Delias ennia, the yellow-banded Jezebel, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is found in Australia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and several surrounding islands.
Description original Thyca ennia, n. sp. (Pl. VII. fig. 4, male, female)
Male.—Above, white, upper wings with the costa dusky, and a black border at the apex regularly curved within, enclosing two small white spots and terminating in a point at the outer angle; Lower wings with a narrow hind border, not reaching the outer angle. Beneath: a row of five apical spots, the two uppermost of which are largest and yellow, the base of the lower wings yellow tinged, and the hind border enclosing a line of narrow yellow spots. Female.—Above, white, with a much broader dusky border to the anal angle, the base of the uppers dusky, and a band at the end of the cell connecting the costa with the outer border. Beneath, there is a band of six spots near the outer margin of the uppers, the second and third being larger and yellow; the base of the wings, the anal margin, and several marks between the nervures, are also yellow; the posterior band is much broader, its inner margin straight and just beyond the end of the cell, and has a submarginal row of six horizontal yellow spots. Expanse of wings 2 and 3/8 to 2 and 5/8 inches.The wingspan is 50 mm. Hab.—Waigiou (Coll. Wall.).
This is very near dice, which seems intermediate between this and gabia. It is curious that all should be found in the same small island. The upper side of. dice is, according to Vollenhoven’s description, like my male, and the under side like my female. Wallace, A.R. 1867 On the Pieridae of the Indian and Australian Regions Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. (3) 4 (3) : 301-416, pl. 6-9
The larvae feed on Notothixos leiophyllus. The larvae spread silk around the leaves where they are feeding.
Subspecies Delias ennia ennia Delias ennia mysolensis Rothschild, 1915 Rothschild, W. 1915 Notes on and Descriptions of Delias. Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. (8) 15 (85) : 172-180(Waigeu, north-eastern West Irian, northern West Irian) Delias ennia multicolor Joicey & Noakes, 1915 Joicey, J. J. & Noakes, A, 1915 New Butterflies and a Moth from Biak Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. 1915 (2) : 177-197, pl. 21-28(Misool Island) Delias ennia iere Grose-Smith, 1900 Grose-Smith, H., 1900 Descriptions of new species of butterflies captured by Mr. A.S. Meek at Milne Bay, British New Guinea in the Museum of the Hon. Walter Rothschild, at Tring Novit. Zool. 7 (1): 86-89 (Noemfoor Island) Delias ennia jobiana (Oberthür, 1894) Oberthür, C. 1894 Lépidoptères d'Europe, d'Algérie, d'Asie et d'Océanie Études d'Entomologie. 19 : 1-41, pl. 1-8 (Jobi Island) Delias ennia oetakwensis Rothschild, 1915 Rothschild, 1915 op.cit.(West Irian (Snow Mountains)) Delias ennia xelianthe Grose-Smith, 1900 Grose-Smith, H., 1900 op.cit. (Papua (Milne Bay)) Delias ennia saturata Rothschild, 1915 Rothschild, 1915 op.cit. (Goodenough Island) Delias ennia limbata Rothschild, 1915 (Tagula Island, Louisiades) Delias ennia nigidius Miskin, 1884 Miskin, W.H., 1884 Descriptions of new Australian Rhopalocera Trans. ent. Soc. Lond. 1884 (1) : 93-96- Nigidius Jezabel (Cairns to Queensland) Delias ennia tindalii Joicey & Talbot, 1926 Joicey. J. J. and Talbot, G., 1926 New forms of Lepidoptera Rhopalocera Encyclopédie entomologique (B3) 2 (1) : 1-14 [Bulletin of the Hill Museum] (Queensland)
Taxonomy ennia is a member of the Delias isse species group.
Gallery
References
External links Funet Australian Insects Australian Faunal Directory