I can't find my #@%*& type specimens!

[Chuck]

I bought a ring light, experimented with it. Now time to re-photo the type specimens for publication.

I cannot find them.

This shouldn't be hard- all specimens, drawer after drawer after drawer, are collated chronologically.

And the last drawer ends just before the capture dates of the type pair. So I'm actually missing an entire #*^%@# drawer.

I can't imagine anyone came and stole it, and I never took it out of the house.


Arrrrgggghhhh!

[eurytides]

!!!!!! Dude. I hope you locate them. If not, you can always just find another one and designate that as a holotype…as annoying as that might be. Or if you want, I can designate one from my collection.

[adamcotton]

Presumably you put the drawer somewhere easy to access, and have just forgotten where you put it.

Hopefully you will find it soon.

Adam.

[livingplanet3]

I hope your specimens turn up, and are simply misplaced somewhere in the house; it must be an extremely frustrating situation.

[58chevy]

Check the drawer dates. Maybe you mixed up the chronological order.

[Chuck]

Thanks guys for your compassion.

This all started actually a couple days ago when I couldn't find them.

Yesterday I made a concerted effort to find them. I went through all my NA Papilio drawers (minus the machaon-types) looking. Four times. Studied each drawer. Nothing.

As you probably observed, I was frustrated.

I've learned when something doesn't make sense, and you can't make sense of it, walk away and give it time. Last year I was re-mating two mechanical assemblies and suddenly they wouldn't go together. I pushed, I tried again, I tried and tried. I used a rubber mallet- no go. I pulled out the steel hammer and thought- wait, I'd better put this down. The next day they inexplicably slid together.

And so today. I pulled out suspect drawer #1 and looked again. No go based on chronological date. I was was looking at unique morphological characteristics when I noticed one specimen had an extra pink label. Ah hah. There must be another one- and sure there was. As it turns out, in writing the description paper I had recorded the wrong day one one specimen, and was exactly one year off on the other! There was no error in my collating- it was the human error in transcribing label to keyboard.

So I'm good. Now just have to take new photos (after all that.)

[kevinkk]

I'm glad you sorted it out Chuck.
What I typically do from time to time, is rearrange things, and put them in "better" places. That's when they go missing.

[Chuck]

What I typically do from time to time, is rearrange things, and put them in "better" places.

I broke down and spent a weekend doing that last year. What a nightmare. I'd been sticking specimens wherever they fit physically, and I had taxa spread all over in the wrong places. If you want to talk about "can't find" god I had it. But I have the same problems w/ institutional collections- a taxa spread between the primary collection, a donated personally collection, pro tem, and "wherever" so it's not just me.