Suguru Igarashi Insect Collection, The Univ. Museum, Tokyo

[alandmor]

A link to this museum Web site was posted in another recent thread so I followed it. I'm not a lepidopterist but, WOW!  What an impressive collection Dr. Igarashi (1924-2008) assembled, particularly of Papilionidae. The Univ. Museum Web site (in Japanese) is also nicely done with thumbnail images of specimen drawers by genus or species. Click on the drawer and it brings up a single larger image with all the individual specimen data. Click on the image again and it gets bigger still. For anyone interested, it's worth taking a look.  Almost makes me want to start collecting butterflies again!

General info and biography of Dr. Suguru Igarashi (in English): umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DDoubutu/igarashi/en/index.php

Papilionidae: umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DDoubutu/igarashi/en/gallery.php

Pieridae: umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DDoubutu/igarashi02/jp/gallery.php

Rhopalocera: umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DDoubutu/eda/jp/gallery.php

An excerpt from the Web site:

"The University Museum, The University of Tokyo, is currently data basing this important collection and making it available to the public. As a first step, we have compiled a list of the Papilionidae in which Dr Igarashi specialized, and have published in the bulletin series and website of the museum. The catalogue of Papilionidae, which contains 9,264 specimens in 298 cabinets, includes many precious species such as Teinopalpus imperialis, Papilio elephenor, Papilio hospiton, Papilio chikae and Ornithoptera alexandrae, the latter three of which are currently listed in Appendix I of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This database not only contributes much to taxonomy and systematics, but also provides an inventory that underpins biodiversity conservation. For example, basic data on distribution is the foundation for spatial analysis of patterns in biogeography and changes in geographic range that may be related to global warming and deforestation. We hope that by publishing this database, it will not only contribute to various scientific fields of endeavour, but also promote the importance of scientific specimens and museum collections to the public."

[timmsyrj]

An amazing collection, I have seen the papilionidae in the other thread but the Pieridae are excellent, some fabulous anthocharis in there and the Colias and Delias collectors will be well pleased with those drawers.
I would like to see his stichopthalma specimens, if he had any time to collect this family on his travels, he appears to have spent quite a bit of time in northern India so I would imagine there could be nourmahal specimens in there somewhere?


Rich

[Deleted]

Wow! The quality of the specimens that Mr. Igarashi collected is impeccable.  It would stand to reason someone that has studied the life stages of various Lepidoptera species would know the times when to collect the specimens that are freshly emerged and not waste his time chasing a flying dishrag (like I usually do).

Joe

[bichos]

Didn't see any O. meridionalis ?

I cannot believe he collected all those species/specimens himself, wow!

A truly great Man who was supported by a wonderful Woman.

[trehopr1]

I am truely humbled upon viewing the papilionid gallery of images. What an accomplishment ! It absolutely "boggles the mind " to even imagine just ONE individual collecting or breeding what appears to be over 90 percent of what is present. What a privileged life Mr. Igarashi led. He surely must be a legend in his own right.

[mokky]

As a Japanese butterfly enthusiast, Dr. Igarashi is truly a legend. Fortunately I was able to meet him in his last years. He is not only a great collector but also a keen naturarist who studied early stages of Asian butterflies. In addition, he was blessed with talent as an artist. His paintings are just amazing. He also published some novels. We are very happy to have the chance to see his huge collection housed at UMUT. mokky

[Adam Cotton]

Nov 6, 2014 4:20:16 GMT -8 mokky said:

As a Japanese butterfly enthusiast, Dr. Igarashi is truly a legend. Fortunately I was able to meet him in his last years. He is not only a great collector but also a keen naturarist who studied early stages of Asian butterflies. In addition, he was blessed with talent as an artist. His paintings are just amazing. He also published some novels. We are very happy to have the chance to see his huge collection housed at UMUT. mokky

Dr. Igarashi visited me here in Chiang Mai with his charming wife, who was also his assistant, back in the mid 1980s. I feel very honoured to have met him, and he signed my copy of his superb 1979 book Papilionidae and their Early Stages. His detailed paintings of egg, larvae and pupa of many species of Papilionidae in that book (and later) are a real legacy of scientific endeavour.

Adam.

[nomad]

A super collection- thank you for the link. What struck me was how many species were to be had from Papua New Guinea during the 1970's and are now sadly unobtainable. Those nominate paradisea for example from the Prince Alexander range look like bred specimens. The Delias are nice with a good array of Papuan species from the Owen Stanley Range, although a few rare species which you may have obtained in the 1970s from that locality seem to be missing.

[saye]

Even without the overall interest of collecting and its related activities, it really is impressive to scroll down the Papilionidae page. It's almost hard to keep focus as the eye is lured to every appealing form and every sharp colour. Though common to all arthropods, it's almost unbelievable how butterflies (all lepidoptera) retain such attraction well after their death. Thank you for the links.

Correction though:  P. hospiton is on Appendix II.

@ Adam
Do you by any chance have any such scanned illustrations you could share? (I hope this isn't an inappropriate question).

@ nomad
"look like bred specimens". That's incredible, how can you tell?

[Adam Cotton]

Saye,

I haven't scanned the book yet, as it is a very large work in every way, 2 thick volumes and also larger than A4 paper size. I recently got an A3 scanner, so one day I will scan it for my own reference, but it would not be appropriate to post scans here for copyright reasons.

Many of the specimens in Igarashi's collection will be bred, as he specialised in rearing them and studying the early stages. Presumably when the adults emerged from the pupa most of them went straight into his collection.

Adam.

[saye]

Dedicated literature can be engrossing (and expensive) and it's a bit of a shame such volumes, as years pass, take place as poorly accessible tomes. Since you own this work, could you perhaps list what it's contents are on immature stages? As in, what genera are studied.
While at it, do you also own D'Abrera's Birdwing Butterflies of the World? If so, does it cover immature stages? I thought of creating a thread to ask this but perhaps this will do.

My question to nomad was over my surprise that he would know what butterflies were bred by simply looking at them (and without any detail). Perhaps I miss interpreted his remarks.

[nomad]

Nov 24, 2014 11:10:09 GMT -8 saye said:

Dedicated literature can be engrossing (and expensive) and it's a bit of a shame such volumes, as years pass, take place as poorly accessible tomes. Since you own this work, could you perhaps list what it's contents are on immature stages? As in, what genera are studied.
While at it, do you also own D'Abrera's Birdwing Butterflies of the World? If so, does it cover immature stages? I thought of creating a thread to ask this but perhaps this will do.

My question to nomad was over my surprise that he would know what butterflies were bred by simply looking at them (and without any detail). Perhaps I miss interpreted his remarks.

Saye, I have had a good look at those Igarashi nominate O.paradisea and would suggest all are bred specimens not only because they are in such good condition, because this taxon is rarely encountered in the wild as an adult. Both sexes usually keep to the forest canopy. Igarashi must have had a good contact in the mountains where the larvae or pupa were collected, probably in the lower parts of that range. They may have come from Harry Borch who was active in that area of Papua around the date they were collected. Around the same time the Papuan Government protected the nominate paradisea by law. You cannot collect that paradisea subspecies today and it is now threatened by loss of habitat through logging.

Birdwing Butterflies of the World by Bernard d' Abrera is an expensive book but worth it for the life size colour figures, some of which depict type material from the very extensive and historic British Museum collection. The photography is of a very high quality. Where known ( 2000)- there is some information on the early stages including some super images of these and of the live adults.

That magnificent book ' Natural History of Birdwing Butterflies' by Hirotaka Matsuka is even more expensive, but it shows all the live adults of all the species and most of the early stages of the Birdwings, egg-larvae-pupa in glorious colour together with many of the foodplants. All the Birdwings are also shown as set specimens along with detailed distribution localities.

Peter.

[Adam Cotton]

Nov 24, 2014 11:10:09 GMT -8 saye said:

Dedicated literature can be engrossing (and expensive) and it's a bit of a shame such volumes, as years pass, take place as poorly accessible tomes. Since you own this work, could you perhaps list what it's contents are on immature stages? As in, what genera are studied.
While at it, do you also own D'Abrera's Birdwing Butterflies of the World? If so, does it cover immature stages? I thought of creating a thread to ask this but perhaps this will do.

I have both editions of D'Abrera's Birdwing book, and there are photos of larvae and pupae of a relatively few species. Matsuka's book is far superior in very many ways that I won't bother to repeat here.

Igarashi (1979) covers 121 species of Papilionidae. He treated them in the following genera:
Luehdorfia, Parnalius [= Allancastria], Hypermnestra, Baronia, Archon, Parnassius, Sericinus, Cressida, Battus, Pachliopta, Pharmacophagus, Atrophaneura [including Byasa], Troides, Trogonoptera, Ornithoptera, Chilasa [he included anchisiades here], Agehana, Papilio, Euchenor, Menelaides, Achillides, Meandrusa, Teinopalpus, Protographium leosthenes, Iphiclides podalirius, Lamproptera, Pathysa, Pazala, Graphium & Euryades [strangely at the end, rather than with the other Troidini].

The Plates volume has 223 colour plates of adults and early stages. The early stages plates are his own paintings many with details of the egg from above and side, each larval instar from above and side, the osmeterium, larval head capsules and pupa from above and side. There are also 32 black & white photographic plates of live adults and early stages, and an additional 102 black & white plates of larval host plants. Each black & white plate usually contains 4 or 5 photographs.

The two volumes, text and plates are cloth bound and boxed, and must weigh at least 5kg at a guess (ie. very heavy!).

I hope that helps answer your questions.
Adam.

[nomad]

Another excellent and relatively cheap book on the Birdwings-Ornithoptera is that by the late Jan Pasternak ' Fluttering Encounters in the Amazing Archipelago'. Jan Pasternak studied the biology of the Ornithoptera in the field. There are excellent colour photographs of the Larva, Pupa, adults and habitats. There is also a selection of lovely images of the butterflies from Yapen Island together with his interesting notes on his exploration of that Island. Not least there is a chapter each on the butterflies of Sulawesi and Java, again accompanied by super photographs. This book is a very fine labour of love by a Great field lepidopterist of the highest order. There is also Jan's ' A Naturalist in Birdwing Paradise ' CD rom, again packed full of further images and field notes of his detailed study of the Ornithoptera.

Peter.

[krupten]

Nov 5, 2014 11:02:33 GMT -8 bichos said:

Didn't see any O. meridionalis ?

I cannot believe he collected all those species/specimens himself, wow!

A truly great Man who was supported by a wonderful Woman.