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''Delias meeki'' is a butterfly from the family
It has a wingspan of 62 mm. The upperside of the males is similar to that of the males of ''Delias niepelti''. The white area of the forewing is more sharply defined, more straight distally, and anteriorly rather more extended. There are two white spots beyond the upper angle of the cell. The underside resembles also that of ''D. niepelti'' but the yellow area of the forewing is much paler and distally straight, the subapical spots are slightly smaller. The hindwing has a yellowish white costal patch which is reaching down to cell. The upperside of the females is black whereas the colouring is rather more extended than on the upperside of the females of ''D. niepelti''. The yellow area of the forewing is more straight distally. The basal half of the hindwing is grey. The area between the second subcosta (SC2) and the first
Delias of the World
meeki Butterflies described in 1904 {{pieridae-stub
Pieridae
The Pieridae are a large family of butterflies with about 76 genera containing about 1,100 species, mostly from tropical Africa and tropical Asia with some varieties in the more northern regions of North America and Eurasia.DeVries P. J. in Levi ...
. It occurs in seven subspecies in West Papua and Papua. The specific name Specific name may refer to:
* in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database
In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules:
* Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...
commemorates English naturalist Albert Stewart Meek
Albert Stewart Meek (26 October 1871 – 1 October 1943) was an English bird collector and naturalist.
Biography
Meek was born on 26 October 1871 in Bow, London, the son of a merchant in natural history. In 1893 he travelled to Australia and ...
who collected the type series in May 1903 at Owgarra north of head of the Aroa River in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. It forms a species group with the sympatric
In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...
species '' Delias niepelti''
Description
It has a wingspan of 62 mm. The upperside of the males is similar to that of the males of ''Delias niepelti''. The white area of the forewing is more sharply defined, more straight distally, and anteriorly rather more extended. There are two white spots beyond the upper angle of the cell. The underside resembles also that of ''D. niepelti'' but the yellow area of the forewing is much paler and distally straight, the subapical spots are slightly smaller. The hindwing has a yellowish white costal patch which is reaching down to cell. The upperside of the females is black whereas the colouring is rather more extended than on the upperside of the females of ''D. niepelti''. The yellow area of the forewing is more straight distally. The basal half of the hindwing is grey. The area between the second subcosta (SC2) and the first radius
In classical geometry, a radius ( : radii) of a circle or sphere is any of the line segments from its center to its perimeter, and in more modern usage, it is also their length. The name comes from the latin ''radius'', meaning ray but also the ...
(R1) or a little beyond these veins is yellowish. On the underside the yellow area of the forewing is paler than in the females of ''D. niepelti''. It is less extended and distally straight. The hindwing shows a yellowish white costal patch which does not extend beyond the first radius not being triangular as in the males but longitudinal.
Subspecies
*''Delias meeki meeki'' (Owen Stanley Range, Papua New Guinea) *''Delias meeki albimarginata'' Talbot, 1929 (Weyland, Paniai, Ilaga, Irian Jaya) *''Delias meeki arfakensis'' Joicey & Talbot, 1922 (Arfak Mountains, Irian Jaya) *''Delias meeki hypochrysis'' Roepke, 1955 (Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya) *''Delias meeki hypoxantha'' Roepke, 1955 (Baliem Valley, Irian Jaya) *''Delias meeki neagra'' Jordan, 1911 (Mount Goliath; Langda, Irian Jaya) *''Delias meeki septentrionalis'' Rothschild, 1924 (Rawlinson Mountains, Papua New Guinea) The nominate race ''D. m. meeki'' occurs in theOwen Stanley Range
Owen Stanley Range is the south-eastern part of the central mountain-chain in Papua New Guinea. Its highest point is Mount Victoria at , while its most prominent peak is Mount Suckling.
History
Owen Stanley Range was seen in 1849 by Captain Owe ...
in Papua New Guinea. ''D. m. neagra'' is known from Mount Goliath at Langda in the Papua Province. ''D. m. arfakensis'' is endemic to the Arfak Mountains in the Papua Province. ''D. m. septentrionalis'' is known from the Rawlinson Mountains in Papua New Guinea. ''D. m. albimarginata'' occurs in the Weyland Mountains, Paniai
Paniai Regency is one of the regencies (''kabupaten'') in Central Papua Province of Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists ...
, Ilaga, Papua Province. The two subspecies ''D. m. hypochrysis'' and ''D. m. hypoxantha'' are both known from the Baliem Valley
The Baliem Valley ( id, Lembah Baliem; also spelled Balim and sometimes known as the Grand Valley) is a valley of the Central Highlands in Western New Guinea. Specifically in Highland Papua, Indonesia, which is inhabited mainly by the Dani peopl ...
in West Papua.
References
*Walter Rothschild: ''Lepidoptera from British New Guinea, Collected by Mr. A. S. Meek''. In: Novitates Zoologicae Vol. XI (1904), p. 316-17External links
Delias of the World
meeki Butterflies described in 1904 {{pieridae-stub