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Topic: WSJ Article re African Leps | Author: biscuit153 | Replies: 8 | Views: 229
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Mygos
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Re: WSJ Article re African Leps

by Mygos » Mon Nov 04, 2024 3:56 pm

Some other discussions on this ABRI collection here : https://www.facebook.com/groups/5287309 ... 647974951/
Topic: Euphaedra sp. (I.D.) requested | Author: Trehopr1 | Replies: 8 | Views: 713
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Re: Euphaedra sp. (I.D.) requested

by bobw » Mon Nov 04, 2024 3:47 pm

adamcotton wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2024 3:43 pm One way to take good ventral photos is to use a blob of children's 'plasticine' clay which will hold the pin by its head.

Of course the blob must be secured to the background, as I suspect that it will not stick to foam.

Adam.
I use Blu tack.
Topic: Euphaedra sp. (I.D.) requested | Author: Trehopr1 | Replies: 8 | Views: 713
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Re: Euphaedra sp. (I.D.) requested

by adamcotton » Mon Nov 04, 2024 3:43 pm

One way to take good ventral photos is to use a blob of children's 'plasticine' clay which will hold the pin by its head.

Of course the blob must be secured to the background, as I suspect that it will not stick to foam.

Adam.
Topic: Euphaedra sp. (I.D.) requested | Author: Trehopr1 | Replies: 8 | Views: 713
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Re: Euphaedra sp. (I.D.) requested

by Cabintom » Mon Nov 04, 2024 3:05 pm

Trehopr, I was being serious. Post the ventral surfaces and I'll do what I can to ID these.
The 3rd specimen could do with more data than just a date though. Is there something written on the back of that slip of paper?
Topic: WSJ Article re African Leps | Author: biscuit153 | Replies: 8 | Views: 229
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Re: WSJ Article re African Leps

by Mygos » Mon Nov 04, 2024 8:36 am

Interesting article indeed. My friend Steve, whom I’ve known for 40 years and to whom I entrusted my Cymothoe collection in 2004, has been tirelessly seeking a future buyer for his incredible collection. The main condition was that the collection be accessible to all scientists and students. Unfortunately, several leads have fallen through, and I am crossing my fingers that the world of entomologists will be able to discover this fabulous treasure—it truly has to be seen to be believed !
Topic: WSJ Article re African Leps | Author: biscuit153 | Replies: 8 | Views: 229
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Re: WSJ Article re African Leps

by Cabintom » Mon Nov 04, 2024 4:33 am

Chuck wrote: Mon Nov 04, 2024 12:19 am God knows what important future discoveries they'd leave behind.
Exactly. The collection contains a surprising number of undescribed species. Steve's also been actively trying to recruit folks to take interest in describing the things.
Topic: WSJ Article re African Leps | Author: biscuit153 | Replies: 8 | Views: 229
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Re: WSJ Article re African Leps

by Chuck » Mon Nov 04, 2024 12:19 am

Stupid that no institution wants to pay to ship the entire collection. They want to cherry pick; God knows what important future discoveries they'd leave behind. I wonder if any institutional collections managers have an eye for the actually undiscovered.
Topic: WSJ Article re African Leps | Author: biscuit153 | Replies: 8 | Views: 229
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Re: WSJ Article re African Leps

by Cabintom » Sun Nov 03, 2024 3:21 pm

Steve's research collection is likely the most comprehensive collection of African butterflies in the world. It contains many holotypes and many examples of species only found in his collection and one or two others. His library is also excellent. His (and the collection's) contributions to scientific publications are innumerable. He's opened his doors to many researchers (and amateurs like myself) over the years and granted them free access to pour over the hundreds of boxes. I really do hope an appropriate custodian is found, lining up with his desire for the specimens to always be available for students and researchers alike.
Topic: Tiny white bugs in my teak cabinet | Author: sgbuyer | Replies: 4 | Views: 150
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Re: Tiny white bugs in my teak cabinet

by adamcotton » Sun Nov 03, 2024 6:02 am

If they are Psocids (but they don't look quite like those) then they would certainly be associated with mould and damp, since they eat fungal mycelia and cannot tolerate dry conditions.

Adam.
Topic: Tiny white bugs in my teak cabinet | Author: sgbuyer | Replies: 4 | Views: 150
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Re: Tiny white bugs in my teak cabinet

by sgbuyer » Sun Nov 03, 2024 3:56 am

Borearctia wrote: Sat Nov 02, 2024 9:38 am Looks like a mite infestation
The first thing I would do is check the food supplies in the kitchen.
Good luck!
Thank you! I read this is something to do with moulds or dampness?
Topic: WSJ Article re African Leps | Author: biscuit153 | Replies: 8 | Views: 229
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Re: WSJ Article re African Leps

by Borearctia » Sun Nov 03, 2024 3:31 am

"Behind a paywall unfortunately."


without paywall:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/he ... r-AA1tnVuj
Topic: WSJ Article re African Leps | Author: biscuit153 | Replies: 8 | Views: 229
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Re: WSJ Article re African Leps

by eurytides » Sat Nov 02, 2024 10:56 pm

Behind a paywall unfortunately.
Topic: WSJ Article re African Leps | Author: biscuit153 | Replies: 8 | Views: 229
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WSJ Article re African Leps

by biscuit153 » Sat Nov 02, 2024 8:02 pm

I thought this article from the Wall Street Journal might be of interest to the group. I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/butterfly ... os2&page=1
Topic: Moth Survey of S. India | Author: 58chevy | Replies: 1 | Views: 98
Topic: Tiny white bugs in my teak cabinet | Author: sgbuyer | Replies: 4 | Views: 150
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Borearctia
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Re: Tiny white bugs in my teak cabinet

by Borearctia » Sat Nov 02, 2024 9:38 am

Looks like a mite infestation
The first thing I would do is check the food supplies in the kitchen.
Good luck!
Topic: Tiny white bugs in my teak cabinet | Author: sgbuyer | Replies: 4 | Views: 150
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Tiny white bugs in my teak cabinet

by sgbuyer » Sat Nov 02, 2024 5:34 am

While cleaning an old teak cabinet, I noticed tiny white bugs of around 1mm in length crawling around. My cabinet also had some beans - kids toys. I've never seen these bugs before and they don't look like termites and are not silverfish where there are plenty in my home due to high humidity. My wife is spooking out, can anyone please tell me what these are and should I be concerned of an infestation? Thank you. :oops:

p/s: my apologies if the clip isn't clear, they are really tiny and this is the best my iphone 12 can capture.

Image
Topic: Papilio bjorkae (Pavulaan, 2024) Tiger Swallowtail | Author: Chuck | Replies: 55 | Views: 4753
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Re: Papilio bjorkae (Pavulaan, 2024) Tiger Swallowtail

by jhyatt » Thu Oct 31, 2024 6:25 pm

Chuck wrote: Thu Oct 31, 2024 1:53 pm When I awoke this morning I realized no, I do not need to bring my net. Field work is finished.
Not quite for me! I'm still seeing buckeyes, cloudless sulphurs, the occasional gulf frit, and, a few days ago, a dark Papilio (didn't get good enough a look to identify it - probably philenor, from the way it flew). Last night I ran moth light traps on a trail in nearby VA woods. Just retrieved them, and had a modest but nice catch of LBM's to sort and spread this afternoon. And Sunday we're off to the the GA coast, where a fair number of butterflies and moths will still be flying. But yes, it will all come to the season's end before too long.

Sigh,
jh
Topic: Papilio bjorkae (Pavulaan, 2024) Tiger Swallowtail | Author: Chuck | Replies: 55 | Views: 4753
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Re: Papilio bjorkae (Pavulaan, 2024) Tiger Swallowtail

by Chuck » Thu Oct 31, 2024 1:53 pm

Thanks for the clarifications Harry.

I think we don't recognize the impact of microclimates in the US NE. We all know about islanding on the plateaus out west, and of course the various climates that mountain altitudes bring.

But just look around Lake Ontario- Toronto to the NW gets little snow but very cold; Buffalo to SW gets (reportedly) tons of snow, but not as cold as Toronto; Kingston in the NE gets real cold but not a lot of snow; Oswego/ Watertown in SE isn't as cold as Kingston but makes Buffalo snow look like child's play (on that, last year's snowstorm 40 people died in Buffalo; nobody died in Watertown. Stop blaming weather.) I'm mid-way along the lake, and south; we get more snow than Buffalo (and nobody dies) but in winter we run a good 8C warmer than Watertown. Toronto and Kingston warm up faster in spring- usually 2 weeks ahead of us- because the prevailing NW wind goes across the cold lake into NY.

Meanwhile, right where I am- Finger Lakes- we have a series of N-S lakes 25-40 miles long. The lakes are deep in between high hills. So the west shores warm later in the day because they're in the shade, and then bake in the setting sun. In both winter and summer the daily ground-level temperature may swing 50F. The plants on these shores then have to survive winter temps of -20C with high winds and then summer ground temps of 50C in brilliant sunlight that dries the soil. This limits what can grow, so limits the insects that can survive.

Butterfly field work in this area isn't like the tropics, where so many taxa are just fluttering about, everywhere. Here you have to target very specific micro-ecosystems to find particular butterflies. I could sit all day in one spot and not see a Tiger Swallowtail, but 500m away there's dozens of them. And, of these various Tiger polymorphs that Harry Pavulaan discussed, I'm still trying to figure out which ones occur where here, which might just be dwarf individuals, etc.

But now it's late Fall. We're going to Boston for a long weekend. Last night I dreamt that we were walking through Boston North End and a Tiger flew between me and my wife. "I have to bring my net!" (not "should have"). Then another flew in front of her. "I have to bring my net!" again. I awoke, and assured myself I would bring my net. When I awoke this morning I realized no, I do not need to bring my net. Field work is finished.
Topic: Papilio bjorkae (Pavulaan, 2024) Tiger Swallowtail | Author: Chuck | Replies: 55 | Views: 4753
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Re: Papilio bjorkae (Pavulaan, 2024) Tiger Swallowtail

by harrypav » Thu Oct 31, 2024 12:58 am

Chuck:

Oops, another one. You wrote: "I'm counting four in the paper: canadensis, near-canadensis, spring glaucus, and bjorkae." Sorry for any confusion. The canadensis entry is the same thing as "near-canadensis". I would have called it P. canadensis in R.I. but there is some doubt. It may be an isolate. Note my comment on page 13:

"A study by Scriber et al. (2002) indicated that summer maximum temperatures in the range of 30-36℃ (86-97℉) over a period of four days were lethal to diapausing pupae of canadensis. Data from the Rhode Island Dept. of Environmental Management (accessed online, 2023) stated that interior portions of Rhode Island experienced an average of 8-10 days of high temperatures of 36℃ (97℉) annually, with some summers experiencing as many as 20 or more such warm days. Scriber et al. (2002) concluded: “Natural temperature-induced stress on diapausing pupae prevents canadensis from extending range south.” Interestingly, along the immediate coast, temperatures rarely ever exceed 90℉, due to the moderating effect of the ocean. This might account for records of canadensis-like specimens near the Rhode Island coast."

So my suggestion here is that IF any canadensis females made it (strayed) down to the southern New England coast, high summer temps do not reach the threshold that would kill her offspring pupae when summer arrives. On the other hand, inland, away from the cooling effect of the ocean during the summer months, it gets too hot in interior R.I. during summer and any canadensis pupae would die from heat stress. The fact that I managed a few specimens in southern R.I. only, might support this idea that those could be isolates. OR, they could be a canadensis segregate, even if only temporarily. I sent a pair to Nick Grishin for genomic analysis (note missing abdomens in figs. 18-21.

You and your team are doing great work on the MST. Hopefully, you can also analyze that high-elevation population in the central Appalachian Highlands that should NOT be there according to Scriber's team. If your team can get their hands on some specimens from Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine, you can see if Alex Grkovich was correct in suggesting there are additional species in that region. Bjorkae might not be the same taxon as that in central New York or northern Pennsylvania, though I think it is. David Wright can help with Pennsylvania observations.

Harry

Harry
Topic: Papilio bjorkae (Pavulaan, 2024) Tiger Swallowtail | Author: Chuck | Replies: 55 | Views: 4753
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Re: Papilio bjorkae (Pavulaan, 2024) Tiger Swallowtail

by harrypav » Thu Oct 31, 2024 12:39 am

Chuck:

My reference to "near-canadensis" in my paper was to refer to the taxon that I personally considered canadensis in Rhode Island. But my reviewer suggested otherwise.

My reference to "canadensis-like" simply referred to any glaucus, bjorkae or MST as looking like canadensis.

Hope that clears that one up.

Harry