Stigmodera roei from Australia
Trogonoptera brookiana

Looks like a harmless male Midge Fly. I’m no expert but I believe females do bite like mosquitos, and males do not.

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!

Thank you everyone for such kind comments. You are all an inspiration! Finding other people who share our passion for insects can sometimes be a challenge, and I have always been grateful for this forum! I very much appreciate all of you!

For anyone not familiar with this species, when you shine an ordinary flashlight (or any bright, direct light) on the underside, it glows in a beautiful blue/violet!

This is a recently completed "wall display" featuring 3 large males of Thysania agrippina . The average wingspan of these specimens is 274mm, which is what I consider their "true" wingspan, calculated by measuring forewing lengths and adding width of thorax. Thysania agrippina is considered to have ...

Very exciting to see something posted in this category Trehopr1, and you did a fine job indeed of spreading this delicate little fellow! Thank you for sharing!

Its large hind legs are missing - that’s why it may have looked extra odd to you!

Many thanks for all the help! I am in the process of making a “wall display” featuring three large T. agrippinas - now I can include all the proper data on the nameplate. Once it is finished I’ll share a photo!

Can anyone please help to clarify this data? It came with a specimen of Thysania agrippina. Some words are obvious, but others I am not sure of. I have searched, but cannot find a map which shows these words.

??? - River Amazonas (= Amazon River)
??? - Loreto - Peru

Here is a photo of the pair. The female has a wingspan, in the spread position, of 151mm.

I am planning to make a high quality "wall display" for a pair of Brahmaea wallichii insulata , but the pair I have came with very little data, and I cannot seem to confirm that this data may be legitimate despite much internet searching. Since this display will be relatively "permanent", I'm hoping ...

I have a Korean Lepidopterist visiting me today, and he mentioned that he always puts water-soluble glue on the underside of the wing bases after removing freshly spread specimens from the relaxing board. He explained that if he doesn't do that the wings either 'spring' or droop in the high ...

Have you seen/asked a doctor?

Really gorgeous images! Thanks for sharing.

This is sad news, but thank you for sharing your stories. Although I never met Chuck in person, I had some wonderful conversations on the phone with him and some insect “dealings” as well. He also purchased a freeze dryer(not a cheap piece of equipment) from me which I was no longer using, just to ...

Beautiful! I never knew that we have that species here in AZ!

Are you certain they don’t have existing pin holes? Have you checked with a magnifying glass or microscope? It seems unlikely they would have been spread originally without a pin through the thorax. Could be that someone removed the pins in order to store them in the manner which you received them.

Appears to be a Saga species - maybe Saga natoliae. They are quite large and “wingless”.