Post by nomad on May 20, 2014 12:07:07 GMT -8
A recent addition. Delias messalina vigasa female. November 2008 - 2300 meters Mount Aseki - Baining mountains East New Britain. Collected by Laurie Wills.
Delias messalina is a very rare beauty and an especially difficult species to obtain. This species was discovered by William Brandt at the remote village of Guava in May 1953 in the mountains of Bougainville. It is surprising that this very distinct species was not described until 1983 by Ramnik Arora of the BMNH. Since that time four other subspecies have been found, two quite recently. William ( Bill )Brandt came to Australia in 1949 from Sweden and was employed by the wealthy Sir Edward Hallstrom to collect butterflies for five years in New Guinea and its Islands. Around 1955 Hallstrom lost interest in butterflies and his collection was donated to the Australian National Insect Collection at Canberra. While Brandt collected for Hallstrom, the latter insisted that his name appeared on all the data labels. Brandt went on to collect butterflies for a further 15 years in the Australian Region working for Bishop's Museum of Hawaii, but many of the impressive specimens that he captured went to ANIC.
Delias messalina is a very rare beauty and an especially difficult species to obtain. This species was discovered by William Brandt at the remote village of Guava in May 1953 in the mountains of Bougainville. It is surprising that this very distinct species was not described until 1983 by Ramnik Arora of the BMNH. Since that time four other subspecies have been found, two quite recently. William ( Bill )Brandt came to Australia in 1949 from Sweden and was employed by the wealthy Sir Edward Hallstrom to collect butterflies for five years in New Guinea and its Islands. Around 1955 Hallstrom lost interest in butterflies and his collection was donated to the Australian National Insect Collection at Canberra. While Brandt collected for Hallstrom, the latter insisted that his name appeared on all the data labels. Brandt went on to collect butterflies for a further 15 years in the Australian Region working for Bishop's Museum of Hawaii, but many of the impressive specimens that he captured went to ANIC.
