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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 19, 2011 13:24:47 GMT -8
Hi Alejandro,
Thanks for kind words...as you may know...in the southern U.S. states, also in the southwest U.S., Mexico & on into C. Am. there occurs the Giant Skippers (around 30 spp.) ...Megathymus & Agathymus... some more than 3"(75mm) wingspan. I understand they can be impossible to mount up without cutting their very powerful wing muscles. Anyone out there have any experience collecting/rearing these giants of the skipper world?? Any photos?? Any extra specimens??... to practise on.. ;D)
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 19, 2011 13:04:07 GMT -8
Raymond,
Sorry...can't help you with O. ritsemae, but just curious & wanted to ask, as you seem to have so many large stags,... what is the longest stag beetle sp./ssp. you have? I just mounted up a 110mm Prosopocoilus giraffa "keisukei?" from Flores Is. & it is quite impressive...I'm sure there must be some truly huge sp./ssp. out there even larger than that??
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 19, 2011 12:15:23 GMT -8
Hi All, Any larger & difficult to spread spp. I always cut the wing muscles just slightly below (1/8th") where the wings attach to the sides of the thorax... I use a new sharp pointed blade of a commonly availablea X-acto brand hobby knife...no problem...takes a little practise on cheap specimens but easily solves the problem of ruining $$ specimens. Biggest problem to mounting leps are specimens are not relaxed enough. I also leave my leps on the slightly angled spreading boards for 1-2 months (lots of boards needed)... I find it hard to believe collectors leave them on the boards for only a few days to a wk. (unless cooked in a mini oven)...no wonder wings droop or lift back up, shoulders "kink", etc. I keep large shingids & other hard to spread Nymphalidae, etc. in a relaxing box for up to about 4 days...after that some permanent water damage occurs (may still have to cut muscles as above especially on older specimens). Injection does help. I've tried all kinds of anti-mould chemicals in the relaxer & always come back to simple, good old crushed up moth balls. Just the other day I looked in an old relaxing box from last winter (1 yr. ago) & there is still no mould growing! Leaving lep specimens in ethyl acetate jars overnight...never, never...they become so stiff they become unmountable except by cutting wing muscles. I use E. A. killings jars just to knock out & than place in individual mini zip- loks & into deep freeze to finish off. Off the beaten path place on ice paks (I have a fridge in my camper)... for tropics.. ordinary glassine & dried out after no more than 10 minutes in freshly & frequently charged E. A. jars. Cyanide...never used it & much too dangerous & 95% of us have no accesss to it anyways. I use setting pins to mount leps... same traditional (old Dog)methods for the last 3 decades., but may try using forceps method. As I recall I think it was bgarthe in the old forum who described forceps method very nicely...search the old forum/achives. ...Please note that these are my own experiences ONLY, over the last 35 yrs, & they work for me...they may not for you...everyone has different methods that work for them. I would really like to know how does one relax the unbelieveably rigid/stiff jaws of some stag beetles to open them up (I actually boiled a specimen on the stove the other day for more than 2 HOURS with no luck!! ). Also relaxing the front legs/ball joint of large Dynastids?... same problem as the stag beetles. I've also used the hot water/complete immersion relaxing method for larger beetles (black colored only...lighter colors may stain & use old fashioned regular relaxing box for them) for many years with no signs of greasing, falling apart later, etc... but one must be very careful & must remove the specimen to check softness sometimes every minute or so or beetle may fall apart (have glued lots back together & comes with the territory!). John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 17, 2011 8:19:08 GMT -8
WOW!! John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 16, 2011 10:10:03 GMT -8
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 8, 2011 11:49:26 GMT -8
Stephane, Beautiful beetles & beautiful photos, as usual, ...I never tire of seeing specimens from your collection! John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 6, 2011 9:50:53 GMT -8
Hi Clark, Am I not seeing right... or is the Porchlight/nonentomological topic forum missing...why? John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 6, 2011 9:41:36 GMT -8
Interesting moths the Sesidae...I've only accidentally run across maybe 6-8 specimens in 30+ yrs. here in Sask. I'd like to see what the wasp spp. models look like? Are any known/photos available on the net for your 2 pictured spp.? Maybe you collect the model wasps as well?
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 6, 2011 9:18:39 GMT -8
Beautiful! What foodplant were the larvae reared on?
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 4, 2011 14:37:01 GMT -8
Hi Guys,
From my experience the delicate greens found in the Geo's (& in Luna moths & in the Feralia moths) are probably one of the most unstable colours/pigments. If left in an ethyl acetate killing jar for too long they will turn entirely yellow & get so stiff they are unmountable (ruined). Just my personal experience...anyone else? & Yes... Clark's method of a quick knock down for less than a minute & than freezing works great, although certain specimans, no matter how carefully handled still lose their beautiful fresh colour...turning pale white/yellowish tinge.
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 4, 2011 14:22:14 GMT -8
bobw,
Sorry for the confusion! I was getting really frustrated trying to upload my 1st photo to the new forum & gathered people would understand from my 1st unsucessful post! Poly here can mean also Polygonias spp. butterflies, polywogs (tadpoles), Polly (want a cracker?)...
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 4, 2011 14:09:22 GMT -8
Hi Tim,
Any references I have are spelled G. hyperborea (Moeschler).
Tim are you aware of the great online entomology collection hosted out of the University of Alberta? Many of the insects found in Alberta (probably 90%+) also occur in SK & many (not all) are shown at: <www.entomology.ualberta.ca> From their home page you can browse or search their entire collection (Use full scientific name or just the genus name to find all related spp., etc.) Very nice photos & lots of info on each sp. - this site has helped me many times!
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 3, 2011 18:14:07 GMT -8
Hi Clark,
I use a high end P & S, 7.1 mp, Canon G6 (old 2005 model) with built in 7.2-28.8mm lens (35mm equivalent = 35-140mm), super macro mode (2'' away), 1/60 @ F7.1, hand held in natural, bright overcast light, ISO 100 or 200 (not sure as camera sets it automatically). In super macro mode I manually set the F-stop at 7.1 & the camera automatically sets the shutter speed (I can usually handhold shots down to about 1/4 sec. without blurring...most times!) Depth of field with this digital camera (all new digitals) is simply amazing & doesn't even compare with my old Pentax SLR & 100mm macro lens stopped down to F-22! Autofocus zooms in & I press the shutter button. There is a slight time delay between pushing the shutter button & actually taking the picture (older, slower technology... newer models should be better). I will never go back to lugging around a full size SLR (even a new digital one) again, unless they get as small as my current P & S.
John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 3, 2011 15:00:48 GMT -8
Try again... John K.
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Post by boghaunter1 on Jan 3, 2011 14:57:45 GMT -8
Beats me? I'll try again...
John K.
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