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Post by papiliotheona on Jan 8, 2013 12:47:10 GMT -8
I don't want to say who it is but it is someone that is absolutely credible.
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Post by papiliotheona on Nov 17, 2012 22:53:44 GMT -8
Yep, that all matches up with my experiences there, but I have used virgin females for calleta around Harshaw and Box without luck on half a dozen times, but have gotten females at lights at those locations and to females in Patagonia itself, where there is not much ocotillo. I have found calleta cocoons along Ruby Road, CA Gulch, and north of Sierrra Vista, always in association with ocotillo. I just need to get a female to pop when I can try at CA Gulch since I have heard great stories about calling there. I still wonder if the fire effected Copper Canyon last year, though, so I'll try there next year. I'd really like to get a female for my collection and some ova to rear. I went to CA Gulch twice this season and got 40 male cincta and a female one night and not a one another night. I did have a female and perfect weather (with rain in previous 12 hours) the first visit, and no female and a stormy night the next. To my surprise, I did get some cincta at Pena Blanca Canyon when a year ago it looked like toast. Thanks for the feedback. As of June 30 of this year, Copper Canyon was about half-burned. It is worth a look for sure but quite a bit of damage was done.
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Post by papiliotheona on Nov 17, 2012 22:26:39 GMT -8
Just for the record, I spoke to a WA state expert in Lepidoptera who told me that the notion of the state being off-limits to collecting is complete BS.
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Post by papiliotheona on Nov 17, 2012 22:20:47 GMT -8
Won't help me in the United States much where hospiton (and chikae, and homerus, etc.) are all listed as US Endangered Species, due to the damage that has been done to them through "overcollecting". Yeah, right.
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Mexico
Dec 23, 2011 23:33:49 GMT -8
Post by papiliotheona on Dec 23, 2011 23:33:49 GMT -8
Not worth trying unless you have connections with the big universities in Mexico. It's hard to get a collecting permit (unless you know one of the three big professors who have the power to grant these permits), but possible. It's virtually impossible to get the export permit.
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 19, 2011 3:54:44 GMT -8
Danainae, Anthocharinae of the Pieridae, some Papilioninae (particularly Heraclides), sometimes assorted Nymphalidae (such as A. vanillae when crowded). M. yuccae larvae are very bad with this and will go out of their way to eat a neighboring larva if next to each other.
Hesperiids, most sulphurs, and pretty much any communal species don't seem to be cannibalistic.
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 10, 2011 3:10:27 GMT -8
Can you post some pics of your buckeyes?
Also, where are you from? Are you in the eastern or western United States? Western U.S. buckeyes usually are more subdued, and more in earth-tones, than eastern (this is excepting those in some desert regions that can show all sorts of bizarre variation).
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 10, 2011 3:08:10 GMT -8
Yes but it's hard to legally obtain insects from Colombia, I am told.
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 10, 2011 2:32:16 GMT -8
This is the safest way.
Use a series of small injections of water into the thorax, preferably roomtemp. It is difficult to get the tip of the hypodermic to pierce the hard dried thorax but you have to keep trying until you find a weak spot you can pierce. Give that spot a few shots and it should be easier to penetrate the rest of the thorax after a while. Be sure you have a twisted piece of toilet paper or whatever on hand to blot any water that accumulates at the wing bases. After ten-fifteen minutes or so of this the wings and thorax should be noticeably flexible and you should be able to first rotate the thorax on the axis of the pin, then slide it down, with a little effort. Before you try this, blow gently on the butterfly or apply gentle downward pressure on a FW costa with your finger to make sure there is give.
DO NOT use alcohol of any kind as it is a solvent that releases long-dried bodily fluids onto the wing bases with staining results. Also it can cause thoracic stiffening and that is not what you want for remounting. I would not use ammonia either as it can cause fading.
Whatever method you decide to go with, be sure to practice it on less-valuable specimens first.
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 10, 2011 2:26:15 GMT -8
This is why I almost have stopped collecting Morphos. I want the insect entire and naturally completed. I know to degrease them perfectly in gazoline,so there is no reason for me to remove the abdomens. Sadly almost all the Morpho hunters remove the abdomens. Thanos Morphos don't grease worse than Megs, and Megs can be restored to A1 even if fully greased. Morphos have bigger and more fragile wings though.
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 10, 2011 2:24:14 GMT -8
1: It is possible that the insect is loose on the pin and it is there to keep it from slipping or rotating.
2: It is possible that the wing bases got some creasing or other stress and needed to be reinforced.
IMHO Elmer's wood glue is excellent for just about all butterfly repair.
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 9, 2011 23:18:50 GMT -8
In my opinion, experimenting like this, with the exception of extremely common stuff like V. cardui, is a waste of valuable pupae. Putting stuff in the freezer is a big nono as the temp inside a fridge is around -12 with is much more than just about any lab-reared lepidopteran can withstand. Some wild Papilio pupae can take this but only after being hardened off and acclimated to natural wild temperatures for many months, which doesn't occur in the lab.
If any of you want to try this, I'd suggest sticking a J'd or slung larva or fresh pupa in the fridge for a few hours.
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 9, 2011 23:12:28 GMT -8
I would be a little leery of this as it could be intended to portray insect collectors in a negative light to the public.
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Post by papiliotheona on Dec 9, 2011 23:07:14 GMT -8
It's very sad, and it is only going to keep getting worse. At one time Costa Rica was not too bad; now with the explosive growth of ecotourism, it's nearly as hard to collect there as Mexico. You can't even collect seashells there legally anymore. This is why I solely collect domestically: it is simply not worth the hassle and legal danger. The United States, as much as we gripe about NPS and refuges, is just about the most free and open country in terms of insect collecting of any in the world. I doubt it will stay this way forever.
As far as I know the only Neotropical place that permits (most) collecting freely is French Guiana. All other places have a difficult permit application process that is completely or nearly closed to civilians.
The bottom line is extremely simple: unless you have a letter documenting both your right to collect said species in that nation, and a letter documenting your right to export that specimen, you are in violation of Lacey. No exceptions. Indian nations are sovereign countries and they count too (although you might not need the export permit for them, not sure). Even if you have both Customs might give you lots of crap, and depending on how one interprets the law agents have the right to disregard both if they so choose based on their own discretion.
Just completely not worth it IMHO, except for French Guiana or unless you are a university or museum bigwig with connections out the yingyang.
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