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Post by rayrard on Mar 5, 2022 11:46:26 GMT -8
I'd say unijuga, but darker than usual. The white zigzag ST line is usually more obvious in unijuga while it is harder to see in meskei. The HW band is also obviously thicker in unijuga and this looks like that. I cannot tell semirelicta apart from either of these sometimes except for when the semirelicta is very pale and contrasty, but range alone is enough to exclude semirelicta.
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Post by rayrard on Mar 5, 2022 11:27:59 GMT -8
I know there is a orange population of C. andromedae in Massachusetts. Larry Gall has looked at it and it doesn't seem like a different species but a strange population. Of course andromedae is odd as it's the only small black Catocala (all the rest are medium to large)
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Post by rayrard on Mar 2, 2022 18:01:42 GMT -8
I wonder if anyone has a orange/red Catocala with black HW or a black HW species with colored bands? Maybe the change involves multiple successive mutations within that clade, because I haven't seen any.
I always thought C. consors was basically an orange epione and C. lacrymosa was a black palaeogama. Their forewing patterns are so close.
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Post by rayrard on Feb 26, 2022 10:30:36 GMT -8
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Post by rayrard on Feb 18, 2022 15:57:11 GMT -8
I want a 250W MV but they jacked the price up to 450 bucks now. I wonder if they even have lights in stock anymore?
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Post by rayrard on Feb 14, 2022 21:08:30 GMT -8
Yeah I just looked at that thread but I guess I am more interested in alternate sites for some of these products. Who makes BL bucket traps, or ballasted MV lights, or has those standing sheets? I think we were all paying for convenience, but I don't even know if I ordered something that it would be in stock!
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Post by rayrard on Feb 13, 2022 18:11:07 GMT -8
I'm sure most collectors based in the U.S. are aware of and have bought from Bioquip in the last several decades. It appears they are shutting down for good. I'm not sure if it was a ownership decision, or COVID, or an inability to sell the business, but I was wondering what the other options are for collectors. Bioquip was such a convenient one stop shop, although the prices of the products became ridiculous in the last few years. I am not aware of places that sell things like the blacklight sheets, or ballasted MV lights, or bucket traps in the U.S. anymore.
Anyone have any insights or comments on the upcoming Bioquip closure.
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Post by rayrard on Feb 13, 2022 12:09:24 GMT -8
The upper right is male subnata but not sure of the bottom one. Females of subnata appear much like neogama, but the golden yellow with less dark scaling on the hindwing base is a usual character of subnata.
As far as the Catocala MONA, I think that is treading the thin line between being as thorough as possible and taking too much time. There will always be more data, so getting all the bases covered is impossible. I think they want to get all the iNaturalist data mined and also genetic data to go along with their revised taxonomy. There are also multiple new species to go with the multiple lumpings, as usual with these things. I have worked with Larry Gall and also on iNaturalist with Bob Borth and those guys are quite good for Catocala. I don't think the delay on the publication takes anything away from their knowledge or passion for Catocala, and their desire to put out the best publication possible given the many errors Vernon speaks about with other volumes.
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Post by rayrard on Feb 9, 2022 18:26:11 GMT -8
Not sure how anyone could miss C. atocala as unique. I've never seen an agrippina that color! I can give people a break on umbrosa as the variability of ilia was always a problem.
I think new Catocala are still popping up. I think C. myristica was described very recently and is another large species with a very unique flight pattern. Being a group so popular with collectors, there is still a lot of work to do on them. Maybe one of these days we'll get the MONA fascicle.
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Post by rayrard on Jan 29, 2022 18:50:21 GMT -8
I reared one specimen from a yucca dug up with the larval tent visible, and that is the only one I have in my collection. Mine is a male. This is a tough one to spread as it is very muscular and the hindwings wings love to pop out
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Post by rayrard on Dec 22, 2021 8:43:58 GMT -8
That's a wonderful find Bill! Congratulations! You brought back many memories. This was my "baby" at one time. I bought it new in 1994 and it was my daily driver and only car for 11 years. Then I decided I needed something more practical! I still miss it very much. Should have held on to that car! Eurytides - that GT-R sounds very nice! (Update) - I just saw the link for the photo! WOW! Very nice indeed! I completely agree with what you said that it's meant to be driven. Drive it and enjoy it - you only live once! I'm so glad I have the memories I do from my Supra being a daily driver. I'll probably never own a car like that again. I currently have a 2021 Blizzard Pearl 4Runner Limited and I LOVE it, but it's not a sports car lol! Toyota Supra twin turbo (only small modifications to bring the horsepower to approx. 460 - a good number back then!) Man, a stock 90's Supra! Such a nice looking car. Those are going up in value where selling a <100K miles Supra that has small or no modifications will get you 50K+ nowadays.
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Post by rayrard on Dec 20, 2021 18:53:59 GMT -8
imgur.com/a/eaJcfBmThis is a picture from a couple of years ago. I agree that a well kept classic is hard to find these days which is why I'm keeping my car stock. I do drive it year round but I take good care of it. My philosophy is that when you buy a car like that, it's meant to be driven. The entire car is wrapped in Xpel. No problems so far. I do all the maintenance myself so I know it's done right. The G35 coupe is a beautiful car, even today. I had the AWD sedan version. After that, I had a G37x coupe for about 6 years and then I traded that in for the GT-R. Always been a Nissan/Infiniti fan. However, I must say that lately, their product line has been uninspiring - I think financial woes and the loss of their former CEO who is now an international fugitive! Their daily cars aren't anything to write home about, but the sports cars still capture my attention and are good value for money. The GT-R isn't cheap, but for Ferrari level performance, it's a bargain even today. Not to mention that an oil change for anything from Ferrari, Lamborghini, or McLaren will cost you a small fortune (more than $1000). An oil change for my car done in my garage runs about $80. That navy blue color is so nice looking. I like the angular lines of that GT-R generation. I thought the first gen G35 got the design right but the more rounded edges of the G37 ruined the look in my opinion. I got compliments on the G35 up until this year when I traded it in. People told me that it could go up in value since it was stock, but the car was vomiting oil and had 210K on the odometer. She still looked great on the outside but the internals were beginning to fall apart. It was still on the original tranny. I now have a vehicle more in line with my hobbies (a 2018 Subaru Crosstrek), but I will miss taking a RWD sports couple on dirt roads while the rednecks in pickups wondered what the hell I'm doing. I have no complaints about my experience with my Infiniti regardless of the direction they are heading now.
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Post by rayrard on Dec 20, 2021 8:34:27 GMT -8
Congrats Bill. I am a car enthusiast as well, particularly with regard to Nissan. They have a racing pedigree not known to many, who view their cars as cheap econoboxes. Certainly, some of their cars are cheap. They do make some very good sports cars though. My daily driver is a 2017 GT-R and my garage is my sanctuary. I really enjoy doing basic car maintenance myself. The new Z is also looking quite nice. The GT-R is a nice car! I used to have a 2003 Infiniti G35 until this past year, which was actually the body style of the Nissan Skyline for the mid-2000's. I loved that car and would have held onto it had my living situation allowed. You never see a G35 coupe without the crappy muffler, faded paint, and beat to hell by some kid. Same goes for a lot of the cars from back in the 90's that are now sought after stock (Supra, 300Z, Ingegra Type R, Civic SI, etc.) but you can normally only find abused and poorly modified.
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Post by rayrard on Dec 19, 2021 10:43:39 GMT -8
Odd seeing this as I know Matt very well from the CT EntSoc and it's surprising to see these interactions. He is a nice guy and I can't explain this behavior except he has major communication problems. One thing I know about Matt in the last few years is that he is very poor with emails, and I can only contact him through text or social media. He is very passionate about the moths (I have seen his bins of larvae) but he is quite immature. I would hope someone now in their early 20's would take this seriously but word spreads fast in this small community. I don't think it is a good business or career choice to want to be an entomologist and ripping people off. With how much kids are on their phones nowadays you'd think communication would be instant. And if larvae or pupae die, all you have to do is communicate with the buyer and apologize/refund. I'm sure we all get it and it doesn't burn the bridge.
Maybe he lacks direction and is immature, but I really hope he isn't intentionally scamming people. It's easy to interpret lack of communication as going both ways, causing the problem or a result of the problem. The former means he shouldn't deal livestock, and the latter is deliberate scamming
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Post by rayrard on Dec 19, 2021 10:22:12 GMT -8
Yes, the 2 Catocala in that 2018 link are ilia. I would think Larry would need them in hand to brush the abdomens to be 100% sure. Many of them are easy to tell from markings alone but there are some photos that cannot be identified. On iNaturalist, these should be placed in "ilia/umbrosa".
I have only encountered one umbrosa and untold hundreds of ilia. I would expect umbrosa tapping trees or baiting, but nope. It is truly rare in the northeast.
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