ebay seller "birdwingbutterflies"

[krupten]

a visit to ebay and to this sellers specimens for sale has yielded a VERY HIGH number of MISIDENTIFIED specimens. Whether he is buying from someone who has NO IDEA what they are selling or it is a sales "gimmick" is hard to discern. However - here are some examples.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-priamus-impensus-Parrott-1990-Manipa-Island-Indonesia-/271823738705?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49f51751

impensus is very closely allied to priamus nominate - the female illustrated is similar to many from Nabire.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-priamus-priamus-ff-harukensis-Schaffler-2001-Ceram-Indonesia-/271823753280?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49f55040

Haruku is south of Ambon and this female is well within the morphological range of phenotypes found on both Ceram and Ambon.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-priamus-priamus-ff-pseudobrunneus-Schaffler-2001-Ceram-Island-/271823757938?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49f56272

I have not seen Schafflers OD on this form but form brunneus from the Popondetta area is a almost totally brown forewing - and certainly not anything like the form of priamus priamus pictured in this sale. The form is OUTSIDE normal parameters in that the cells have white markings and this - whilst certainly desireable for this race is not what the form brunneus is in appearance thus I would have to see the OD for pseudobruneus before using that as a criterion for this purchase.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-goliath-sorongensis-Morita-Sugiyama-1998-Sorong-Indonesia-/271823832692?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49f68674

this is from the Arfak Mtns - NOT Sorong - in conversation with Desi in Sorong and comparing her notes on this form there is no doubts that this specimen is incorrectly labeled.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-croesus-lydius-ff-REDUCTA-Goussey-2005-Halmahera-Indonesia-/271823713685?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49f4b595

IF Frederick Goussey has named this as a form - he would be incorrect to do so in my opinion as this form represents about 10 - 15% of the population on Halmahiera and is particularily more prevalent in the dry season.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-tithonus-makikoae-Aberration-Irian-Jaya-Indonesia-male-/271824344336?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49fe5510

There is nothing abberative about this male - well within normal parameters.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-priamus-aureus-Parrott-1987-Arfak-Indonesia-/271823728320?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49f4eec0

form aureus is a high altitude form from the Arkaks and is dark - not light - this specimen is ssp teucrus from Biak.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-victoriae-isabellae-Santa-Isabel-SUPERB-MALE-A1-RARE-/271823298707?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49ee6093

Specimens of isabellae are almost consistently darker than this male. I would treat the allocation of the subspecific epithet of 'isabellae" as dubious.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-priamus-poseidon-ab-Doubleday-1847-Irian-Jaya-Indonesia-/271825301291?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f4a0cef2b

There is nothing abberative on this specimen and is from Manokwari.

www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-akakeae-Irian-Jaya-Arfak-Mts-Indonesia-/271823762908?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49f575dc
THIS IS DEFINATELY NOT AN AKAKEAE FEMALE - it is female Poseidon without a doubt. THIS IS NOT a HYBRID specimen.


www.ebay.com/itm/Ornithoptera-priamus-albireo-Kobayashi-1987-Kepulauan-Tayandu-Kur-Island-/271823723000?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f49f4d9f8

This is definitely not albireo - this is teucrus - from Biak. Kur is not well collected - and more for reptiles than Ornithoptera - ss the C. viridis there is a nice color morph.


Until such time as this person can AUTHENTICATE the origins I would treat these above auctions as dubious and BUY AT YOUR OWN RISK as you will be introducing specimens and Identifying them in a collection incorrectly.

I am sorry to put so much skepticism on these specimens but they are blatantly not what they are being referenced as.

Greg W.






The

[Adam Cotton]

While I do not want to comment on the identification of the items for sale I notice that the seller has a 100% eBay score and is based in Russia.

I do not collect birdwings myself, but wonder whether he provides the correct CITES documentation with the specimens. If I was a buyer I would certainly want the legal paperwork for these specimens.

Adam.

[exoticimports]

On OV isabellae: having handled a thousand specimens, I can say that there are only two ssp that can 100% of the time be clearly identified based on appearance, those being rubianensis and reginae.

If you expand and look at the photo I posted under "favorite specimens: ornithoptera" the upper left male is isabellae and is quite close to the one pictured in the auction. FWIW, I've seen specimens definitely from Guadalcanal and Makira that look quite similar. While a series of each ssp will give one a general image of the generic appearance and often common elements, a single specimen cannot be used to determine origin.

A common visual feature often used for "identification" is the "hook" in the green on the FW. This, in reality, is one of the most useless indicators as it is extremely variable.

While OVI isn't as common in the trade as reginae or some others, it isn't uncommon either. Certainly from 2000-2004 many thousands of OV were exported from SI with several hundred going to USA and many more to France, Germany, and Czech.

[dynastes]

He`s name is Vladimir Lunkov from Moskow. I know him by the Russian-speaking entomology forum entomology.ru/forum/

he is not a professional, an amateur. Previously, he only collected birdwings & other commercial species, often without collecting data, as I understand, most likely for beauty, interior decoration. often gave announcement that buys rare subspecies of birdwings. then began on forum sell insects & birdwings from his collection - a characteristic feature - a red label (but it's not types)

Now began sell on ebay.

[butterfly]

Though he is not a professional, he has a lot of very interesting and high quality material. This is his website: birdwingbutterflies.wix.com/ornithoptera
Its direction in trading by insects is the birdwingbutterflies and Goliathus beetles.
Many people are happy with communication and business with this person.