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JVCalhoun

A subspecies is by definition is an offshoot of another, existing species.

In the nineteenth century, a "subspecies" was loosely defined as a geographic variant of a species, but that didn't last long. It was soon seen as an equal division of a species. In other words, once a species was ...

JVCalhoun

I admire your optimism, but I tend to be more cynical. Granted, there is a fair amount of land being preserved in Florida, but I remember what the state looked like 45 years ago, and it was much different than it is today. What you see as an abundance of habitat, I see as only a fraction of what ...

JVCalhoun

JVCalhoun wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 7:46 pm
Chuck wrote: Thu Mar 13, 2025 5:14 pm We need to keep Mr. Calhoun alive forever
Ha! Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass. I don't think I'd want to see all the remaining natural areas be developed. I've seen enough of it that already, and more is disappearing every day.

JVCalhoun

We need to keep Mr. Calhoun alive forever

Ha! Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to pass. I don't think I'd want to see all the remaining natural areas be developed. I've seen enough of it that already, and more is disappearing every day. :(

[by the way, this is a duplicate message; I'm not ...

JVCalhoun

JVCalhoun that is an absolutely "staggering" personal library of entomological knowledge

Thank you! My wife would also add that it took a lot of money to build my library, especially the rarer works (since retirement last year, I've been told in no uncertain terms that if I made any more ...

JVCalhoun

Here are a few additional books in my library that are signed.

Sadly, Paul Opler, whom I knew quite well, passed away in 2023.

Brownie and I corresponded a number of times over the years. He passed in 1993.

The signature from J. W. Tilden is from his Butterflies of the San Francisco Bay Region ...

JVCalhoun

I've watched multi-million dollar collections parted out; while that's the seed for younger collector's it's a shame that such an aggregation isn't kept together.

Yes, old book collections are sometimes passed down, but that tradition is all but gone in this country. Today, it's pretty much ...

JVCalhoun

Chuck touched on a very important topic: what to do with a personal library when the time comes. I've attempted to build the most complete library of books on North American butterflies, and it currently totals over 1500 works, dating back to the 18th century. The images below show a portion of the ...

JVCalhoun

These taxa likely diverged relatively recently and are still in the process of speciation, making it very difficult to segregate them. Unfortunately, COI analysis is often insufficient. Genomic profiles are more thorough, but expensive, and there are few reputable labs capable of conducting and ...

JVCalhoun

I was afraid that would happen. I referred one to you on iNat from the Ithaca area, sorry about that. This always happens when something new is described, as people attempt to get a "feel" for the species. In this case, it will be tough, but the observation/collection date should help quite a bit. I ...

JVCalhoun

Yes, Chuck, I think that would be a worthy study, that's for sure. But I personally don't want to wade into those tall weeds. I have some other projects in the pipeline, which will keep me busy for the foreseeable future.

I was also wondering about "HNF!"

JVCalhoun

I don't even bother with ID labels on most specimens these days. That's what they have graduate students for, generating soon-to-be-outdated specimen labels.

I agree. I haven't attempted to affix ID labels to specimens in many years -- things change much too quickly! Instead, I place a "drawer ...

JVCalhoun

iNaturalist is a helpful tool, nothing more. Like Chuck, I use it to track sightings, especially in Florida and Maine, and it helps me understand distributions -- with the caveat that unusual sightings must be confirmed. I often reach out to individual observers for this purpose, and I usually get a ...

JVCalhoun

Thanks, Adam. As I mentioned, I did provide a link to my comments, and this discussion on iNat is ongoing...

JVCalhoun

I should add that the broad assumption that all records in a given region represent a particular species, based merely on the uncertain identifications of perceived "intermediates" by observers with varying degrees of experience, would likely overestimate its distribution. In fact, 14 of the records ...

JVCalhoun

Thanks, Chuck, for your perspective. I wasn't aware that you had been involved. I really appreciate your attempt to resolve this situation, but there are often downsides to expediency.

This blanket action on iNat for the Northeast is akin to a "guilty unless proven innocent" scenario. In other ...

JVCalhoun

Awesome, Chuck!

In case you aren't aware, an anonymous "curator" on iNaturalist just committed a wholesale taxon split to identify all " canadensis x glaucus " observations as solstitius , citing your paper as justification. I think this is a very bad idea, and I voiced my opinion to that effect ...

JVCalhoun

it's probably safe to say it IS indeed common throughout the forests of Lee County

Chuck, I don't think glaucus is particularly common in Lee County. Most of the recent records are from conservation lands, particularly the Six Mile Cypress Slough Preserve. I only encountered it once during the ...

JVCalhoun

Chuck wrote: Fri Feb 28, 2025 4:30 pm John, did you ever approach concerning study on Big Cypress reservation?

Sorry, Chuck, I've not tried to conduct a survey there, and don't know how difficult it would be to obtain permission from the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

JVCalhoun

I often blame human population density for an imbalance in observations, and surely north of SR-70 is nearly non-stop suburban. That said, the I75 corridor isn't exactly low in population. Too, I'd expect if the observations were population-influenced, we'd see more in the Palm Beach-Miami ...

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