Delias butterflies of New Guinea and its Islands

Delias kummeri [Ribbe 1900] was discovered by E. Weiske at the Aroa River in the Owen Stanley Range in the then British New Guinea during 1899. The specimen of D. kummeri shown is from the H. Grose-Smith collection and was presented to the OUMNH by James John Joicey of the private Hill museum. Emil weiske [1867-1950] was a German collector who discovered a number of butterflies in the Owen Stanley Range, including Delias Bornemanni and Delias Weiskei, both of which have been shown in this thread. He is perhaps best known for discovering the famous and very beautiful Graphuim weskei which was named in his honour. A.S. Meek on his very successful expeditions to the Aroa River during 1903 and 1905 would encounter most of the species that were previously found by E. Weiske. Meek was most anxious to obtain the new butterflies for Lord Rothschild, especially the new Papilio. He wrote in 1903 " I was now at some 3000 feet high, and I was encouraged by the sight of a very beautiful butterfly, Papilio weiskei, named after a German collector who had spent some months in the district previously. I was anxious to obtain specimens of it, and I was determined to make my headquarters' camp at that spot with a secondary camp at a higher elevation" At the higher camp near the head of the Aroa River Meek mentions that he made a very fine collection of Delias butterflies and goes on to say " All the butterflies are found near the creeks. I suppose it is because it is warmer at night there. I sent collectors up the mountain until I was tired; they never got anything. It was in the gullies and creeks the butterflies were found. The Delias fly up and down the creeks about twelve feet off the ground and until I found out how to catch them we got very few. The successful lure was to fix an old specimen on a leaf in the sun with the wings outspread; the others could not resist that. It was like attracting parrots with a wounded one of their number. The purple shouldered Papilio we only got in one place, at a soakage close to a creek bank. The Delias, I found all feed on mistletoe as caterpillars. It seems all of one kind, but I fancy that, as it grows on the different trees, so it takes slightly different characteristics and forms the foodplant of the several butterflies" The Alfred Stewart Meek extracts are from his fabulous book, A Naturalist in Cannibal Land [ 1913].



A Specimen of Delias Kummeri kummeri captured by Emil Weiske at the Aroa River.
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