Rare Delias.

[nomad]

Mar 28, 2016 15:20:49 GMT wollastoni said:

A beautiful Delias, present in very few collection 

I agree on both counts A beautiful species that is not present in mine. 

[deliasfanatic]

Mar 29, 2016 13:09:11 GMT nomad said:

It seems that some dealers as still trying to sell Delias luctuosa specimens as Delias mesoblema

See www.schmetterling-laden.de/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=56&category_id=11&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=26&vmcchk=1&Itemid=26

That's due to a mixup in D'Abrera, and it has persisted for decades.

[wollastoni]

Mar 29, 2016 13:09:11 GMT nomad said:

It seems that some dealers as still trying to sell Delias luctuosa specimens as Delias mesoblema

Indeed, Les Day said on the Delias website that it was a common practice in the past : www.delias-butterflies.com/groups/species-groups/group-x-iltis-group/delias-mesoblema/
I didn't know it came from a d'Abrera error.

I have written to this German seller to inform him of his mistake.

[wollastoni]

Another rare Delias, and maybe an interesting key to understand/revise the autumnalis/hiemalis complex : Delias hiemalis form hitam
Described by my master Henk van Mastrigt in 2000.


Mulia - Ilu
West Papua
Nov 1991
Coll. Pequin

Very rare in collection ! 
Personnally it tends to confirm that hiemalis would be a form of autumnalis, as in Mulia flies autumnalis hiberna with such black FW. 

[nomad]

What are the differences between this form and normal Delias hiemalis ?

[wollastoni]

Typical Delias hiemalis hiemalis have a grey band in FW, see the difference here :

- 3rd rank : 2 typical Delias hiemalis hiemalis, and below them the form hitam.

[nomad]

A nice female specimen of the nominate Delias funerea from Halmahera, which I acquired at Entomodena. This species was discovered by Will Doherty in August 1892 and named by Rothschild in 1894 in his publication 'Novitates Zoologicae'. The female has been rarely offered until recently.

[Adam Cotton]

Novitates Zoologicae was the journal of the Tring Museum, edited by Lord Rothschild, Ernst Hartert and Karl Jordan. The original description of Delias funerea appeared in volume 1 on page 662. The title of the paper (pp. 661-662) was "On Five New Delias Collected by William Doherty in the East".

All 42 volumes of Novitates Zoologicae are available on BHL at www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/3882.

I see you caught Delias hempeli in Entomodena.
Where does this species really come from?

Adam.

[deliasfanatic]

Apr 24, 2016 18:54:51 GMT Adam Cotton said:

I see you caught Delias hempeli in Entomodena.
Where does this species really come from?

Adam.

Adam - I'll reply so that I can also draw Olivier's attention to this species:

Nominate hempeli is from Halmahera. There were also two subspecies described in Japan in recent times; both must be very rare in collections, as I've never seen mention of them outside of the original descriptions:

miekoae Morita 1995 - Bachan and Kasiruta

sadakatsui Morita 2003 - Morotai

Olivier - I notice that the latter is missing from the Delias website. Offhand I think it was described in FUTAO but I can check if you like.

[wollastoni]

Thanks Danny, I will add them on the website !

I wasn't aware of sadakatsui.

Would be happy to read the describtion if you have it.

[Adam Cotton]

If Danny doesn't have it I can provide a copy if you tell me which issue it was described in. I have numbers 1-56, except for number 40.

Adam.

[Paul K]

Not rare, but beautiful Delias hyparete.


from the left : D.hyparete indica , Bangkok-Prawet 8 Dec 2015,
second row, 2nd from top D.hyparete metarete , Koh Samui-Hut Lamai 13-17 Mar 2016.

Now, bid that "Delias Collectors"!   

[nomad]

Apr 24, 2016 18:54:51 GMT Adam Cotton said:

I see you caught Delias hempeli in Entomodena.
Where does this species really come from?

Adam.

I usually add notes when I show my specimens, but since I posted my original specimen of D. hempeli with information on page 7 of this thread did not repeat them here. Both specimens were added to my collection via the well know dealer Andreas muller the insect collector.  Although the collectors in Halmahera like to keep their locality for this species a secret, he seems to think they came from the south-western area of the Island.

[nomad]

Apr 25, 2016 18:10:23 GMT Paul K said:

Not rare, but beautiful Delias hyparete.


from the left : D.hyparete indica , Bangkok-Prawet 8 Dec 2015,
second row, 2nd from top D.hyparete metarete , Koh Samui-Hut Lamai 13-17 Mar 2016.

Now, bid that "Delias Collectors"!   

Nice Fresh specimens, self caught and excellent spreading 

[indra]

I recently received a female D. hempeli from Halmahera, but it is not yet pinned. I will post a photo when I do. I have heard of a couple of other females recently available as well.