Chuck wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 7:01 pm

Trehopr1 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 6:42 pm
I hear all sorts of insider concerns about a number of institutions that I'd considered; not one stands out as a great place to put it.

That's the problem exactly, Chuck. The two big institutions I've left material to in my will both apparently have issues and/or policies that cause me to have serious 2nd thoughts. But where is there to turn to???

jh

Just published today and available for public download on ResearchGate at:

https://www.researchgate.net/publicatio ... ENTRE_2024

Citation: Smetacek, P., A.M. Cotton & M. Markhasiov. 2024. Papilionid Butterflies of the Indian Subcontinent. Revised, concise edition. 148 pp. Butterfly Research Trust, Bhimtal, India.

Here is the result of this year's Catocala rearing efforts. I started with 1300 eggs of 18 species, 2 of which proved to be infertile. I got a 66% hatch rate, which is very good for Catocala, but because of the awful weather this year, I had exceptionally high larval losses and only got fewer than 70 adults out. However, there are a few good species, e.g. lupina, dejecta, luctuosa, whitneyi... Egg gathering has already started for next year.

Trehopr1 wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 6:42 pm If downsizing is a must then I would certainly prioritize your Solomon Islands material as something that should be retained for yourself.

....

In time, you may even wish to have your Solomon's material arrive at the McGuire Center right there in Florida. I'm certain they would welcome any lepidoptera from the Solomons archipelago as I'm sure few museums in the US house very much from that locale.

I appreciate the insights.

Were my Solomon Islands material simply for my own enjoyment I'd keep it; however if any portion of my collection were lost (e.g., hurricane) this subset would be the greatest loss to science. My strategy has been to fully photograph and document the collection prior to the move so it could be donated, but I'm running out of time and have made zero progress thanks to work.

I'd considered McGuire, since then it would be only a five hour drive away. But there's been a loss of funding and some upset there, so I face an unknown. In having discussed offline where to deposit the collection, I hear all sorts of insider concerns about a number of institutions that I'd considered; not one stands out as a great place to put it.

If downsizing is a must then I would certainly prioritize your Solomon Islands material as something that should be retained for yourself.

You spent a lot of time in that region and I am sure you have a "ton of memories" associated with all the personal adventure. I would think those specimens (more than most others) would evoke memories of even the little things that happened.....

Specimens (at least those personally caught) serve as a personal diary of times well spent. They stir the cords of memory as few other things do. Maybe of a particular place, a terrific overall day, people you may have met or spent time with, or a particular manner in which you captured that particular specimen.

In time, you may even wish to have your Solomon's material arrive at the McGuire Center right there in Florida. I'm certain they would welcome any lepidoptera from the Solomons archipelago as I'm sure few museums in the US house very much from that locale.

Food for thought...

alandmor wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 3:45 pm Can you please tell us again your source for these collapsible nets? They look very nice and handy to have. Thx!

viewtopic.php?p=10217&hilit=BQNPS#p10217

Can you please tell us again your source for these collapsible nets? They look very nice and handy to have. Thx!

martellat0 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 2:53 pm Sharing a photo of two of my specimens of Troides plateni here. These were farmed by a breeder in Palawan, hence the pristine state of their velvet black wings.

A common yet quite magnificent species in my opinion.

They are so beautiful! In pristine condition almost every butterfly is just stunning, I enjoy to look at even the most common ones, when they are just freshly emerged, so many details and fine structures on the wings.

Jshuey wrote: ↑Fri Oct 11, 2024 12:37 pm

Hugh Avery Freeman gave his collection of mostly Mexican Hesperiidae to the American Museum when he became unable to collect - and lamented the decision. He may have been done in the field, but not with working with a collection. He ended up "borrowing" thousands of Carnegie MNH skippers and identifying them in his later years to compensate.

It is a serious question - when is the right time to make the move?

john

The best answer overall is "before you lose the ability to recognize you're unable to care for the collection." The problem is that with aging, the slow slide in mental capacity often robs people of the cognizance required to know they've waited too long.

In a way, I'm somewhat protected from that, as the decision is largely being forced "early" by our pending move to FL. I don't want to put the significant collections I maintain at risk to hurricanes.

Historically, risks to my insect collection was limited because I'd set a 100 drawer limit. When stuff came in, stuff went out. I've disseminated far more specimens (numerically) than I retain. But I let it creep well above 100 drawers in the past few years.

Probably the greatest part of my conundrum is the Solomon Islands material- if there is any part of the collection I'm not done with, that's it. However, that is also the most scientifically valuable part of the entire collection.

Chuck wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 3:34 pm When I was at Cornell in July, they have a display area dedicated to Nabokov. And in big letters, they quote him something to the likes of "I wish I'd never given away my collection [to Cornell], if I could steal them all back I would."

That gave me a shock. Wow. Notably, Nabokov never really collected after that, though that might be attributed to his fame as an author and focus on writing. Still, once he gave away his collection, did he lose interest? Did he no longer have a need to collect or study Leps?

So I wonder, what of my collection should I NOT dispose of yet? What might I need? Tiger Swallowtails? Solomon Islands specimens? I have had passions in the past, but once I broke from them, they were gone, and I never returned to them- will entomology be the same path?

Hugh Avery Freeman gave his collection of mostly Mexican Hesperiidae to the American Museum when he became unable to collect - and lamented the decision. He may have been done in the field, but not with working with a collection. He ended up "borrowing" thousands of Carnegie MNH skippers and identifying them in his later years to compensate.

It is a serious question - when is the right time to make the move?

john

Anton < you can try ammonia injection too. It works very well.

I first saw E. oslari in the Santa Rita Mountains in 2011 - it was a major highlight of the trip. On the same night, I also saw Antheraea oculea, Hyalophora gloveri, and a great number of Sphingidae. I hope to encounter Citheronia splendens and Rothschildia cincta on future trips to AZ.

I love E. oslari. One of my favorite western saturnids. I have a 2' x 2' case with about 30 of them, and not
one is the same.

As it happens, I've got one too! Fully extended, it's about 2.6 meters long, with the ring about 25 cm in diameter. I keep it in my schoolbag most of the time - not sure as to why I didn't have it just then. Here's a picture of it accompanying me to some field in rural Norway - I had improvised it just before going on that trip, thinking I'd be able to collect my own Aglais io from the wild - no such luck, my quarry consisted of only small moths and the occasional Coenonympha, along with an assortment of beetles and bees. I suppose it was too early in the season or something, as I never saw any Lep larger than those mentioned.



Those of us that are truly obsessed will take any and all opportunities to collect
I like the look of your net though - the foldable net head is always a plus!

martellat0 wrote: ↑Thu Oct 10, 2024 4:35 pm I ran into the house (to grab my net)

I keep one in the car. And one on the boat. And one for travel. These collapsing nets are great.

Thank you! As you can probably tell from my avatar, I too, love Troides spp. As it happens, my first ever butterfly specimen was a male T. rhadamantus that was given to me by a local lepidopterist. She actually introduced me to the concept of scientific collecting, which proved to be a rewarding outlet for me to channel what had been a lifelong love of insects. That same day, I caught and pinned my first specimen (a male Graphium doson). It wasn't anywhere near as nicely spread as these, but two years and about two thousand specimens later, I still look upon those two inaugural specimens with fondness.

Caught E. darocana on 1 - X - 2024 on Cebu Island, Philippines. I caught it right outside my house, actually - it happened to be nectaring when I pulled into my driveway at about 4 PM. Naturally, I ran into the house (to grab my net) and right back out again.

When I was at Cornell in July, they have a display area dedicated to Nabokov. And in big letters, they quote him something to the likes of "I wish I'd never given away my collection [to Cornell], if I could steal them all back I would."

That gave me a shock. Wow. Notably, Nabokov never really collected after that, though that might be attributed to his fame as an author and focus on writing. Still, once he gave away his collection, did he lose interest? Did he no longer have a need to collect or study Leps?

So I wonder, what of my collection should I NOT dispose of yet? What might I need? Tiger Swallowtails? Solomon Islands specimens? I have had passions in the past, but once I broke from them, they were gone, and I never returned to them- will entomology be the same path?

When & where was E. darocana collected?

The Troides have always been a favorite of mine, with their unmatched richness of yellow, against that velvet black. That is indeed a beautiful pair AND an excellent spreading job!