Delias butterflies

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Delias belladonna  Fabricius 1793 green.png

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Delias belladonna ithiela male

Rangli, East Sikkim District, Sikkim (India), May 8, 2011

Picture : Krushnamegh Kunte - Indian Foundation for Butterflies

Subspecies and range of Delias belladonna : 

. belladonna Fabricius 1793 - ? Tonkin, N. Vietnam (TL unknown, HT lost)

. horsfieldi Gray, 1831 - Nepal

               . synonym hearsayi Butler 1885

. ithiela Butler 1869 - Sikkim

. lugens Jordan,1925 - Assam, SE Tibet

. zelima Mitis 1893 - W China

. kwangtungensis Talbot 1928 – Fujian, S China

. hedybia Jordan 1925 - S Myanmar, Thailand

. yukaae Nakano 1993 - NE Thailand, Laos

. endoi Yagishita, 1993 - S Vietnam

. malayana Pendlebury, 1933 - Malaysia

. chrysorrhea van Vollenhoven 1893 - NE Sumatra

. dempoensis Yagishita 1993 - S Sumatra

 

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Notes on Delias belladonna : 

A very widespread species, with a large number of subspecies, ranging in size from D. b. endoi at 55mm wingspan to D. b. yukaae at 82 mm wingspan.


The male is usually common, but the female much less so. It is difficult to distinguish off-hand from other members of the group. The main characteristics being the entirely yellow cell patch of the underside hindwing, the clearly defined discal sub-median patch on the forewing below, the shorter yellow basal patch, and discal spot in cell 6 being usually white.

 

Delias belladonna genitalia :

Jordan in 1925 has drawn these useful genitalia patterns of some belladonna group species, including Delias belladonna. They are useful to tell apart some close species.

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Group belladonna species :