Delias agoranis!!

[Adam Cotton]

Sorry folks, I don't have any here

Today I asked a Thai butterfly collector friend about this elusive butterfly. He said the last one (of 3) he caught himself was about 30 years ago at Huey Gaew Waterfall, near the foot of Doi Suthep, Chiang Mai (altitude less than 500m). Before then it was caught every so often at this locality, but he hasn't heard of any recent sightings.

Recently it was apparently photographed at Thabok, C Laos (altitude 300m), and my friend said that this species was always rare, and found in low altitude forest, not higher than about 1,000m.

It seems the information in Ek-Amnuay [2007], Butterflies of Thailand may be incorrect, at least in the record for Doi Pa Hom Pok, as my friend never heard of it from there, and that is a high altitude locality. He said it is possible that D. agoranis may be in the lower area around Doi Phu Kha (Nan Province), but unlikely up on the mountain itself, as that is 1700+m high.

My friend thinks it is probably very local or extinct in Thailand now, as much of the lowland forest habitat is gone, but it is probably still present in Laos and Burma.

Hopefully this is of interest to all the Delias enthusiasts here.

Adam.

[wollastoni]

Interesting, even if sad news...

Agoranis has always been rare and deforestation around Chiang Mai has for sure threatened him even more. Last specimen from Chiang Mai I have heard off is a female caught in 1995 from Fred Gerrits collection, you can see it here : www.delias-butterflies.com/groups/species-groups/singhapura-group/delias-agoranis/

Personnaly I think agoranis can still be found near Chiang Mai, there are plenty of national parks with accurate altitude but nobody finds it...
why :
- few local collectors there
- agoranis must fly on tree tops only like many Delias species
- it's a yellow and white Pieridae, and look like many other really common stuff that local collectors just don't look for
- non specialist may have some in their collection thinking it is the common Delias agostina
--> to find agoranis today, you must look exclusively for him !

Let's not forget Delias vietnamensis was only discovered in 2000 in Vietnam and 2006 in Cambodia... there have been plenty plenty of expeditions there before.

True that the numerous tree-tops Teinopalpus hunters from Laos have more chance to catch D. agoranis today than the very few local collectors from Chiang Mai viccinity.

[Adam Cotton]

Olivier,

I think it is highly unlikely from what I was told that Delias agoranis will be found in the same places as Teinopalpus (~2,000 m altitude). It seems to be a low to mid altitude butterfly.

I agree it is likely that D. agoranis is still present in certain areas of Chiang Mai Province, but unfortunately the very type of habitat it seems to have previously been found in is mostly gone now, replaced by housing estates, rice fields or other human development.

I have collected many Delias around Thailand and Laos, but only ever seen agostina, hyparete, descombesi, pasithoe, acalis and belladonna group species. I never saw any agoranis anywhere since the late 1970s when I first collected in the area, and I always looked out for it among the common Pierids, as it was a well known rarity even then. Most of the Delias I have seen do indeed fly in the canopy, but many of them also come down to drink on mud near stream banks, especially early in the morning. My friend caught his agoranis mud-puddling many years ago, so they definitely do come down to the ground.

Hopefully one day some will be caught by Burmese collectors, and then they will be available to collectors.

Adam.

[wollastoni]

Right about elevation. Just wanted to say to better find it, you need tree-top installation like Teinopalpus hunters have.

[Adam Cotton]

I see that Inayoshi's website yutaka.it-n.jp/pie/20030001.html records agoranis from Lam Dong, S Vietnam.

I have a pdf of the paper quoted on the webpage, and the 2 pictured specimens certainly look like agoranis, a male dated 16.iv.2010 and a female dated 30.iii.2009, both from Dambri Fall, Bao Loc, Lam Dong, (900m-1,100m).

Adam.

[wollastoni]

Interesting as it would enlarge a lot agoranis distribution area and offer good chances to find it in Cambodia too.
Can you please send me the pdf to my email ?

Thanks a lot