InsectNet forum

nitinra · by nitinra » Thu May 09, 2024 3:45 am

Hi all,

I am conducting a Lepidoptera workshop for Native American school kids in Montana in June. I will be taking kids out to the field to observe and identify local butterflies, followed by light trap for some moths. I also want them to get an experience on pinning butterflies and maybe take a few dead ones home. I am looking for suggestions for sellers who sell wholesale butterflies (common ones) that you have good experience with. I recently ordered from Insect-sale.com and they were great! I am hoping to get a bit more diversity in the specimens that the kids can take home and hence looking for other options. I don't want to buy from etsy and would rather support an entomological collector/supplier. The size of the class is ~30 kids and I plan to have each kid go with ~10 Lepidoptera each.

Thanks for your help!

Annarobertson1947 · by Annarobertson1947 » Thu May 09, 2024 3:06 am

Are there any observations from Ecuador or other sth American countries??

evra · by evra » Thu May 09, 2024 2:55 am

Nice. “Rare” is a matter of perspective. In my experience if you know where/when to go find something and how to collect it, pretty much everything can be common.

kevinkk · by kevinkk » Wed May 08, 2024 10:11 pm

Exactly. I apologize for being misunderstood, and should have been more clear. There are some sellers who will send material like ova
before payment, but it's more of a EU practice.
I've only had a couple people send diapuased material before a payment as well.
No matter our economic status, nobody wants to make unintended "donations" I certainly have no extra money, it's
all spoken for.

58chevy · by 58chevy » Wed May 08, 2024 9:32 pm

Here are a few things I recently grabbed for my grandson's collection. Nothing rare, but new to him.

adamcotton · by adamcotton » Wed May 08, 2024 9:15 pm

butterflygirl,

I don't think kevink was in any way implying that you wouldn't have paid on receipt. I think he just meant that you can't expect a seller to want to send goods without payment up front.

On the other hand, you definitely did the right thing posting on Insectnet to check whether anyone knows the seller. If nobody can vouch for him I would be wary, especially if the seller initiated the offer to you.

Adam.

butterflygirl · by butterflygirl » Wed May 08, 2024 4:32 pm

kevinkk wrote: ↑Wed May 08, 2024 4:22 pm If the email is unsolicited, I'd be more than cautious. It's probably a scam, that means most likely, not 100%. I get unsolicited email often
enough, and never answer it unless I am familiar with the individual. We all have regular contacts,
and sometimes those persons will contact me, but I know them.
About payments- Sometimes, in fact, most of the time, payment has to be made first, there is postage to consider, as well as the seller, I wouldn't
send anyone anything for "free" unless it was going to further a relationship already made, that's simply the way it is. Also, not every obscure payment method is a scam, I have used Western Union before, although it cost me more than the material itself, and I had the person verified by someone I knew was trustworthy.

I don't mind paying and I don't expect anything for free

. I was scammed out of 50 dollars I had been saving for this hobby and since I'm poor I can't afford to throw money at people and not get what I paid for. I will pay with friends and family to people I know and pay beforehand. I don't know where you're getting that I expect anything for free. Once I received the materials I would have paid. I was trying to check with people here before I make a mistake.

kevinkk · by kevinkk » Wed May 08, 2024 4:22 pm

If the email is unsolicited, I'd be more than cautious. It's probably a scam, that means most likely, not 100%. I get unsolicited email often
enough, and never answer it unless I am familiar with the individual. We all have regular contacts,
and sometimes those persons will contact me, but I know them.
About payments- Sometimes, in fact, most of the time, payment has to be made first, there is postage to consider, as well as the seller, I wouldn't
send anyone anything for "free" unless it was going to further a relationship already made, that's simply the way it is. Also, not every obscure payment method is a scam, I have used Western Union before, although it cost me more than the material itself, and I had the person verified by someone I knew was trustworthy.

butterflygirl · by butterflygirl » Wed May 08, 2024 2:32 pm

I was just contacted by someone calling themselves Roger An using the gmail address roger.an.99@gmail.com. I told them I no longer use the friends and family option nor do I send money to sellers I am unfamiliar with and must receive the livestock first. They asked me if I would send them half now and then half upon receipt because they too have been scanned. I told them I would get back to them after talking to more knowledgeable friends. I was just curious if anyone knew this seller. I have to admit it feels fishy.

Annarobertson1947 · by Annarobertson1947 » Wed May 08, 2024 7:42 am

Thanks John, thats extremely interesting, a show of real intelligence.
Have always wondered about Aedon.
Your insight is greatly appreciated

Jshuey · by Jshuey » Wed May 08, 2024 12:16 am

A few potential reasons. First, in Belize, we have a handful of records, but all are from rainforest growing on granite soils. Most of Belize is limestone I have watched it just sit for hours in the top of trees. And it hates traps!. You often see it investigate them when you first set them, and them fly off never to be seen again! I think we have trapped it three times. Usually you catch it as it flies around the trap.

Interestingly amydon behaves the same way in Belize - only much more rare. Never inside a trap, just flying around the outside of it. Just three records for the entire country. This one in limestone forest.

John

Trehopr1 · by Trehopr1 » Tue May 07, 2024 11:18 pm

One of my more frequently encountered species is
Judith's Underwing (Catocala judith). The wingspan
is 45-55mm. This small black species was named by
Herman Strecker in 1874.

Although, somewhat common at times I have always
found it difficult to retain very many choice and/or
clean examples. The black hindwings get very easily
marred, scratched or worn in a very short amount of
time seemingly....

Trehopr1 · by Trehopr1 » Tue May 07, 2024 11:07 pm

Here we have a smaller catocala species (55-60 mm)
known as the Serene Underwing (Catocala serena).
As with most catocala it has one generation a year.

I have found it to be an infrequent visitor in my region.
A delightful find when in good condition.

Annarobertson1947 · by Annarobertson1947 » Tue May 07, 2024 7:49 am

Im posting in Lepidoptera instead of the Agrias chat segment because its a general question not suitable for show my favorite specimen section .
Is there a combination of reasons for Agrias aedon to be scarce in collections as it occurs over a large range and supposedly along with other Agrias species.

Panacanthus · by Panacanthus » Mon May 06, 2024 4:38 pm

Have you seen/asked a doctor?

Trehopr1 · by Trehopr1 » Mon May 06, 2024 2:52 pm

This is a species of "Rove beetle" of the family Staphylinidae. These are harmless and they're actually predators in their world. This is not some grain pest....

Despite their shortened wing covers they're flying wings unfold quite nicely from beneath them thus they are very capable flyers. It's springtime and you may have gotten in a couple while a door or window was open for a time or they could have come in under the threshold of an outer door to your home where there is oftentimes a gap.

You might try looking up the term common Rove beetles of Britain on the internet and it may show you some of the most commonly encountered ones. Perhaps this one will look like one of the pictures. Any reference book specifically on the insects of Britain will likely also show a page or so of some examples as well.

livingplanet3 · by livingplanet3 » Mon May 06, 2024 2:39 pm

Renegade wrote: ↑Mon May 06, 2024 8:30 am Keep having these crawling into my kitchen at night one after the other but not quite sure what it is?
Black head, Cooperish body and black bottom.
UK

It's a beetle of the family Staphylinidae (the rove beetles) -

https://www.ukbeetles.co.uk/staphylinidae

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rove_beetle

Chuck · by Chuck » Mon May 06, 2024 12:21 pm

CaribLife wrote: ↑Sun May 05, 2024 10:13 pm You guys are just brutal. The pictures were taking when they were biting us as you can see they are sitting on our skin and you can actually see their legs are going inside our skin. Take a close look before you judge people. If you don't know that's ok we haven't had anyone able to identify them but they are certainly real.

"real" of course, but it's not what you think.

Those are not legs. They are more likely clothing fibers of some sort.

The top left image does not appear to be an animal.
The top right image appears to be skin and a fiber.
If any of the others are animals, they've been rolled, squished, or whatever.
Some of the remainder do show a "thread" piercing the skin, though it appears that the thread is not part of your skin, nor of the purported parasite, but an independent fiber that has penetrated skin and/or the whatever-it-is.

To me, the "parasites" look like skin that has been rolled/squished. You may be being bitten, but I don't think it's those things you showed, I think it's the fiber that appears in most of the photos. Keeping in mind that not all bites are felt immediately- chiggers in particular; by the time you feel something the actual event has long passed.

Renegade · by Renegade » Mon May 06, 2024 8:30 am

Keep having these crawling into my kitchen at night one after the other but not quite sure what it is?
Black head, Cooperish body and black bottom.
UK

adamcotton · by adamcotton » Mon May 06, 2024 6:35 am

I also cannot see any arthropods in the photos provided. They look like grains of sand or dirt, not living organisms.

If you are being bitten by something I suspect that it bites and then leaves your skin immediately.

Adam.

InsectNet forum

InsectNet forum

Buying specimens in bulk for an entomology workshop

Re: Agrias aedon question

Re: Just Off The Boards

Re: Has anyone heard of the seller Roger An?

Just Off The Boards

Re: Has anyone heard of the seller Roger An?

Re: Has anyone heard of the seller Roger An?

Re: Has anyone heard of the seller Roger An?

Has anyone heard of the seller Roger An?

Re: Agrias aedon question

Re: Agrias aedon question

Re: A parade of Catocala moths

Re: A parade of Catocala moths

Agrias aedon question

Re: Blood Sucking Mites living on our skin

Re: Beetle?

Re: Beetle?

Re: Blood Sucking Mites living on our skin

Beetle?

Re: Blood Sucking Mites living on our skin