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Post by wollastoni on Feb 20, 2022 9:03:17 GMT -8
Bill will be missed. But insults are clearly forbidden on our forum so you did right John. And insulting USFW on a public forum is the best way to get the whole US collecting community or Insectnet into trouble. Bill, you will be more than welcomed if one day you want to come back. exoticimports : what happened to the other forum ? Danny died, Peter is terribly ill and I bought Insectnet. And we were (with Adam) responsible of most posts there. + the other forum was created because Insectnet was badly moderated (you remember Thanos and so on...). We all came back to Insectnet when Insectnet was bought. I would add that the moderating team is doing a GREAT job. You don't see all the spams and scams edited. And I haven't seen one edited post for no good reason. So I really would like to thank here the moderating team. To avoid any future issue, let me remind all members our rules : no insults, no politics, no religion. Not so hard to respect on an entomological forum.
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Post by wollastoni on Feb 17, 2022 7:02:44 GMT -8
That should be deleted if it’s not a “natural” observation. I took out my remaining MST pupae Feb 12. Will know in a few weeks if they are going to eclose. Yup, just another dingbat do-gooder who just has to contribute without thinking. Good luck with the MST. I did read one paper where a few dipaused two winters (at high loss rate), in case I didn't mention it. Chuck That's the issue with "collaborative science"... which is not really scientific, even if it sometimes help with interesting records.
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Post by wollastoni on Feb 17, 2022 6:40:59 GMT -8
exoticimports : I have checked and one of your post has been recently deleted by a mod in the Bioquip topic. I guess it didn't respect our forum rules about politics or was legally at risk for Insectnet. Moderators don't have to "note" deleted posts as it will be a long process and not always easy on a phone. But members do have to respect the forum rules. Our rules are very easy to follow kevinkk : I deleted your post as it wasn't linked to the marketplace certificate at all and your answer could be misleading for alandmor. For technical issues, please let the admin team answer. Insectnet has a secured certificate. Put "https" before your url and your insectnet visit will be secured for google chrome (useless anyway as there is no transaction on the core site).
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Post by wollastoni on Feb 17, 2022 2:56:26 GMT -8
Sad but predictable news... Bioquip has never entered the 21st century. There is a HUGE business to do with entomological supply worldwide. They just needed to be active on social networks, entomological forums and selling on Amazon as Restcloud is doing.
If I were American I would try to buy Bioquip and make it something huge.
For our American friends, there are plenty of suppliers in Europe or Canada, but there is now a huge gap in the USA. Hope someone smart will soon fill this gap.
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Post by wollastoni on Feb 5, 2022 8:56:39 GMT -8
Hi all, problem solved.
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Post by wollastoni on Feb 3, 2022 10:46:43 GMT -8
Hi alandmor, yes our SSL certificate has normally expired (like every year) but our stupid SSL provider has put our renewal request in "queuing" instead of validating like everyyear... Normally it takes 5 minutes... we have the issue since this morning... You can force the visit, by clicking on the link below the error message, but it's not convenient at all. I hope it will be fix asap and we won't be queueing for hours... If not, we will pass the website in http instead of https (temporarily)
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 28, 2022 4:43:20 GMT -8
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 28, 2022 4:40:02 GMT -8
Gerrit Withaar, the Dutch coleopterist, has passed away. Gerrit was a specialist of Cerambycidae, especially from New Guinea where he organized several scientific expeditions. He described several insect species and several other insect species bear his name. He was also the co-founder of the Papua Insect Foundation. A great loss ! Picture by Rob de Vos.
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 28, 2022 4:13:42 GMT -8
I caught some with red wings in French Guyana last October. Very impressive to see them flying (they look like huge grasshopper flying). I haven't found time to spread them yet.
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 24, 2022 1:26:23 GMT -8
Nice project ! But not an easy one.
Be careful with your "brother Mick" (bad reputation) and with the idea of importing birdwings to the USA. If the Solomon Islands part missed something, you will get in big troubles... so be 1000% sure that all is fine before starting importing them.
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 22, 2022 6:45:46 GMT -8
It could be indeed useful to work on a lexicon for taxonomy/entomology and to create a page with it on the Insectnet blog ? Adam : do you want to work on it ? I hope you realise that a lexicon for taxonomy/entomology would take up a whole book. It sounds a good idea to create a blog page, but to be frank I currently don't have enough time as it is. Moderating Insectnet and the ICF and posting replies takes up more time than I can afford as it is, and at the same time I have to try to survive as well as writing papers and books with colleagues. There are some interesting works in the pipeline which I will keep everyone informed about as they are published. Long term I would be happy to help contribute some small parts to such a project, or help review and edit other members' contributions. Adam. I had in mine a lexicon with the 50 or 100 more important taxonomical terms. Those useful for Insectnet readers.
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 21, 2022 9:52:46 GMT -8
Adam, can we sticky this somewhere? I'll admit, sometimes I have to go search up the right term- in fact, too often. That's why I ask it be stickied where it's easy to find. Thanks, Chuck Oh, one more- topotype. What value is this? I'd think not-topotype would be of more value. Clearly, the holotype came from a location. Isn't it then MORE important to know where else it came from? [ha, I'm not suggesting any sort of type designation for specimens from other than the type location, that would be almost every other specimen.] I suppose in the rare case where the holotype is believed extirpated, and then found there again, OK, but still... It could be indeed useful to work on a lexicon for taxonomy/entomology and to create a page with it on the Insectnet blog ? Adam : do you want to work on it ?
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 18, 2022 9:23:16 GMT -8
Just a few thoughts and comments. 1 - I've not heard anything about a push to return specimens back to their country or origin - if they were obtained legally. Even when not legal - I've rumblings that they "should go back" but in practice they either go to a local university or the USNM. There was an issue with some Kemner bugs (a collector who was selling Mexican material without permits)in the late 90's in Ohio, and a bunch of those were tagged by USFWS "to be returned" to Mexico. At the end of the day, they ended up at a land grant university here in the states. 2 - If you have a permit to collect in a country - it generally tells you what you can and cannot do with your bugs. There are no restrictions in my Belize permits. Peru and Brazil have language that says that holotypes and some paratypes must be deposited in country. If you want to get permits, you really need to comply with the conditions in those permits. 3 - The historical trend of US and European museums retaining types series is reminiscent of the colonial past, where big bossy countries came into less wealthy regions and took what ever they wanted to take. It is so ingrained in many of us, that we don't even question it. But the idea that someone in Peru needs to come to the states or UK to study their own country's biota is a little insulting if you are a Peruvian. 4 - Despite the bad press, the major insect collections in Brazil are housed in secure facilities at universities. Curitiba has the mega collection, and Sao Paulo does as well (I've not seen that one). The "national" collection in Rio de Janeiro was a major loss of old, historical material. But I was told before it was lost that there was very little recent material being added. 5 - The US National Park Service has always had the restrictions that "they own the dead bugs you collect" in their permits. If you have a permit, you need to deposit the material in an approved institutional collection at the end of the day. (some universities chaffed at this in the old days and declined to be repositories, but I think that has passed by now). As a private collector, that means that you can "keep the bugs" collected under the permit, but the bugs belong to the Park Service and you have to have a pre-arranged repository for when you bite the big one. Years ago, we had a permit to catch Karner Blue females and hold them for a few days to harvest eggs. Those females had to be returned to the park and released if alive, and handed over to park staff if deceased. John I agree on most of your points. Few comments : 1- right, as said the Nagoya protocole was created for Prime Art, archeology and so on... not for entomology. Even if applied to entomological Museums too. 2- True. But if someone discover a new species in Indonesia, let's wait 200 more years that someone in Indonesia get an official LIPI permits to describe it. And this species will have disappeared with the fast deforestation there. 3- True but the "big bossy countries" also invented taxonomy, entomology and in Linne or Rothschild times, I am afraid no locals would have described anything. But we could have wait 3 more centuries to be more respectful. Science should not be a "nationalist" thing. Who cares if a species is described by a European, an Asian, an African. 4- That's a relief. Unfortunately for Brazil (and several other tropical countries), old material have more importance than new, as many biotopes have been lost for ever.
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 15, 2022 6:11:55 GMT -8
exoticimports : the Nagoya convention was put in place at the origin for Prime Art. As you know, a lot of historical artistic objects from Africa, Asia (and so on) are in the British and Paris Museums, and other EU museums for historical reasons (colonization). To protect countries of origin, now Museums need to have the ok of the country of origin to accept new pieces of art. Let's say it was rather a good practice for the Art area (and a better deal for European Museums than sending back their colonial art...) Problem is they apply that to science too... And now : - European Museums can't accept holotypes from tropical countries without the ok of tropical countries - Most tropical countries say no - The same tropical countries don't give you collecting permits - The same tropical countries have no local official collectors, and no funding to organize expeditions. The result is a total mess : some holotypes are sent in horrible tropical local museums where specimens are not well kept, some publications are cancelled and most of the time, holotypes are kept in private collection which is NOT a good practice. I don't know if the US have signed this Nagoya Protocole. (it was more a Western European topic linked to colonization).
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Post by wollastoni on Jan 15, 2022 4:57:49 GMT -8
Yes definitely not an agreeable part of the code in my opinion, it should be required to deposit the primary type in a public collection. But it seems to be tradition in Europe for taxonomists to maintain private collections that are later sold to the highest bidder, not always an institution. Chris, that's not true. I would say that all European entomologists I know (and I know many) are depositing holotype specimens in Museums. I have myself put all holotypes in the BMNH and MHN (I thought it was compulsory). And some periodical like Sugapa are requiring holotypes to go to an official Museum (or they refuse your article). A new issue though in Europe is the Nagoya convention, which make harder some descriptions as Museum cannot accept some holotypes from tropical countries now... a real mess for amateur entomologists and European entomologists. BTW Adam, do you have any contact in a Museum from Laos ? I would need it to deposit a future type specimen that I can't describe otherwise (if they have a Museum there...)... And thanks a lot for your answer on the female.
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