Rare Delias.

[indra]

How do I delete my previous D. funerea quote post?

[wollastoni]

I saw one female of hempeli for sale in Juvisy 4 or 5 years ago... but it was a 4-figure price so I let it to the Japanese visitors. :-)

[deliasfanatic]

Apr 25, 2016 20:25:26 GMT indra said:

How do I delete my previous D. funerea quote post?

I've removed it for you.

[Adam Cotton]

"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."

Sorry I didn't remember that. There are so many Delias species, even more than Papilio.

Adam.

[nomad]

I look forward to seeing indra's female hempeli on here. I have not yet seen one in a private collection. I have  yet to see the female for sale on an established dealers list but if anyone can point the way, let me know and I will take a look.

[phalaecus]

Apr 24, 2016 21:25:45 GMT wollastoni said:

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.

Here I attach the PDF of the original description of Delias hempeli sadakatsui.

[wollastoni]

Grazie Maurizio.

If I find admirable the discovery of this rare species on new islands, I feel those ssp description are a bit "japanotypes" :I see no real difference with the nominate.
In the same paper, Delias vietnamensis yasusukei is also a doubtful ssp to me (See also Davenport comment in his 2015 paper about this species).

It would be interesting to have long series of specimens of each island to draw a more serious conclusions, but due to the rarity of the species, I am afraid we will never have it.

Olivier

[nomad]

Delias hempeli sadakatsui MORITA ssp. nov description is based on one male, not exactly good science. I have my doubts about most of the so called supspecies from  Morotai Is, it being so close to Halmahera.

[deliasfanatic]

Very true; both new hempeli ssp were described from single males. All we can do is say "maybe" until larger series eventually become available. D. funerea has a very distinct Morotai ssp, but I agree that most others are little if any different.

[indra]

Here is a photo of my Delias hempeli hempeli F from Halmahera as promised.

    John G. Pasko

[indra]

Delias hempeli hempeli F dorsal side.

   John G. Pasko

[nomad]

Super specimen John. Congratulations and thank you for sharing here.

[wollastoni]

OK let's talk about rare game now, Delias putih putih and Delias putih tamamitsui are very rare members of the albertisi group.

They live in the Weyland mountains of West Papua and are extremely rare in collection.

I got the nominate ssp via an exchange with a fellow Delias collector and the tamamitsui in Paris Drouot auctions thanks to another friend.

They are much smaller than discus or albertisi, I let some discus specimens on the picture for you to see the scale.

ssp. putih was described by Henk van Mastrigt in 1995. In the same time, Jean-François Labbé caught a more orange ssp, he was close to describe it with Turlin, but Labbé made the error to sell some of his specimens to a famous Balinese insect seller on his way back to France... some specimens arrived in the expert hands of Morita who described this new ssp as tamamitsui.

[nomad]

I was pleased to obtain a female Delias ellipsis for my collection. Data= Bred from a wild collected larva. An endemic of New Caledonia. I have heard reports that this species may become unavailable due to new collecting restrictions.

 

[wollastoni]

Congrats Peter.
Females are indeed harder to find.

Delias ellipsis has been raised by a French entomologist in Noumea that's why few females are available on the market, otherwise they are rarely caught in the wild.
All New Caledonian butterflies are or will soon be "protected", even if common. Local Parliament has more and more power, including the one of voting stupid and counter-productive insect collecting ban.

Delias ellipsis is a very unique Delias species, and maybe the most beautiful of them.

Here are my pairs :