Delias leucobalia Jordan 1911 
Delias leucobalia leucobalia
Owen Stanley Range
2 August 2018
Picture by Kristof Zyskowski
Subspecies and range of Delias leucobalia :
leucobalia Jordan 1911 - Mount Groome, Papua New Guinea
. distincta Rothschild 1915 - Snow Mountains, Korupun, Tiom, Lake Habbema, Papua
(Synonym ericetorum Roepke 1955)
Notes on Delias leucobalia :
This species can be differentiated from the others in the Group by the forewing underside having three large white spots near the lower outer margin.
It is the rarest species in collection of the eichhorni group. Delias leucobalia flies in very high altitude where the weather is often rainy and cloudy. It is said it is the only montainous Papuan Delias which can be seen flying in cloudy/rainy days.
Original Description - Jordan (1911. Novitates Zoologicae xviii)- "Male: The upperside of the fore wing is entirely black, with a slight white suffusion in the basal half, the greater part of the median vein and the bases of its two branches are white; beyond the apex of the cell there is a rounded spot at the costal margin, followed by a short streak upon R², the row being continued by three larger submarginal spots; between this row and the apex there is a nearly straight series of four white spots, all these spots being more or less diffuse at their edges. The outer margin bears three minute white dots. The hind wing is white with a faint yellowish tone, and has a small diffuse, blackish central patch at the base. The black outer border bears a row of four white spots, of which the second is the most prominent one, the others being more or less shaded with black; the black band reaches to M², almost gradually narrowing posteriorly, and being widest along R¹, where it measures 9-10 mm. in breadth; its inner edge is rounded-elbowed between R¹ and R² owing to the elongate shape of the wing. the outer margin of the wing is distinctly incurved between the veins, where the fringes are white. On the underside the basal half of the fore wing is white shaded with black, the white scaling being densest at the hindmargin and distally in and below the cell; the area does not reach the apex of the cell, stopping about 1mm. short of it, and its outer edge crossing M¹ about 4mm. from the cell, the area being obtusely angulate at this vein. From the first subcostal to the inner angle there is a curved row of six spots, the first being small and yellowish, the second and third large, white, and confluent, and the other three also white, large, round, and isolated, the last being the largest of all. Between this row and the apex the wing bears a slightly curved row of four small spots of equal size, of which the first is orange, the others being white. The markings of the hind wing agree with those of D. eichhorni Roths. (Nov. Zool.,xi, p. 316, tab. ii, figs. 15, 16, 17, 1904), but the spots are a deeper orange, and the submarginal ones stand farther away from the edge.
Female: Similar to the male, slightly smaller. Fore wing, on the upperside, with the white area of the underside reproduced, but much shaded with black, the white scaling being , most distinct between M¹ and M²; the second and third spots of the inner row, placed in front of and behind R², are distinct and confluent, being larger than the other spots. The inner edge of the border of the hind wing is nearly parallel with the outer margin as far down as M², being rather wider behind than before R³. On the underside the white area of the fore wing is not suffused with black, but has proximally and in the cell a distinct yellow tone".
Group eichhorni species :