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Delias alepa ssp. alepa
Delias is a species of Pieridae butterfly in the subfamily Pierinae. There are about 225 described species in the family Delias, often with brightly coloured patterned wings. Males can sometimes be found imbibing moisture at the edges of streams. Both sexes very mobile and are more often seen in flight then settled. Wingspan is 65 - 75mm (2.5 - 3 inches)
Found along a mountain stream at 7175 Ft, 2174 meters, surrounded by primary montane rainforest.
Spotted on Oct 6, 2018
Submitted on Dec 5, 2018
3 Comments
Fantastic photo, and wonderful spotting, Pam. Looks like a painting.
Hi Lauren, Think these came from 4 spots, but most of them were found around the same stream which we visited several times. The guide said they have found 36 different ones along that steep mountain stream at different times of the year. But they are found all over Papua. It's a mission of love to find them though, scrambling up very slippery rounded rocks in the stream, with primary forest right to the waters edge. I still have pain from a cracked rib and my camera took a complete dunking in the water when I fell !! Pays to buy a good waterproof camera ! Haha !
Wow Pam! I counted 12 different species of Delias and all gorgeous! How wide ranging did you have to go to get that many species?