Delias nysa

Delias nysa (Fabricius, 1775)
Yellow-spotted Jezebel
(one synonym : Papilio endora Donovan, 1805)
PIERINAE, PIERIDAE, PAPILIONOIDEA

Don Herbison-Evans
(donherbisonevans@yahoo.com)
and
Stella Crossley

Delias nysa
Female
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The Caterpillars of this species are olive-green with two rows of white spots bearing long white hairs. They feed on various Mistletoes SANTALACEAE including:

Pincushion Mistletoe ( Amyema gaudichaudii, LORANTHACEAE ).

Short-jointed Mistletoe ( Korthalsella breviarticulata, SANTALACEAE ), and

Ruddy Mistletoe ( Korthalsella rubra, SANTALACEAE ).

The caterpillars at first are gregarious, but later instars are solitary. The caterpillars grow to a length of about 3.5 cms.

Male
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The adults have a wingspan of about 5 cms. The upper surface of each wing of the male butterfly is white with broad black veins, especially toward the apex of each forewing.

Male underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The underside of each wing of a male is grey. The underside of the forewing also has white spots, a white hind margin, and a yellow patch at the base.

Female underside
(Photo: courtesy of Dave Britton)

The female has black upper surfaces with a broad white area at the base of each wing, containing white spots.

Female underside
(Specimen: courtesy of the The Australian Museum)

The underside of the female is brownish grey. Each forewing has an arc of white spots, a white patch at the hind margin, and a yellow patch by the base. Each hindwing underneath has an arc of small orange spots.

The eggs are laid in groups of about 20 on leaves of a foodplant.

The species is found in the south-west Pacific, as subspecies caledonica Nieuwenhuis & Howarth, in

New Caledonia,

and as subspecies nysa in

New Guinea,

and down the east coast of Australia, including

Queensland,

New South Wales, and

Victoria,

Tasmania,
and a small pocket of the subspecies nivira Waterhouse & Lyell, 1914, is found in

Queensland.