Delias butterflies

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Delias geraldina  Grose-Smith 1894 green.png

Subspecies and range of Delias geraldina :

. geraldina Grose-Smith 1894 - Central Highlands, Papua New Guinea

            (Homonym weiskei    - Ribbe 1900)

. emilia Rothschild & Jordan 1904 - Oetakwa River, Papua

. sidera Roepke 1955 - Wamena, Baliem Valley, Papua

. vaneechoudi Roepke 1955 - Weyland Mtns & Paniai, Papua

. vogelcopensis Yagishita 1990 - Arfak & Wandammen Mtns, Papua

. masakoae Najano 1998 - Star Mountains, Kec Okbibab, Papua

. onin Yagishita 2003 - Fakfak, Papua

 

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Notes about Delias geraldina :

 

A common species, though the female is rarely seen.


Male: Upperside white. Fore wing with black distal area not reaching the cell and narrowed to the tornus, its edge slightly curved and sharply defined. Hind wing without a marginal border but with a fine black line on the margin; the fringes are black.

Underside of forewing with proximal two-thirds white. A blackish-brown costal stripe extending along the upper half of cell, and touching its lower margin more or less broadly near the base, sometimes filling the cell as far as vein 3, it curves on the discocellulars forming a spot which is of variable size. The blackish-brown distal area often extends to and becomes merged with the discoidal spot. The amount of white area which remains in the cell or which extends beyond the cell is of variable extent. There is a row of five small yellow submarginal spots. Hind wing with blackish-brown ground-colour with markings sulphur-yellow or of a deeper colour. A discal band of variable width, white, marked with six short yellow bars; this band is distally excurved at the middle, with a sharply defined edge. It is joined to a yellow costal stripe which reaches the base, and posteriorly it is connected with a yellow inner marginal area often powdered with the ground-colour. Outer half of cell occupied by an ovate spot of variable size. A row of six somewhat rounded submarginal spots of nearly equal size, placed near the margin.

Female: Upperside similar to the male but with a yellow tinge. The black area of the fore wing usually broader. Hind wing with a narrow black marginal border which is wider anteriorly.

Underside similar to the male. White of fore wing with a slight yellow tinge. Hind wing discal band sometimes broader than in the male. Submarginal spots orange, smaller than in the male.

Group geraldina species :