I woukld say probably Frankfurt. Prague used to be good but they moved locations some years ago and it didn't seem so good afterwards. i've not been there for several years now.

daveuk wrote: ↑Sun Apr 16, 2023 2:27 pm Thanks Bob. It's old age !!
Will amend.

We all suffer from that!

The genus name should be Totochila Dave.

Another species that's disappeared here is Aglais urticae ( Small tortoiseshell). it was one of the commonest species when I was a kid, I used to see many on every Buddleia bush. now I see 2 or 3 a year if I'm lucky, but I hear it's much more common further north.

Certainly, when I was a kid I never thought anything of pamphilus . it was everywhere. Now I can't remember when I last saw one. Not the most exciting looking species, but when I bred then once, they looked quite spectacular when fresh. Like many other species here in southern England, they've massi...

Chuck is right, the euphorian larvae once in final install will sometimes chew right through the stock of the tagala vine, killing all the leaves beyond the break. If done near the end of the vine, no great loss, but sometimes they will chew near the base of the plant, killing the entire plant. So ...

daveuk wrote: ↑Wed Apr 05, 2023 2:22 pm Sounds like I did a wise thing in not buying any Bob.
Hope you didn't pay too much for them.

I can't remember now, but they weren't cheap!

Many years ago I bought a couple of pairs of O. tithonus and O. goliath pupae from a show here, I can't remember who I bought them from. Unfortunately, all the resulting adults were crippled, although not all emerged.

Most people accept that augustinae Le Cerf, 1925 is the valid name for this subspecies of M. rhetenor, diana Le Moult, 1962 is a junior subjective synonym.

Sorry Dave, I can't have made myself clear. The specimen you picture is M. rhetenor helena . M. helenor is a banded species, similar to M. achilles . No Bob. It was me. In a rush. Familiar with both those names so it was entirely my fault for the confusion.Have now amended original post hopefully c...

It's ssp. helena , helenor is an entirely separate species. Thanks yet again Bob. Have amended again. Hope I got it correct this time !! Sorry Dave, I can't have made myself clear. The specimen you picture is M. rhetenor helena . M. helenor is a banded species, similar to M. achilles .

Dave, in your 3rd photo, I'm not sure where you got the name diana from, it's ssp. helena . Also, eusebes is now generally considered to be a synonym of r. rhetenor . Sorry Bob. My error. Have amended now. Thank You. Thanks also for the info on eusebes. It's ssp. helena , helenor is an entirely sep...

Dave, in your 3rd photo, I'm not sure where you got the name diana from, it's ssp. helena. Also, eusebes is now generally considered to be a synonym of r. rhetenor.

Dave, all my IDs have been done from the Dottax & Pierre paper, along with various conversations with Michel. This genus always fascinated me and I had a small collection of about 100 specimens representing most populations. However, when I had severe space problems I gave them all to Michel in ...

Dave, in you first pic of the Peruvian ones, they are all galanthis , except for the 2nd one down on the right, which is S. syntyche mars . In the 2nd pic, the top 3 are also mars , the bottom 2 are galanthis . The pair from Joinville are S. nemesis catarina . Of the El Salvador ones, the male and b...

Here is a treatment of the genus in French. https://www.persee.fr/doc/bsef_0037-928x_2009_num_114_4_2703. They recognize three species, but my poor understanding of French limits me as to why they separate nemesis from galanthis. That's the paper I was working from, along with various discussions I...

They're strange specimens Dave. They seem to have characteristics of both S. galanthis (=marthesia) and S. nemesis. The forewing pattern is more like galanthis, but galanthis normally has orange females, unlike nemesis.

I thought I heard that a fire had destroyed the habitat, rendering it extinct.

I've noticed with several of the recent threads, the addition of the letters "ns" to th end of the group name, e.g. Orthoptera"ns". I've never seen this before, where did it come from?

Pink pierids. A pair of pink Pieris brassicae with a typical pair. The pink male is also abb. minor. A female pink Pieris rapae with a typical female. Have posted pictures of these before. All bred specimens purchased by myself. I still have no idea how the pink colouration is produced These pink P...