Post by nomad on Mar 28, 2016 9:52:31 GMT
Delias totila is a fairly rare butterfly that occurs in New Britain and New Ireland, there are no described subspecies. This species was described during 1896 by Karl Borromaeus Maria Josef Heller (1864-1945), an Austrian who settled in Dresden in Germany.
Heller had received a few males of D. totila from the collector Herbert Geisler, who with his brother Bruno was collecting in the Papuan area between 1884-1892 for the Dresden Museum. Both Bruno and Otto were mainly taxidermists and ornithologists. On his return to Dresden, Bruno Geisler (1857-1945) became the creator of natural history at the Dresden Museum between 1893-1923.
The syntype males of D. totila are still in the collections at Dresden and they were collected by Geisler at Hebertshoh near Blanch Bay on the Gazelle Peninsula, Eastern New Britain during 1884-1885.
I have two males and one female that were collected in the Baining Mountains of New Britain, Gazelle Peninsula, Eastern New Britain by L. Wills.
I have a further pair of D. totila that were picked up at an Insect Fair that were taken in the Schleinitz Mtns, New Ireland, almost certainly collected by L.W.
The New Ireland pair are smaller than those from New Britain, but what is noticeable is the differences in the forewing ground colour. You can see that the New Ireland specimens have a more orange-yellow. Although there is some hindwing staining, the ground colour looks natural. The New Ireland pair were taken in 2003 while the New Britain pair are more recent, being collected 2012.
I have only seen C. Davenport's images of New Ireland D. totila specimens, and the website's Eichhorn ( Les Day) Exeter Museum specimens images, localities unknown. C.D.calibrated N.I. specimens seem similar to the New Britain ones.
Any Comments appreciated. Perhaps our busy friend mosca1 will see this and comment.
New Britain, Baining Mountains.
Schleinitz mtns, New Ireland,
Heller had received a few males of D. totila from the collector Herbert Geisler, who with his brother Bruno was collecting in the Papuan area between 1884-1892 for the Dresden Museum. Both Bruno and Otto were mainly taxidermists and ornithologists. On his return to Dresden, Bruno Geisler (1857-1945) became the creator of natural history at the Dresden Museum between 1893-1923.
The syntype males of D. totila are still in the collections at Dresden and they were collected by Geisler at Hebertshoh near Blanch Bay on the Gazelle Peninsula, Eastern New Britain during 1884-1885.
I have two males and one female that were collected in the Baining Mountains of New Britain, Gazelle Peninsula, Eastern New Britain by L. Wills.
I have a further pair of D. totila that were picked up at an Insect Fair that were taken in the Schleinitz Mtns, New Ireland, almost certainly collected by L.W.
The New Ireland pair are smaller than those from New Britain, but what is noticeable is the differences in the forewing ground colour. You can see that the New Ireland specimens have a more orange-yellow. Although there is some hindwing staining, the ground colour looks natural. The New Ireland pair were taken in 2003 while the New Britain pair are more recent, being collected 2012.
I have only seen C. Davenport's images of New Ireland D. totila specimens, and the website's Eichhorn ( Les Day) Exeter Museum specimens images, localities unknown. C.D.calibrated N.I. specimens seem similar to the New Britain ones.
Any Comments appreciated. Perhaps our busy friend mosca1 will see this and comment.
New Britain, Baining Mountains.
Schleinitz mtns, New Ireland,
I do hope that your book will be published in the near future.