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Post by nomad on Jan 23, 2013 11:25:38 GMT -8
I am pleased to include the paper on the discovery of O.alexandrae by John Tennant as PDF file. I hope some of the members here will enjoy it. Shown by Kind permission of the Linnean Society and Copyright, The Linnean Society of London. Many thanks to them and to John Tennent. Peter. Attachments:
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Post by froggy on Jan 26, 2013 9:14:47 GMT -8
Peter,
Many thanks for this great paper. Very much enjoyed the read as I was flying back from DC to Boston yesterday. Please keep all these valuable Birdwing resources coming.
Best, Thierry
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Post by nomad on Jan 26, 2013 14:14:15 GMT -8
Thierry
I am pleased you enjoyed the O. alexandrae paper by John Tennent.
Regards Peter.
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Post by nomad on Feb 11, 2013 7:00:54 GMT -8
In New Guinea, a year after John Moresby started to explore from the area where the capital city now lies, and which now bears his name, another explorer Captain Lawson apparently set out in 1872 to cross the island. Captain Lawson wrote a book of his travels which he called 'Wandering in the Interior of New Guinea [1875]. In his book he goes into great detail [5 pages] when describing a new ' Trap Door Spider' and has wonderful new details of fantastic butterflies. However all was not well, for in spite of being a best seller, the volume was met with a mixture of outrage and mild amusement. Lawson also mentioned he had discovered the 'largest mountain, Mt Hercules [32,000ft] a lake to rival Lake Victoria, called Lake Alexandrina, Monkeys and Apes, a large white tiger, called a 'Moolah' etc etc. New Guinea being then largely unknown, the general public believing this to be a genuine travel narrative loved the book, but those at the Royal Geographical Society were not amused and sent letters of protest to Captain Lawson through his publisher. However Lawson unexpectedly defended his book in many letters and mentioned what do " the armchair explorers know "? However enter John Moresby who ridiculed the Lawson book, and mentioned he had seen none of those things during his exploration of New Guinea. A. S. Meek would have been well aware of the Lawson book, travel narratives on New Guinea being few and far between. When he discovered O. alexandrae, this Lawson butterfly description might have caused much laughter, or at least a wry smile. Lawson wrote " To describe the butterflies I met with here and on subsequent occasions, would require a volume to itself. In size they ranged from the tiniest of moths up to gigantic butterflies, a foot across: and in colour they were of every known hue and shade. The largest specimen I obtained, and whose wings measured exactly twelve inches across when stretched out, was black with a red border to the wings and had red bands around the body. In the center of each wing were three light blue spots arranged in a triangle. The body of this fly was as thick as my thumb and six inches in length, the feelers were seven inches in length and curled into three coils." What is remarkable that the identity of who wrote the book has never been ascertained and Captain Lawson was as fictitious as his book. Although clearly a spoof, this book is a entertaining read and the mythical Lawson like his mostly mythical New Guinea cetainly had one marvellous imagination. He even dared to include fold-out maps of his travels in his book on New Guinea. Th strange Lawson book can be read or downloaded at archive.org/details/wanderingsinint00unkngoog Below a photograph of a very early real expedition in 1885 [led by the naturalist H.O Forbes, they also collected many specimens, including butterflies] setting out from the coast of New Guinea to reach the highest point of the Owen Stanley Range, from 'Picturesque New Guinea' by John William Lindt. Attachments:
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Post by nomad on Feb 11, 2013 7:09:40 GMT -8
Another photograph from the Lindt book, taken during the Golden-age of butterfly collecting and exploring in New Guinea. Attachments:
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Post by exoticimports on Feb 11, 2013 7:39:06 GMT -8
Unfortunately I can't post photos from my phone otherwise you could see John tenement and I offering rude gestures for Andrew Dawkins in NYC yesterday.
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Post by nomad on Feb 11, 2013 8:05:10 GMT -8
Unfortunately I can't post photos from my phone otherwise you could see John tenement and I offering rude gestures for Andrew Dawkins in NYC yesterday. I am glad you cannot, I hope the real John Tennent is exploring some remote island and not standing in the cold in New York watching Mr Dawkins whoever he might be.
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Post by exoticimports on Feb 11, 2013 10:04:25 GMT -8
No he's in NYC and in fact he just bought lunch
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Post by nomad on Feb 11, 2013 10:21:45 GMT -8
No he's in NYC and in fact he just bought lunch I hope you both enjoy your lunch and you both enjoy the Big Apple. I expect John Tennent might be exploring some remote Island sooner or later. Best Wishes Peter.
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Post by exoticimports on Feb 11, 2013 17:03:30 GMT -8
NYC is just another city without the beauty of remote islands. Of course JTs company is immeasurable in a wealth of knowledge and even more entertaining stories.
The days of meek may be gone but there is much discovery left. One has but to get out of the chair and get to somewhere and the royalties of the remote world unfold.
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 8, 2013 8:16:42 GMT -8
I was in Paris Museum (MNHN) this morning to check their Delias collection. Hundreds of historic specimen including this rare Delias callima callima caught by A.S. Meek in 1905. 100 years later it is still an extremely rare Delias in collection. Attachments:
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Post by nomad on Apr 8, 2013 11:52:52 GMT -8
Must have been a fascinating morning among the treasures of the Paris Museum. It is good to see they are preserving some of Meek's historic specimens. It does seem he took a number of Delias callima callima on his 1905 trip to the Angabunga-St Joseph river at Owgarra. There are the specimens pictured on your website held by the Exeter Museum and then I presume there are the types that are in the Rothschild collection in the BMNH. Meek was certainly an expert Delias hunter, having worked out the larvae foodplant in New Guinea and his unique technique of collecting them by pinning a dead specimen to a log or bush. Why is the nominate D. callima very rare in collections today? Is it because this is a little visited remote locality in the Owen Stanley Range and could it be a rare species there anyway? I wonder has there been any habitat change in that area of New Guinea. Peter.
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 8, 2013 13:46:38 GMT -8
Yes those specimens are labelled "Owgarra". All ssp of callima including nominate, satura and telefominensis are very rare in collection so I guess it's a rare species where found.
+ all its known localities are nearly not collected anymore so very very few specimens on the market (I saw one for sale in the last 8 years...got it !).
Like most montainous Delias it flies only in places with virgin forests so yes deforestation is not good for them.
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Post by nomad on Apr 9, 2013 3:08:29 GMT -8
Hi Olivier
Thanks for the info on the rare Delias callima. You were indeed lucky to get that specimen. Do you know anything about the German Catholic missionary Farther Voss who had a mission in the Chimbu Highlands of Papua. Jan Pasternak mentions in his CD rom that he specialized in Delias butterflies and had many native hunters collecting for him. Did Father Voss discover any new Delias species-subspecies? He must have had a good collection of Delias.
Peter.
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 9, 2013 3:15:07 GMT -8
Sorry I have no details about Father Voss.
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