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Post by kingha on Nov 14, 2011 21:20:17 GMT -8
has anyone heard of the subspecies Ornithoptera meridionalis yahorsimo??
if so where can I read about it???
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Post by kingha on Nov 17, 2011 6:32:15 GMT -8
no one?? I saw this name on the internet....
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Post by dertodesking on Nov 17, 2011 10:40:08 GMT -8
Hey Kingha, Where did you see this? (was it here damayantinsectindo.blogspot.com/ ?) Wasn't this guy mentioned in the old trading reports? I've never heard mention of this "subspecies" before and a search on the net doesn't find many results...sounds made up to me!  Simon |
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Post by saturniidave on Nov 17, 2011 19:39:26 GMT -8
Yep, sounds like another 'Japanotype'! |
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Post by bartekgoldyn on Nov 26, 2011 21:43:14 GMT -8
Its Yakuhimo. Location in Papua Province. Meridionalis occurs there.
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Post by krupten on Nov 27, 2011 8:39:05 GMT -8
Dear Kingha - Bartek is correct there is a locality called Yakuhimo in West Papua and it along with Timika (now raped badly of paradisea and meridionalis) is the next collecting debaucle in the country. The meridionalis from this area are turrungarensis Rothschild as are the specimens from Timika, Kaimana etc. There is also a locality record from Jamur Lakes (Pasternak) and this one bears investigation and in conversation I have heard that meridionalis occurs in several other localities but they are not "poached" as yet. Sorry to sound so negative but I still remember Brown River in southern PNG and it is the same thing in Timika now where the forests are all cut back to nothing and there no longer are free flying paradisea or meridionalis at the Bauhenia flowers anywhere near Timika or Kuala Kencana.
There are always those who will invite avid "ORNITHOPTERISTS" to the table with the catch phrase " New Race" or "subspecies" and the honest truth is that the species meridionalis is one of the most stable there is. There is also alot of hype about form confluenta - a name initially allocated to chimaera - but it is not as "rare" as many make out and one in every 10 - 12 males reared can be this form. Pay more for it? That is a personal choice - but with dealers now using every way possible to extract more and more money from collectors for normal morphological characteristics to me just does not sit well.
If you look at your map - there is a band along the Southern coast of the Island of New Guinea and if you follow the 50 - 350Meter band along areas that are not marshy you will find meridionalis in primary growth area with secondary openings. the host - an oval shaped Pararistolochia is a primary growth species and grows quickly into the trees. The larvae and sometimes even ova can be found still (but not frequently) at Kuala Kencana - but not like it was 10 years ago - it is almost barren now.
the species is wonderful - and to see them in the wild is breathtaking and the genders are so different in their behaviors. Males fly like they are almost wounded or loping - that is UNTIL YOU GO TO CATCH them - then - you see how the wings work together - and the speed it is capable of. Females - are shy - and they do not like open spaces - and that is a consistant idiosyncracy of the species - once she - the female breaks into open spaces - she is like a bullet to the safety of the forest. I just hope that these bullets can outrun the collectors nets, and the yellow steel caterpillars from Preoria Illinois that are "eating" the areas where this delicate species lives.
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Post by wollastoni on Nov 28, 2011 6:39:25 GMT -8
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