The Blue Duke Bassarona (Euthalia) durga

[Trehopr1]

One of the delights to be found in the secretive
country of Myanmar (formerly Burma). This large
nymphalid species is (nearly) as large as a Monarch
butterfly and has a host of colors and beautiful white
banding which make it a standout.

[adamcotton]

For Americans, the date is 5th July 2006, not 7th May

This superb specimen will be from Chudu Razi Hills, E Kachin. It came from my late friend Prasobsuk Sukkit.

Adam.

[Trehopr1]

Thank you Adam for all of the information. What a small world that your friend actually collected this specimen.

You know, I remember reading (a long time ago) when I was 11 or 12 years old that monthly names should be put in either Roman numerals or be spelled out to avoid any confusion in the data of insect specimens.

I read it in one of my first (more technical) handbooks on insects. When I started manually typing my data labels for my specimens (for reasons of neatness) rather than handwritten labels; I always typed in the month name if it was short or abbreviated it if it was long. I suppose I could have used Roman numerals with the typewriter just the same and one could still do so either way with a computer.

I suppose I elected in my own personal use to use the month name over the Roman numerals.

[adamcotton]

What a small world that your friend actually collected this specimen.

He may not have actually caught it himself. He had several Thai catchers who worked for him and accompanied him on several-month long trips from here to Kachin, where he also employed local people to collect for him as well. Most of the specimens collected in N Burma between 1996 and 2017 passed through his hands. Butterflies were mostly a 'side product' as the main business was the very expensive beetle species that he was sending to Japan. Even then it was not exactly a highly profitable business and he relied on advance finance from his customers at the start of each season.

He and his staff would go there from mid April to September or October. I wanted him to go to collect in other parts of Burma such as in the lowlands and near the coastal mangroves, as well as go there earlier in the year for the spring butterfly emergence, but it wasn't cost effective for him to do that.

Adam.

[adamcotton]

I suppose I elected in my own personal use to use the month name over the Roman numerals.

I also use month names or unambiguous abbreviations rather than Roman numerals on my labels.

Adam.

[Paul K]

I suppose I elected in my own personal use to use the month name over the Roman numerals.

I also use month names or unambiguous abbreviations rather than Roman numerals on my labels.

Adam.

I also use abbreviations of months in English but I stay away from new American version: MA,MR, JN JL instead I use three later version May, Mar, Jun or Jul
Whether one likes or not English is an international language and I think more people will recognize better this way than Roman numerals which for no particular reason I dislike.

[Cabintom]

In most cases, using roman numerals takes up less room on the label.

[Kirkwilliams]

Has anyone ever come across a female? I've been looking for 20 years!

[daveuk]

Has anyone ever come across a female? I've been looking for 20 years!

No Kirk & make that about forty years looking for me....

[Kirkwilliams]

Okay, that makes me feel better!