Delias nigrina Fabricius 1775 | the Black Jezebel
Delias nigrina female
Kuranda, Queensland (Australia)
Photo : Yi-Kai Tea
Subspecies and range of Delias nigrina :
No subspecies
. nigrina - Eastern seaboard of Australia from south of Sydney to Cape York
Notes on Delias nigrina :
A well known Australian species, represented in most collections. It is similar in pattern to Delias harpalyce but is considerably smaller. A little jewel, easy to see in many Australian gardens.
Quite a few species of Delias have yellow aberrations, where any red markings are replaced by yellow. These aberrations are rare. That shown below is from The Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter, Devon, England (picture by Les Day)
Delias nigrina life history.
The life history of Delias nigrina is known, and like most Delias feeds on Mistletoe species. The caterpillar are gregarious as you can see on this picture from Bobsbutterfly website.
The chrysalid of Delias nigrina is orange with some "black spines" as you can see on this picture of Chris Greenaway.
Group nigrina species :