The average value is a bullshit lie from Costa Rican rangers to make news titles.

On the few pictures that we can see, I see some common low-value butterflies (Heliconius, day flying moths...)

Unfortunately the judge may follow rangers' words.

I am afraid this guy will be treated worst than an elephant poacher in Africa.

It is a Russian guy who lives in Indonesia and spends a lot of time in Papua.
He has some good insects but is also trafficking protected birds of paradise...
I've never dealt with him but as far as I know he is not a scammer. I doubt he has any Indonesian permits though...

A news report in Japan says the guy's name is Motoaki Koyama. Motoaki is his given name. I don't know him, but I found his name in a Who's Who of Japanese insect enthusiasts compiled by the late Chotaro Nishiyama back in 1990. The report here is a bit more detailed, and quotes the total value of the butterflies seized as 38,000,000 yen ($250,000) on the black market! Each butterfly costs more than $1,000! I wonder what sort of butterflies he caught.

adamcotton wrote: ↑Tue Mar 25, 2025 1:42 pm It is worth bearing in mind that Japanese often state their family name first and their given name second, so the Costa Rican authorities may have misunderstood this.

Adam.

Though the under-60 generation has often tried to accommodate western style, which can get very confusing. Sometimes they introduce surname first, sometimes given name; some capitalize the surname, some don't. And, being Japanese and very polite they don't correct being addressed incorrectly. I've seen correspondence to VIPs as "Dear Mr. [given name]." It goes both ways though, the situation also confuses some Japanese concerning how western names are used, and when to use which name. Seems though that in general we all let it slide.

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Adam.

It is worth bearing in mind that Japanese often state their family name first and their given name second, so the Costa Rican authorities may have misunderstood this.

Adam.

Hi-Has anyone ever purchased from this guy?
https://papua-insects.com/index/0-2

Another banana republic enforcing little laws with no environmental value.

Surely, "everyone" knows not to collect in Costa Rica without a permit, right?

It "may" be Motoaki Kinoshita, a Japanese Lep researcher. The name in the article is given as "Motoaki" which AFAIK is a given name, not a surname. Maybe a Japanese member will clarify the identity of the victim.

Sad.
Go to pro-entomology countries (there are a few remaining) or take the time to get permits/authorizations. Every year, one collector faces a big issue somewhere in the world...

Hope he won't end in jail for few common butterflies.
Anyone knows who this "Motoaki" is ?

https://www.crhoy.com/ambiente/japones- ... na-maleta/

https://www.diarioextra.com/noticia/vid ... ayer-visor

Not positive publicity for any collector .

Well, it's been three days since 25% or so of my collection was picked up by one of the big retailers.

If I had to pick one word, it's relieved. There was a lot of very desirable but hard to find species, and I'd felt guilty about having them. Now, what he doesn't cherry pick out for himself will be made available to collectors.

Beyond that, I have to share what a dummy I am.

I'd scheduled w/ Cornell for pick-up this Wednesday.

And for weeks, I've watched my lovely lady every night and on weekends: patching, sanding, painting. Day in, day out. And finally, she's done. The walls are all refreshed, the trim moulding all painted, some of it new. Then she vacuumed the whole house, and steam cleaned the carpets. She's really knocked herself out- I mean really- she's exhausted.

Then it dawned on me.

Wednesday, the day of Cornell pickup, is the day the house gets listed for sale. Open house is Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Now, what is the chance that in moving a whole lot of drawers through one freshened hallway, and down one steam cleaned set of stairs, that nobody bumps a wall or gets dirt on the carpet? I don't know, but it's not zero. Which would mean that I'd then have to tell me missus that we ruined her hard work the day before the open house.

That, I think you will know, would be the death of me. So I had to reach out to Cornell and ask for a postponement. Dummy.

I caught a female in French Guiana (Kaw mountain) but I guess you already have pictures from French Guiana specimens.

Very strong flyers, I was pretty proud of myself to net it !
Most specimens are caught with traps.
A friend of mine caught a male with his car. He found a perfect male crashed on his windshield wiper !

does anyone have specimens of galanthis from Guyana and/or Surinam ? i am compiling images of galanthis from countries adjacent to Trinidad for comparison. i believe Trinidad galanthis should be treated as a seperate ssp. Michel Dottax agrees.

Back to the subject I do remember seeing O.priamus in Niagara Falls butterfly house. It is not really in US but just across the river. I had pleasure to meet Chuck there few years ago.

It is also disappointing to travel to tropical forests and find out that the number of encounter butterflies ( per square area ) is much lower than in visited previously butterfly house.

Butterfly houses always give me a mild case of vertigo. It unsettles me to see Neotropical and SE Asian species flying together!

jh

I have a lovely copy for sale, if interested pm me

Hi,

I'm a Chemical Engineering PhD student currently studying Hydrogen production from Termites (naturally, they're not harmed at all), and would like to share a video on the topic which also documents my journey up to this point.




Regards

Thanks to all for your input. The trap pictured is constructed somewhat differently from mine, which doesn't have so wide a gap between the bait tray platform and net.

Cabintom wrote: ↑Fri Mar 21, 2025 8:08 am About a month ago I had to urgently relocate away from Bunia. I was able to charter a Cessna Caravan out, but it was filled with our team members and other colleagues, so non-essential belongings were left behind. My collection sits there as we wait to see what will happen .

Sorry you had to depart, but I've been there and done that. Having a bag ready to go is an old method to save the most important, because there's often no warning- just grab and go.

Historically, I'd kept my collection to a 100 drawer maximum, and any excess was sent off, but I got lazy and sloppy (frankly, free time is somehow less than ever- how can that be?)

About 1/3 of it is being picked up by a well known retailer today. About 1/2 is being picked up by Cornell next week. I'll retain about 24 drawers, of which (I am PRAYING) some will be empty for future use.

This plan, I hope, satisfies several concerns: (1) it keeps me in the game, (2) it disperses my collection so that one event won't destroy my legacy, and (3) collectors like some folks here have the opportunity to get hard-to-find specimens.