Great other top rarities.
As far as I know, no one has collected in the Weylands in the last 20 years...

Congrats, Peter !

Another new Delias for me is this splendid Delias bobaga from Bomomani in the Weyland Mountains, West Papua. I think this is the nominate species.

Another nice Delias from the Clathrata Group is Delias boschmai. This rarity was captured in Homeyo, Baylabu River and village, West Papua.

I am impressed by the level of details these scientific board went through for that petition... it would never happen in my country. I hope the authorities will follow the scientific board instead of this association.

I fully agree that protecting common species is a nonsense and counter-productive as it splits efforts and fundings to non-endangered species... instead of focusing on endangered ones.

2 very rare and historic specimens. Great to associate a Straatman and a Meek specimen in your collection !

I have 2 pairs, one recent male found by Chris Muller and the others came from old collections bought in France.

This video has some good information and covers several topics in which I learned quite a bit. I was particularly interested in how specimens were obtained and ultimately marketed both locally and internationally. I'm surprised that the cost of rearing permits for local people is so prohibitive that many can't afford one. You would think that their government would make it easier to start a successful and legal butterfly business.

I see a parallel here with discussions on other threads in this forum regarding how difficult it is to commercially import butterflies into the United States. The fact that it can be difficult to work with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and their permit system may actually be a good thing for the importers who go to the trouble of meeting all of the requirements as the bureaucracy helps to keep the foreign butterfly market in America from being flooded with specimens.

Two historical Delias bornemanni a rare Delias from the Owen Stanley Range in New Guinea. The first was caught by the late Ray Straatman famous for discovering the life histories of a number of Birdwing butterflies. He caught it on the famous Kokoda Trail in 1971. The second specimen was caught on the Aroa River in 1903 by the great Albert Stewart Meek. A hero of mine and now we have a great biography ‘ The Man Who Shot Butterflies by John Tennent.

Thank you John for posting the video. I have thus far only being able to watch about half of it because I think it runs around 45 minutes however, I still find it fascinating and I just enjoy watching it.

In some aspects it reminds me of some of the old national geographic films I would see on TV. I like seeing exotic locals, researchers in the field, and passionate collectors like us who hold the hobby near and dear to our heart. I also like seeing all of the specimens that are shown.

I look forward to seeing the rest of the film. I loved seeing all those Japanese fellas sitting around that table in the back room of some shop in Japan. The owner had a side business selling butterflies to prospective clients. Wish I could have been there ! I'd be hip deep in the bidding...

I try not to think any too hard about the "shock value" presented in any video. To be honest all videos offer some manner of shock value or otherwise, you would turn them off in about 15 seconds.

I also do not take a pessimistic view of them either. What's the point of that ? Whatever the video may seem to be making a point of it likely won't affect any individual. In fact the whole topic maybe so complicated or convoluted there really isn't anything that can be done anyway.

I say just enjoy the video portions that are educational and informative and be happy that someone produced it in the first place !

Hello Peter,
Very good indeed to see you here again !
Those are both very superb species which you have acquired.
Nice to know that you are still at it and are successful at getting some of the real tough and/or little known species.

In the past, you showed us a portion of your delias collection and it was SUPERB. Hope you are very much enjoying it and anytime that you can post anything from your collection I know it would strike up conversation.

Hello,
I had a problem and was thinking about
something that perhaps many of you have.
A box of butterflies was almost completely destroyed by bacon beetles (I hadn't looked for a long time). Luckily no valuable things.
What struck me was that 2 very old butterflies from 1976 or 1977 were totally fine. ( 2 Papilio ).
Do the beetles have a special appetite?
My thought is whether you can impregnate butterflies if you can do without DNA testing and without resin.
I know, freeze the box, preferably -50 degrees Celsius but I only have a small apartment and our freezer is for vanilla ice cream.
As the boxes are in my office, paradichlorobenzene (which I have, stinks and is toxic) is out of the question. If so, how long do I have to keep it in a box at normal temperature to kill all the beetles including the eggs? A
Thanks for tips, when I have a lot of money I will buy a mobile home for my modest collection, but at the moment there is only a balcony.
Joachim

I read it speed read style, my usual when it comes to some of these articles.
I don't think I've ever seen one of the mentioned butterflies, but from the map,
it looks like they're found in the eastern part of Oregon, where virtually all the land
is cattle country, having been through the areas in the past, there's nothing there, it's all
federal land that I think is leased by ranchers. They claim it's public land, except it's barbwire
and loose cows.
The rebuttal did a much better job of making their case.

Thanks, I was very pleased to obtain them. It is a pity that no more collecting Delias is done in that region of West Papua.

Congrats ! 2 extremely rare species !
Especially now as no more collecting is done there.

Another New edition to my collection. The rare Delias hemianops from Abmissibil in the Star Mountains of New Guinea.

A new addition to my collection the rare Delias walshae sanaeae taken in the Pass Valley New Guinea.

A real slap down exposing shoddy work petitioning for ESA protection of Leps. Really worth the read- first the petition, then especially the response by real researchers and SMEs.


https://xerces.org/publications/petitio ... sonides-as

Slap down response

https://www.regulations.gov/comment/FWS ... -0097-0004

Pierre,

You should contact philinsectbugs, he is the main Philippines insect dealer on eBay.

Regards
Olivier

I read through CFR 50 part 14, subpart A-I. I found it quite helpful in several areas. Admittedly, I was unaware of where to look for official rules on this topic but I believe this is it.

If you feel so inclined, here is a link to it: https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-50/c ... -B/part-14

Some key takeaways:

14.4 "Commercial means related to the offering for sale, or release, purchase, trade barter, or the intended transfer in the pursuit of gain or profit..."
"There is a presumption that eight or more similar unused items are for commercial use."

14.64 (b) "...a Declaration for the Importation and Exportation of Fish or Wildlife (3-177) does not have to be filed for the exportation of the following: (1) Wildlife not intended for commercial use where the value of such wildlife is under $250."

14.81 "...no person may import, export, or transport in interstate commerce any container or package containing and fish to wildlife... unless he/she marks each container or package conspicuously on the outside with both the name and address of the shipper and consignee. An accurate and legible list of its contents by species scientific name and the number of each species and whether or not the listed species are venomous must accompany the entire shipment."

14.91 (Paraphrased) If you import/export from the US:
(6) as a collector or hobbyist for personal use - you don't need an import/export permit.
(7) as a collector of hobbyist for commercial purposes, including sale, trade or barter - you do need an import/export permit.

14.93 (4) "You must keep, in a U.S. location, the following records that completely and correctly describe each import or export... made under the license and, if applicable, any subsequent disposition that you made of the wildlife, for a period of 5 years."
(Paraphrased): these requirements include the (i) description of wildlife, (ii) quantity, (iii) common and scientific names, (iv) country of origin, if known, (v) date and place of import/export, (vi) date and manner of any subsequent disposition, (vii) name, address, phone, and email, if known, of the person who received the wildlife, (viii) copies of US permits, (ix) copies of the foreign country's permits.

14.94 (c) "Except as provided in paragraph (k) of this section, an import/export license holder must pay a base inspection fee, as defined in 14.94(h)(1), for each wildlife shipment imported or exported at a designated port."
(This designated port base inspection fee appears to be $93 currently)

14.94 (k)(2) "You do not have to pay base inspection fees, premium inspection fees, or overtime fees if you are importing or exporting wildlife that is exempt from import/export license requirements as defined in 14.92(a)..."
**While 'personal use' is not included in 14.92(a), I am curious whether the base fees would apply since an import/export permit is not required.**


Regarding customs brokers

I corresponded with a wildlife inspector at my nearest designated port (Chicago, IL) regarding the requirements for a broker (Feb 2025).
Here is the information I provided:
I am an individual importing "commercially," but not representing any business or company. I am looking to import dead/dried insects (butterflies and moths) for collectors and hobbyists. Some will be sold by myself here in the USA.
I am not dealing with any protected species. I have the necessary import/export permit and I am aware of the requirement to include the 3-177 with the shipment and file with the USFWS. I began to fill the eDoc for the form online but the field for customs broker is a required field. It was my understanding that a customs broker was not mandatory.
My question is this: Do I need to solicit the service of a customs broker for every shipment, or is this optional?

His prompt response:
You do not require a broker. However, you must file the eDec early enough for us to intercept the package in the mail before customs or USPS. If you delay filing an eDec you may be liable for penalties. Here at Chicago we recommend using FedEx, UPS, or DHL as they will act as the broker for you and also will avoid penalties if released without inspection."
If you choose to use international mail please enter the Customs broker as "self"

I hope this information is useful to others who are interested in the import/export process.

Half brained “journalism” for shock factor driven by the bureaucracy that profits. Opening statement is misleading should say 100k butterflies traded to support rural agrarian populations that are ignored by the government.

The Indonesian government is tops in the world for corruption. They also occupy Papua, which doesn’t want them. I dismiss anything coming from the Indonesian government

The whole process of creating the declaration form can be tedious and unnerving when that one species on your invoice can't be found when you type in the genus name on the dropdown window, so you have to use google to look for common names. The time and energy spent, makes me do it as few times as possible, hence most orders exceed $1000. The extra costs usually will add about 20-30% extra to your shipment (including higher courier shipper costs), so make sure your supplier has real good prices. If you have the license/permit and choose to import without a courier, you risk having your license dinged if stopped for inspection. Too many dings and you may lose your license, or have future shipments sent back to the shipper. Any questions someone may have, I would gladly answer if I can.