caelestis

21.  Ssp. caelestis (Rothschild, 1898)⁵⁰⁾ [♂, ♀]

(Distribution) [Map 27]

PNG [MBP] Louisiade Archipelago (Misima (=St. Aignan) Is., Motorina Is., Panatinane

(=Henemahei) Is., Ninoa Is., Sudest (=Tagula) Is., Yela (=Rossel) Is.

(Episodes of discovery and original description)

The original description by Rothschild (1898) was based on specimens of 3♂♂ and 14♀♀ collected by Meek on St. Aignan Island between August and November 1897; as this was also Meek’s first discovery of Ornithoptera, he wrote: “It is a magnificent butterfly, very large in size, blue and black in colour. I was very jubilant at this discovery, for it was my first new Ornithoptera.” The subspecies name “caelestis” means “sky” in Latin and is thought to have been named after the color of the ♂ spots.

(Characteristics)

This habitat (Louisiade Archipelago) is the end of the third (=southernmost) route to the east. I would like to think it was probably derived from ssp. poseidon from Engineer Islands. However, this subspecies is the only blue subspecies except for ssp.urvillianus from Solomon Islands and both sexes are small. One wonders why this isolated subspecies is blue.

(Spotted pattern)

♂: Pattern form (FW radial, anal and submarginal bands narrow respectively, and median stripe absent. The heavily shading of black scales on HW, about 50% appearance rate of the subcostal golden spot and broad black marginal border) resembles ssp. urvillianus, but much smaller and differ in their wing-shape and some of the shape of spot (broad FW, rounded HW with wavy outer margin, and a different black framing of the cell of HW underside being upper half, not the entire as ssp. urvillianus).

♀: Small size and dull (=pale) form, but its ground color is often darker than that of ssp. urvillianus. The outer margin of HW is remarkably wavy. The cell-spot of FW is large and often petal-like. HW pale discal spots are wedge shaped, do not reach the cell, and covered with grayish brown scales. Submarginal area of HW underside is yellow.

(Variation)

♂-f. flavopunctata Rousseau-Decelle, 1935⁵³⁾: [Aberrant HW pattern] HW with several submarginal golden spots. Same aberration as ssp. poseidon ♂-f. poseidon.

♂-f. caerulorispunctata Deslisle & Sclavo, 2015¹⁰⁾: [Aberrant HW pattern] Presence of three submarginal blue spots created by surrounding black scales, on HW.