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Post by Khalid Fadil on May 3, 2011 15:36:50 GMT -8
But what happens when you are no longer around? This was the problem with the museum collections, they were all donated over the years by relatives of the (deceased) collectors but none came with the notebooks to crack the 'code'! Well, I keep the notebook within my collection. If the collection gets donated, the notebook will go with it. Anyway... the reason I developed this ''useless'' method was because my silly pins aren't tall enough to support labels. I'm quite certain I'll properly label them when I get genuine pins.
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Post by saturniidave on May 3, 2011 15:45:36 GMT -8
That is good news! I hate to make a fuss but I have seen so many collections junked because there was no data and I would not want to see your hard work thrown away for want of a few bits of paper. Dave
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Post by Khalid Fadil on May 3, 2011 15:52:59 GMT -8
That is good news! I hate to make a fuss but I have seen so many collections junked because there was no data and I would not want to see your hard work thrown away for want of a few bits of paper. Dave Good thing I'm a master in insect repairs and resets...
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2011 19:32:43 GMT -8
Mine are rather like wallastoni's. Since I am a big believer in using a single label, I print them with size 6 font or sometimes even size 4. Having many labels on a single pin is often tough to read, can be trouble if separated, and uneven twisting/positioning/pivoting happens on the pin, so using a single label seems to best suit me The number code system for some may be fine for them, but I have lost notebooks and would always prefer to keep data with the specimen. Having a notebook for reference and/or back-up would be good/ideal. So, for what it's worth, my basic format is like this. Scientific name subspecies / formsex ...........if known where........locale, island, mountain, road, town, county, GPS, etc. where.............. state, province, country...I will put altitude here if avail. following country when......date...... purhase/importation code ................. see X below leg.............if actual collector is known Coll .........W. Garthe X this is a code for purchased material for proof of proper importation, purchase, Clearance by USFW, CITES # reference. This information is currently kept in four huge 3-ring Binders with plastic page holders. Should I need to exhibit the data of how a non-USA specimen came into my collection, I simply look up the reference number and I can see the receipt, Clearance Form, CITES papers, bill of sale from within the USA or basically from whom I got it...say in trade or as a gift. Beside this code (for beetles) I add the measurement in mms as well. I hate trying to measure a beetle when next to so many others that could get damaged in the drawer. The best time to measure it is during mounting, not when next to dozens of tarsi/antennas. A sample label might look like this in no bigger than size 6 font done on computer with photographic satin paper. I also do hand-print a few of my own using a Staedtler Mars Professional pen with a 0.25 tip on the same high-grade satin photo paper. Odontolabis cuvera chinensis --M f. telodonte TaiNing, Fujian, CHINA 160m July.2005 IS 062006 74mm leg: H. Whung Coll W Garthe I could add more if more data came with it. I also (with my own USA-caught material) sometimes add 'how' it came to be if it was somehow unigue.....like....'sugaring' or 'blacklight' or 'attractant'. If the name changes (I won't comment here about this), I'll add another 'name' label below the original. I will not re-do thousands of labels because the 'splitter'-taxonomists are creating job security
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Post by Chris Grinter on May 3, 2011 23:13:47 GMT -8
As many others have pointed out above, I think a full label should always accompany a specimen. Notebooks donated with your collection WILL go missing, I promise. Having worked in museums since I was 13, I can count by the tens of thousands specimens that had lost their data due to a coded system (most end up coming from field-prepped specimens awaiting real labels that just never get done). I also recommend stainless steel insect pins for more humid climates. The standard black ento-pins will rust quickly. Anyway, I've blogged a bit about labeling and how I do it: skepticalmoth.southernfriedscience.com/techniques/labeling-your-specimens/
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Post by africaone on May 4, 2011 0:24:58 GMT -8
First . Recently, I had opportunity to buy a nice beetles collection ... BUT ..... all labels were in code and the notes accompanying the collection was lost . It was a case of a succession and then as the owner is dead, impossible to find reliable datas for the specimens (he hunted in at least three different countries) ! Secondly. Ten years ago, I was yet able to say any details of each speciemen of my collection. Becoming older, it is now not the same thing and I have great difficulties to remember datas of specimens i didn't label correctly. Having discuss this with a lot of collectors, I knwo I am not alone . So, I suggest to put clear datas on labels pinned under the specimens. The only real way to preserve the scientific value of a collection. Thierry
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Post by Khalid Fadil on May 4, 2011 0:46:20 GMT -8
First . Recently, I had opportunity to buy a nice beetles collection ... BUT ..... all labels were in code and the notes accompanying the collection was lost . It was a case of a succession and then as the owner is dead, impossible to find reliable datas for the specimens (he hunted in at least three different countries) ! Secondly. Ten years ago, I was yet able to say any details of each speciemen of my collection. Becoming older, it is now not the same thing and I have great difficulties to remember datas of specimens i didn't label correctly. Having discuss this with a lot of collectors, I knwo I am not alone . So, I suggest to put clear datas on labels pinned under the specimens. The only real way to preserve the scientific value of a collection. Thierry That's absolutely right when you say you're not alone. I only started labeling my specimens with data this year. The previous specimens are all unlabeled till now. I can't remember anything about them.
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Post by jshuey on May 4, 2011 6:39:12 GMT -8
I'm in the process of printing labels for 6 weeks of Brasil field work right now. One thing that I notice that EVERYONE here leaves off is habitat. Keep in mind - the world is not static, and what was once rainforest will soon likely be a water buffalo pasture (or visa versa…). If you want your bugs to be really useful for those who follow (in the conservation, ecology sense) include as much data as possible.
Here is a typical data label that I use (the fonts here don't display lat long well)
Brasil, Parana, Antonina, Rio Xaxim 25o 22' 15"S, 48o 46' 46"W regenerating lowland swamp forest 13 April 2011, elev. 10m J.A.Shuey & P.Labus, collectors
If you plug in the lat-long (strip out the "o" degree sign first) and plug it into Google earth - it will take you to the EXCACT old buffalo pasture that was abandoned about 25 year ago and is returning to swamp forest that I collected in!
The reason I think habitat is important – not all bugs are equal when it comes to their tolerance to habitat disturbance. So while there are many very nice bugs at the site we collected above – if you move about 1.5 km west, you enter a lowland swamp forest that was never cleared – and there are MANY more interesting bugs there. Understanding which species have the ability to tolerate disturbance, and which species are really locked into high-quality forest is very important to conservation, and will only become more important in the future. Your bugs can help play a role in understanding this if you collect really good data as you build your collections…
John
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Post by wollastoni on May 4, 2011 6:50:23 GMT -8
You are right "biotope description" is key ! There were a huge diversity on Borneo before it has become a huge palm oil desert in nearly 20 years only.
A friend of mine also indicates on the label if the species is rare / nearly common or common in the locality.
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Post by nomihoudai on May 4, 2011 7:09:04 GMT -8
While we are at the topic now I would like to ask if anybody has a more standardised way of describing the habitat info ? I have tried from the beginning on of my collecting activity to include it on my labels but what I describe as " open flower field, low vegetation " could be a mediterranian grasfield for others, or others might even be able to determine the violet plant that was growing there ... so is there some kind of standardised way of describing the habitats ?
@khalid, instead of asking for Lepidoptera in trade for your Actias or whatever you can just ask to trade for real entomological pins, as you live in Malaysia I am pretty sure that you will receive more needles this way than you can ever use.
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Post by wollastoni on May 4, 2011 7:37:54 GMT -8
About habitat description :
In France, the ALF and the MHNP have launched the STERF program, where skillful entomologists scientifically "count" the number of species they see on a predetermined habitat that they study about 5/10 times per year to follow butterfly population evolution year after year.
In STERF methodology, there is a standardised list of habitats. It could be useful to have an English version and to add tropical biotopes.
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Post by Khalid Fadil on May 4, 2011 13:54:45 GMT -8
While we are at the topic now I would like to ask if anybody has a more standardised way of describing the habitat info ? I have tried from the beginning on of my collecting activity to include it on my labels but what I describe as " open flower field, low vegetation " could be a mediterranian grasfield for others, or others might even be able to determine the violet plant that was growing there ... so is there some kind of standardised way of describing the habitats ? @khalid, instead of asking for Lepidoptera in trade for your Actias or whatever you can just ask to trade for real entomological pins, as you live in Malaysia I am pretty sure that you will receive more needles this way than you can ever use. I've actually been thinking about that. But, I haven't gotten any offers yet. A. Maenas is so common, nobody wants it! Khalid
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Post by saturniidave on May 4, 2011 14:19:24 GMT -8
Khalid, I offered you pins in trade.
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Post by Khalid Fadil on May 4, 2011 14:53:13 GMT -8
Khalid, I offered you pins in trade. I know. But, I thought it was the Morphos instead? Or are you sending the whole lot?
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Post by saturniidave on May 7, 2011 16:19:29 GMT -8
That depends on what you send me my friend!
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