealer in Berlin, had commissioned Emil Weiske to explore the Owen Stanley Range and other parts of Papua for new butterflies. Weiske also discovered one of New Guinea's most famous and beautiful butterflies, which was named Papilio ( Graphium) weiskei by Ribbe ( 1900) in his honour.
Emil Weiske the German collector and explorer.
Delias weiskei ( Ribbe 1900 )
Among the butterflies that weiske discovered was the very pretty butterfly Delias weiskei . The nominate butterfly is confined to the Owen Stanley Range and to the Wau area of Morobe Province PNG. ssp sayuriae ( Kokano 1989 ) occurs in the Eastern Highlands of PNG.
Here is a link to a very fine photograph of a live Delias weiskei in Papua.
www.delias-butterflies.com/groups/species-groups/group-xi-weiskei-group/delias-weiskei/live-photos-of-delias-weiskei/
Specimens of D. weiskei collected by A.S. Meek. Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Such was Weiske's success, that during 1903 Lord Walter Rothschild sent his own collector ' Albert Stewart Meek ' to follow Weiske's route up the Aroa River . Meek was able to penetrate higher into the Owen Stanley Mountains than Weiske and he managed to collect all of the Delias species that the German collector had discovered. Meek also sent to Rothschild the new and very beautiful G. Weiskei. Weiske had only been able to collect males of his new Delias, probably those that flew along the creeks and streams and those that gathered together on wet places on the ground. Setting up camp at the Head of the Aroa River, Meek was able to collect Delias specimens of both sexes and discovered several new species of that genus. Meek found that the elusive Delias females usually flew high up in the canopy, so he perfected a new ruse. Meek caught specimens of Delias and then placed them with their wings outstretched on leaves in sunlit clearings and thus he was able to lure down the females and catch them.
That " Prince " of collectors Albert Stewart Meek from England.
Among the Delias that Weiske discovered in the Owen Stanley Range are two rather rare species, D. bornemanni and D. itamputi. The 4 male syntypes of D. bornemanni and the 2 male syntypes of D. itamputi , which were in the collection of Ribbe, are now in the Dresden Museum of Natural History in Germany. The finest and largest series of both D. itamputi and D. bornemanni containing specimens of both sexes are from the collections made by Meek and are in the BMNH.
Male Syntypes of D. itamputi, Emil Weiske leg. Ex coll Ribbe . Dresden MNH.
Male Syntypes of D. bornemanni, Emil Weiske leg. Ex coll Ribbe. Dresden MNH.
Delias Itamputi (Ribbe 1900).
Delias itamputi of the Geraldina group is considered by some collectors to be rarer than D. bornemanni and has a very restricted range, being found in a small central part of the Owen Stanley Range of Papua New Guinea. The sexes of Delias itamputi are dimorphic, the female is very rare in private collections. Meek took a series of D. itamputi at Aroa River ( 1903) at the Anabunga River (1905) and on the north side of the Owen Stanley Range at Biagi (1906). The itamputi males from Biagi have extended white verso hindwing areas. D itamputi comes from Malay word meaning black & white one.
Male specimens of D. itamputi collected at Owgarra, Head of the Aroa River by A.S. Meek 1903. Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Male specimens of D. itamputi BMNH.
Female specimens of D. itamputi BMNH.
Delias bornemanni (Ribbe 1900)
In some localities in the Owen Stanley Range, Delias bornemanni is sympatric with both Delias itamputi and Delias weiskei . Meek was able to take a good series of specimens of D. bornemanni at both the Aroa and the Angabunga Rivers. During 1918, this species was found by the Australian collectors, the Eichhorn brothers in the Hydrographer range, lying to south of Popondetta in PNG . This species has also been reported from Mount Kaindi near Wau in Morobe Province. Ribbe named Delias bornemanni after his friend and fellow collector, Bornemann from Germany. He wrote at the end of his description of this species " Named in honour of that avid collector Mr exotics Herr Gustav Bornemann of Madalburg".
Male specimens of D. bornemanni BMNH.
Female specimens of D. bornemanni BMNH.
Delias nais aegle ( Joicey & Talbot 1922)
At Biagi at the head of the Mambare River during 1906, Meek captured five specimens of a Delias that is similar in appearance to D. bornemanni and which is currently known as D. nais aegle. The D. nais aegle specimens from Biagi have reddish-brown verso hindwing markings similar to those of D. bornemanni. Jordan (1912) originally considered D. nais a subspecies of D. bornemanni. Joicey and Talbot (1922) wrote " At Owgarra in the same region, the allied bornemanni Ribbe occurs, and it is possible that nais may be a race of this, as was considered by Jordan ". Meek's small series of D. nais aegle, remain the only known specimens of this very rare taxon. Today, D. nais is recognized as a good species but there is still some doubt as to the taxonomic position of its subspecies aegle.
Male specimens of D. nais aegle BMNH.
Female specimens of D. nais aegle BMNH.
Male specimen of D. nais Keysseri from Kerowagi, Chimbu Province Papua NG.
The Missonary collectors.
After the period of the pioneer professional collectors was over, specimens of Papuan Delias from the Owen Stanley Range emanated forth from missionaries who worked at their remote mountains stations and they were also collected by Australian expats . A productive period in Papuan insects from this area was during the 1960s/ 1970s, when it was still Australian New Guinea, with its stable government and police force consisting in the highlands of hardy committed patrol officers.
One such missionary who collected butterflies in the Owen Stanley Range during 1971-1973 was an American Ron Rivers. Ron worked at a number of missions in Papua, such as Lufa, Walaya. Kassam Pass, Frigano, Woitape and Kosipe. During his spare time, Rivers collected butterflies including Delias. While Ron Rivers was at Woitape and nearby Kosipe missions he was able to take among others a few specimens of both D. bornemanni and D. itamputi. Recently I was able to obtain a specimen each of D. itamputi and D. bornemanni that were collected by Ron Rivers at Woitape during 1971.
Today, both D. bornemanni and D. itamputi have been reported from Kosipe, Tapini and Woitape. Delias bornemanni has also been found at Erume ( 1977) and Delias itamputi on Mount Yule ( 1987). A.S. Meek in his fine book ' A Naturalist in Cannibal Land ' ( 1913), mentions that the highlands of the Owen stanley Range were alpine in appearance with grasslands surrounded by mountains clothed in montane rain forest. Today, much of the Papuan lowland forest has been logged but hopefully the loggers have not yet ascended the higher ranges. Today it is well known by those that collect insects from Papua, the rarer species are very hard to come by .
Kosipe in the Owen Stanley Range Papua, the hills in the background are have both D. itamputi and D. boremannni and many other Delias butterflies.
I would like to thank Chris Davenport for his permission to use his high quality images in this article.
Peter.
Emil Weiske (1867-1950) from Germany, was the first natural history collector to follow one of the Papuan rivers from the coast up into the mountains of the Owen Stanley Range. Between December 1899 and January 1900, Weiske camped at 3000 feet at the Aroa River on the south side of the Owen Stanley Range. Weiske's chosen camping ground produced a wonderful array of new butterflies especially of the Pierine genus Delias. Weiske sent his specimens to his fellow collector Carl Ribbe ( 1860-1934) of Dresden, Germany, who then described the new butterflies. Carl Ribbe, an insect dealer in Berlin, had commissioned Emil Weiske to explore the Owen Stanley Range and other parts of Papua for new butterflies. Weiske also discovered one of New Guinea's most famous and beautiful butterflies, which was named Papilio ( Graphium) weiskei by Ribbe ( 1900) in his honour.
Emil Weiske the German collector and explorer.
Delias weiskei ( Ribbe 1900 )
Among the butterflies that weiske discovered was the very pretty butterfly Delias weiskei . The nominate butterfly is confined to the Owen Stanley Range and to the Wau area of Morobe Province PNG. ssp sayuriae ( Kokano 1989 ) occurs in the Eastern Highlands of PNG.
Here is a link to a very fine photograph of a live Delias weiskei in Papua.
www.delias-butterflies.com/groups/species-groups/group-xi-weiskei-group/delias-weiskei/live-photos-of-delias-weiskei/
Specimens of D. weiskei collected by A.S. Meek. Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Such was Weiske's success, that during 1903 Lord Walter Rothschild sent his own collector ' Albert Stewart Meek ' to follow Weiske's route up the Aroa River . Meek was able to penetrate higher into the Owen Stanley Mountains than Weiske and he managed to collect all of the Delias species that the German collector had discovered. Meek also sent to Rothschild the new and very beautiful G. Weiskei. Weiske had only been able to collect males of his new Delias, probably those that flew along the creeks and streams and those that gathered together on wet places on the ground. Setting up camp at the Head of the Aroa River, Meek was able to collect Delias specimens of both sexes and discovered several new species of that genus. Meek found that the elusive Delias females usually flew high up in the canopy, so he perfected a new ruse. Meek caught specimens of Delias and then placed them with their wings outstretched on leaves in sunlit clearings and thus he was able to lure down the females and catch them.
That " Prince " of collectors Albert Stewart Meek from England.
Among the Delias that Weiske discovered in the Owen Stanley Range are two rather rare species, D. bornemanni and D. itamputi. The 4 male syntypes of D. bornemanni and the 2 male syntypes of D. itamputi , which were in the collection of Ribbe, are now in the Dresden Museum of Natural History in Germany. The finest and largest series of both D. itamputi and D. bornemanni containing specimens of both sexes are from the collections made by Meek and are in the BMNH.
Male Syntypes of D. itamputi, Emil Weiske leg. Ex coll Ribbe . Dresden MNH.
Male Syntypes of D. bornemanni, Emil Weiske leg. Ex coll Ribbe. Dresden MNH.
Delias Itamputi (Ribbe 1900).
Delias itamputi of the Geraldina group is considered by some collectors to be rarer than D. bornemanni and has a very restricted range, being found in a small central part of the Owen Stanley Range of Papua New Guinea. The sexes of Delias itamputi are dimorphic, the female is very rare in private collections. Meek took a series of D. itamputi at Aroa River ( 1903) at the Anabunga River (1905) and on the north side of the Owen Stanley Range at Biagi (1906). The itamputi males from Biagi have extended white verso hindwing areas. D itamputi comes from Malay word meaning black & white one.
Male specimens of D. itamputi collected at Owgarra, Head of the Aroa River by A.S. Meek 1903. Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Male specimens of D. itamputi BMNH.
Female specimens of D. itamputi BMNH.
Delias bornemanni (Ribbe 1900)
In some localities in the Owen Stanley Range, Delias bornemanni is sympatric with both Delias itamputi and Delias weiskei . Meek was able to take a good series of specimens of D. bornemanni at both the Aroa and the Angabunga Rivers. During 1918, this species was found by the Australian collectors, the Eichhorn brothers in the Hydrographer range, lying to south of Popondetta in PNG . This species has also been reported from Mount Kaindi near Wau in Morobe Province. Ribbe named Delias bornemanni after his friend and fellow collector, Bornemann from Germany. He wrote at the end of his description of this species " Named in honour of that avid collector Mr exotics Herr Gustav Bornemann of Madalburg".
Male specimens of D. bornemanni BMNH.
Female specimens of D. bornemanni BMNH.
Delias nais aegle ( Joicey & Talbot 1922)
At Biagi at the head of the Mambare River during 1906, Meek captured five specimens of a Delias that is similar in appearance to D. bornemanni and which is currently known as D. nais aegle. The D. nais aegle specimens from Biagi have reddish-brown verso hindwing markings similar to those of D. bornemanni. Jordan (1912) originally considered D. nais a subspecies of D. bornemanni. Joicey and Talbot (1922) wrote " At Owgarra in the same region, the allied bornemanni Ribbe occurs, and it is possible that nais may be a race of this, as was considered by Jordan ". Meek's small series of D. nais aegle, remain the only known specimens of this very rare taxon. Today, D. nais is recognized as a good species but there is still some doubt as to the taxonomic position of its subspecies aegle.
Male specimens of D. nais aegle BMNH.
Female specimens of D. nais aegle BMNH.
Male specimen of D. nais Keysseri from Kerowagi, Chimbu Province Papua NG.
The Missonary collectors.
After the period of the pioneer professional collectors was over, specimens of Papuan Delias from the Owen Stanley Range emanated forth from missionaries who worked at their remote mountains stations and they were also collected by Australian expats . A productive period in Papuan insects from this area was during the 1960s/ 1970s, when it was still Australian New Guinea, with its stable government and police force consisting in the highlands of hardy committed patrol officers.
One such missionary who collected butterflies in the Owen Stanley Range during 1971-1973 was an American Ron Rivers. Ron worked at a number of missions in Papua, such as Lufa, Walaya. Kassam Pass, Frigano, Woitape and Kosipe. During his spare time, Rivers collected butterflies including Delias. While Ron Rivers was at Woitape and nearby Kosipe missions he was able to take among others a few specimens of both D. bornemanni and D. itamputi. Recently I was able to obtain a specimen each of D. itamputi and D. bornemanni that were collected by Ron Rivers at Woitape during 1971.
Today, both D. bornemanni and D. itamputi have been reported from Kosipe, Tapini and Woitape. Delias bornemanni has also been found at Erume ( 1977) and Delias itamputi on Mount Yule ( 1987). A.S. Meek in his fine book ' A Naturalist in Cannibal Land ' ( 1913), mentions that the highlands of the Owen stanley Range were alpine in appearance with grasslands surrounded by mountains clothed in montane rain forest. Today, much of the Papuan lowland forest has been logged but hopefully the loggers have not yet ascended the higher ranges. Today it is well known by those that collect insects from Papua, the rarer species are very hard to come by .
Kosipe in the Owen Stanley Range Papua, the hills in the background are have both D. itamputi and D. boremannni and many other Delias butterflies.
I would like to thank Chris Davenport for his permission to use his high quality images in this article.
Peter.