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Post by exoticimports on Nov 25, 2015 10:53:07 GMT -8
We all (well, most of us) occasionally do really stupid things. Hopefully we can laugh now instead of cry.
So I'll fess up to get the ball rolling.
When I was a kid (probably 10 years old or so) I wanted to make the jump from home-made paper envelopes to those nice glassine envelopes the "real professionals" used. But I couldn't afford them, and we were preparing for a family trip to Florida, where I planned to collect as much as possible.
So I innovated. Or rather, punted. I made my envelopes from wax paper.
Do you know what happens to wax paper in the hot Florida environment? Particularly when left in a vehicle? I was heartbroken when I got home and discovered that my specimens and my home-made wax paper envelopes had become united.
OK your turn.
Chuck
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Post by nomihoudai on Nov 25, 2015 11:19:16 GMT -8
Pinching several A1 butterflies and a Papilio glaucus and putting them into the same envelope. It was the complete horror as the glaucus could still move one of its legs and slowly, but steadily, transformed the others into saw dust using its claw.
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Post by mothman27 on Nov 25, 2015 13:22:09 GMT -8
I put a freshly emerged female Imperial moth in a cage overnight. I the morning, to my horror, its wings were all shredded.  Tim |
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leptraps
Banned
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Post by leptraps on Nov 25, 2015 13:47:34 GMT -8
In 1987 I made a collecting trip to Colorado, not my first but my first with light traps. High (literally) on my list of places to set out light traps was on top of Rollin's Pass at 11,700'. After an arduous trip up the long rough road, (The road to the top of the pass was built on the old rail road bed which went up and over the pass. The steel track were removed but the ties remained and they were covered with dirt. 30+ Years later, the dirt over the ties slowly errode and the ties surfaced. This makes for a rather rough ride).
The road continues over the pass but is covered with snow (Snow Shield), which covers the road until early August. There is a parking area on top.
With a Light Trap and butterfly net in one hand, an automotive battery in the other and a shoulder bag containing a quart can of Ethyl Acetate, killing jars and glasine evelopes, I crossed the snow shield which was 500+ hundred feet wide, scrambled over a collapsed tunnel then up a ravine and over a ridge into a gorgeous mountain meadow. As I set up the light trap I saw an Erebia magdalina fly by (A highly prized species above the tree line) I quickly completed setting up the trap and off I went in pursuit of my prize. I did not return to the trap until the following morning. As we drove up the rough road to the top, waded over the snow shield and up the ravine into the meadow. All I could think about was all those rare high altitude moths in the trap. Upon arriving at the trap I saw my demise, I saw the 1/2 pint cans of Ethyl Acetate sitting along side the trap. In my haste to collect a butterfly (Which I missed), I forgot to put the cans of Ethyl Acetate into the trap. When I opened the trap I found a living dust bowel of moths. Not one moth was worth keeping.
I have never made that mistake again.
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Post by willyomt on Nov 30, 2015 9:15:46 GMT -8
One night a few years ago, I was night lighting in Madera Canyon in southern Arizona. I noticed a colorful assassin bug on my sheet, and decided I wanted to collect it. I was afraid it would fly off the sheet before I could retrieve my kill jar, so I did the next best thing - I picked it off the sheet with my bare hand.
Now, I'm not 100% stupid. Just, apparently MOSTLY stupid.
Knowing that it was an assassin bug, I tried to make sure that I lifted off the sheet by grabbing it by the sides of its body, so that its sharp needle-like beak couldn't spear me and inject venom. Well, I think we all know what happened next - that bug managed to get itself twisted around in my grasp and the next thing I knew, I felt a TREMENDOUS stinging pain in the tip of my index finger. And I mean TREMENDOUS! The bug was immediately free to fly wherever it wanted, because I certainly didn't have a hold of it any more!
So, I ended up losing the bug, and gaining some knowledge - NEVER PICK UP WHAT YOU KNOW IS AN ASSASSIN BUG!
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Post by megagyas on Nov 30, 2015 9:53:19 GMT -8
A fellow I know managed to safely relax a dried specimen of one of the least common Agrias sp. and managed to do a fairly nice job of spreading this specimen. However, he just couldn't wait for the specimen to dry, so he put this insect, board and all, into a heated oven. As a result, the specimen turned black and in his disappointment, he hit the spreading board with his fist! The board sprang back hitting him just above the eye resulting in a few stitches! It's safe to say his patience has improved since that unfortunate event.
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ckswank
Full Member
Posts: 239
Country: USA
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Post by ckswank on Dec 2, 2015 22:10:52 GMT -8
I went to east central Illinois back in July this year to see friends & family. While spending two nights at my cousin's place, I set up a sheet & lights to collect. On Monday morning I packed everything in my rental car & headed to my son's place near St. Louis. Spent the night & was getting ready to head back home to Texas. Low & behold, no net! I called my cousin & sure enough, I left it setting on his back porch where we had set up the lights. I would have left it except I paid about $150.00 for it. Got in the car & backtracked 120 miles to go get it since I wanted to do some collecting on the way home.
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 3, 2015 6:15:39 GMT -8
These are great...but I'm sure there are more. Come on guys, nobody has been made fun of (yet). Fess up!
Chuck
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2015 9:59:28 GMT -8
Well folks, I think the picture speaks for itself. Holloween '15. I can fill in the details if anybody is left scratching their head.  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 3, 2015 14:21:30 GMT -8
Ok here goes. I was collecting in a field across from my house. I saw a lep flying so I decided to run it down. I can still run fast even though I chain smoke and am over 40. I'm gaining on the butterfly when my face bounces off the ground. Net went one way my hat went another. I had stepped in a hole the was covered by the fescue. At least the hard dry ground broke my fall. I had to pick some grass and dirt off my tongue. The butterfly got away. Not sure if it was the head trauma I had just experienced but, I thought I could hear tiny laughter.
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Post by 58chevy on Dec 3, 2015 18:28:04 GMT -8
When I was about 10 or 11 years old, my family went on a trip to Big Bend National Park. I collected bugs at every stop along the way, and got lots of new stuff I didn't know existed. We stopped for the night at a motel in a town near the park. I took my killing jars, stuffed with bugs, into the motel. The next morning, my dad announced that we were going to a local restaurant for breakfast. I noticed that he had already packed the car. I asked him if we were going back to the motel after breakfast. He said yes, so I left the bugs at the motel. After breakfast, we got in the car and started driving. After a few minutes I didn't recognize any landmarks and told my dad that I thought the motel was in the opposite direction. He told me we weren't going back to the motel. I complained that my bugs were still there. He said sorry, but we're not going back. I wish I could go back in time and see what was in those jars.
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 4, 2015 6:33:28 GMT -8
When I was about 10 or 11 years old, my family went on a trip to Big Bend National Park. I collected bugs at every stop along the way, and got lots of new stuff I didn't know existed. We stopped for the night at a motel in a town near the park. I took my killing jars, stuffed with bugs, into the motel. The next morning, my dad announced that we were going to a local restaurant for breakfast. I noticed that he had already packed the car. I asked him if we were going back to the motel after breakfast. He said yes, so I left the bugs at the motel. After breakfast, we got in the car and started driving. After a few minutes I didn't recognize any landmarks and told my dad that I thought the motel was in the opposite direction. He told me we weren't going back to the motel. I complained that my bugs were still there. He said sorry, but we're not going back. I wish I could go back in time and see what was in those jars. Ah yes. Just like the net I left behind and dad wouldn't go back. Funny how some stuff sticks with us. |
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Post by vabrou on Dec 7, 2015 7:20:21 GMT -8
A collector friend, who some of the older entomologist reading this may recognize his name Eduardo Welling from Yucatan, Mexico once did a rather dumb collecting event. When he lived in a local hotel there for several years upon retirement, he once opened the window to his second floor room and set up a uv light in the window. Though he hadn't planned to, he soon fell asleep and didn't wake up until after daybreak. He was horrified because the room was covered on every surface with thousands upon thousands of all kinds of insects. Needless to say the hotel told him if it ever happened again they would throw him out of the hotel. By the way, the cost of his hotel room was $1.00 per day, that included daily maid service. Eduardo is no longer with us, but he collected insects to support his retirement income for many years and eventually had a family there. In 1984 I described a new sphingid for Eduardo, A new Hawkmoth from Quintana Roo, Mexico. I named it Manduca wellingi Brou Attachments:
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Post by cabintom on Dec 7, 2015 21:15:13 GMT -8
I once stood practically in the middle of a safari ant column while trying to figure out where a particular butterfly had flown off to... I wasn't standing there for long.
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Post by joee30 on Dec 8, 2015 15:07:24 GMT -8
CabinTom, that would of sucked....
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