|
Post by jackblack on May 28, 2015 2:20:02 GMT -8
Isn`t it wonderful dealing with beauocracy Well done and spoken
|
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on May 28, 2015 2:08:12 GMT -8
Well done Bill. Now you will be busier than ever. Working for myself its always like that wish I could retire I`d like to do some fishin as well
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Mar 19, 2015 1:04:56 GMT -8
I`m in north qld and use a 20 ltr bucket hanging on its side , a mesh funnel in each end like a crab or cray pot , bait with fruit and check every couple of days , beetles stay live and can be released if not wanted , all sweet fruits work well. I collect a number of cetonidae like this. Good luck.
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Mar 19, 2015 0:56:52 GMT -8
many years ago our late friend Ross Storey DPI entomologist who was keen on dung beetles & everything else told me sink a cup in the ground and use your finger and smear faeces around the inner edge of the cup , never knew if he was serious or not , I never tried that.Some museum guys told me suspend a muslin bag of faeces over a pit fall , I tried that and the next morning my dog came up to me and presented me with a tea bag of crap while having breakfast .I haven`t done too much pit falling since those days and might give it another go soon. I like your trap politula . A friend from the museum uses rotten mushrooms fermenting in a plastic bag , you will feel ill when you smell that
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Nov 30, 2014 1:14:06 GMT -8
approx 8.5cm
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Nov 13, 2014 4:45:49 GMT -8
Sounds like some people have too much money. A series of all sizes is most important to any researcher or serious collector in any collection from the smallest to the largest. The biggest only is probably just a status symbol collectors trophy I once met a guy who paid huge prices for tiny Ornithoptera specimens .He had all the rest after years of collecting , breeding & buying.
|
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Nov 13, 2014 4:32:51 GMT -8
Of course we will , just ask the wealthy collectors .They have them in their collections. I offered last year the largest Xixuthrus microcerus I ever collected in Australia and got an instant bid beyond my expectations so had to sell the specimen!
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Nov 13, 2014 4:15:08 GMT -8
Although I never bought from him he came here last year with a few friends , was friendly and keen on Aussie beetles , took him for a walk in our scrub but it was terribly dry at the time and didn`t find much.They left me a nice big male of Phallocrognathus muelleri a bronze line bred spm something different for my collection. .
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Nov 13, 2014 4:01:46 GMT -8
I think the snake guard add is pretty weak , I reckon if I had a set on and tried to kick the crap out of you , you would strike back just as violently.Amazing what one can get away with overseas. Try that here in Aust and you would be busted, interfering with wildlife . Looks like a great product if one is blundering through the scrub unaware of what is around you. Growing up as a kid in PNG and running around in the scrub with the native kids always barefoot , I once asked the kids , aren`t you afraid of not wearing shoes and being bitten by a snake .They said wearing shoes you can`t feel the snake under foot and get out of the way fast enough , seen a few locals jump sky high on some of our expeditions and nobody died . I have walked pretty well barefoot my whole life in PNG and Aust scrub and still here , a lot of snakes hear you coming and get out of the way.Or if I see them first I get out of their way .
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Nov 13, 2014 3:46:17 GMT -8
Not intentionally as the birds here in our rainforest look after themselves , but the Cassowary`s zoom in on any bananas I put out for beetles or moths and now the scrub hens have taken a liking to them. I didn`t know they were fruit eaters as well.
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Oct 27, 2014 0:24:36 GMT -8
I think its a pretty cool moth either way anyone sees it.. Looks like a hippy from back in the day.
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Oct 15, 2014 22:28:40 GMT -8
I got my info directly from the horses mouth some years ago now .
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Oct 13, 2014 0:57:54 GMT -8
a lot has been written about stunning specimens of golden birdwings , there was another breeder involved though a guy and it was a wild caught female aberrant with lots of white markings they were bred from . The line was killed off to maintain a high price , not thieves lurking about. I bought some of these specimens for my friend in France , not pure gold but with big patches of gold in forewings, so they were advertised .When my friend got them he was most disappointed in the specimens small gold spots only and sent them back to me . I took them back to the breeder and got a refund . wild birdwings are protected in australia , therefore several stories have eventuated. someone should be able line breed birdwings like this though as some amazing colour forms of P.muelleri coming out these days from Japan.
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Sept 22, 2014 1:15:27 GMT -8
Interesting reading everyone's ideas and thoughts .I have a reasonable coll of Aussie insects and my main research parts of that coll will go to Qld Museum as a lot of paratype material there and I know the coll is looked after and will be used for research by many taxonomists visiting Australia. Some Genera will go to my friends collectors amateur researchers and the rest my son will take on , maybe he will pursue my work on some or he can decide on what to do with it , he has grown up with my obsession at first and then passion and now it turns to work.But we had and still have memorable field trips and he still remembers the day we caught or pursued various species some going back many years now, thrill of the hunt stays with us all. In Australia the Gov`t offers tax deductions for curated donated collections through the cultural gifts programmes and I have been involved as a recognised valuer to help people.So there can be some monetary compensation there for anyone undecided. But it really boils down to the owner of a collection what they want to do with it , we all have our own ideas , and I agree don`t leave your decision too late and it ends up a burden on your family , a life`s work could go down hill real quick with museum beetles looking after it . Jack
|
|
|
Post by jackblack on Jun 17, 2014 23:28:24 GMT -8
I haven`t sold any of these for many years now , all depends on date. I don`t remember selling any to Camille we have it in Nth Qld coastal tablelands and it occurs in the hills behind Brisbane sth Qld that I have heard of. cheers
|
|