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Post by Adam Cotton on May 26, 2011 23:41:50 GMT -8
Perhaps someone can help identify this place. I have an old papered European Papilio machaon with the word "Wattala" written on the envelope. There is absolutely nothing else, not even a date, and the only Wattala I have been able to find anywhere so far is in Sri Lanka - obviously the wrong place.
Can anyone shed any light on the origin of the specimen?
Thanks,
Adam Cotton.
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Post by Chris Grinter on May 27, 2011 0:08:53 GMT -8
Perhaps just butterfly that was stuck in a re-used envelope without the data being changed. I've used old envelopes when I was younger - perhaps the collector thought he would "know" that this butterfly could never be from there so he never bothered to scratch out the name.
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Post by lepidofrance on May 27, 2011 0:59:28 GMT -8
There was a battle in 1860 in Wottala (Sudan) and Google quotes a Wottala in Uzbekistan !
I doubt that could help ! Sorry !
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Post by prillbug2 on May 27, 2011 4:42:10 GMT -8
You could keep the specimen, but if the location is questionable, I wouldn't include it as a good scientific record.
Jeff Prill
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 27, 2011 13:27:01 GMT -8
You could keep the specimen, but if the location is questionable, I wouldn't include it as a good scientific record. Jeff Prill Don't worry, I won't! I'm really just curious to find out what the place refers to. Currently I don't even know which country the specimen came from. It is possible that the name Wattala refers to a place known to the collector, such as a park or house name etc, rather than a town or village. Adam. |
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Post by saturniidave on May 27, 2011 14:57:30 GMT -8
Yeah, don't you just love it when they do that?  At the museum where I worked we had a great collection of British moths all caught at the same place in Kent. The guy just put his house name on the label and the date! |
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Post by lordpandarus on May 28, 2011 16:22:39 GMT -8
I often get envelopes where I can't decipher what's written on them exactly.Especially places from Asia like Burma or Laos that have complicated names.Or sometimes the ink is faded and I can't read anything.
anyways I just collect butterflies, data is useful but not essential to me. Quality of specimen>>>>Data
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 29, 2011 0:48:25 GMT -8
As far as I am concerned a smashed specimen with data is much more interesting than a perfect specimen with no data at all, a specimen without data is just a pretty picture. However, I do appreciate that some of us are only interested in the beauty of the butterflies, and that is their perrogative. As long as everyone enjoys their own perspective of butterfly (or other insects) collecting, then that's fine by me.
Adam.
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Post by africaone on May 29, 2011 3:10:06 GMT -8
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ckswank
Full Member
Posts: 239
Country: USA
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Post by ckswank on May 29, 2011 11:02:05 GMT -8
Thank you for the link, Thierry. Very useful information.
Charlie.
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At the museum where I worked we had a great collection of British moths all caught at the same place in Kent. The guy just put his house name on the label and the date!
