Great Papilionidae collection

[mokky]

Dear all,

Finally the great collection of Papilionidae made by the late Dr. Igarashi Suguru (1924-2008) was up on the web.

umdb.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/DDoubutu/igarashi/jp/resultAll.php?skip=0&max=100

This tough work compiled by our colleagues.

Surely one of the best collection of Papilionidae chiefly in Oriental region.

It is a great pleasure that everyone can easily access the backyard of the museum on the web.

Cheers,
mokky

[simosg]

This has been the collection of one single man???

Just wondering, why this great collection is missing Ornithoptera meridionalis for example. I want to have the drawer with the six lampsacus.

Hannes

[mokky]

Dear simosg

Yes, this huge collection has been compiled by one man. Imagine this is only a part of 1,200 boxes. There are more Lycaenidae or Nymphalidae.

Surely the late Dr. Igarashi Suguru was a great man. He is one of the leading figures who made Japan "Butterfly Superpower".

I do not know why Ornithoptera meridionalis is missing in this collection. But one reason I guess is that Ornithoptera meridionalis had been very rare and expensive until late 90's. (Timika, the good collecting site was found) At that time Dr. Igarashi had already shifted his interest on other small species.

mokky

[mokky]

Dear Radovan

Thank you for your comment. In his collection, there are plenty of Parnassius eversmanni daisetsuzana. Some of the specimens had been collected by himself in 50's and 60's. Then it was legal to collect this species. Now it is almost impossible to get them legally.

The specimens of ssp.sasai are old collection before WWII. Now it is also extremely hard to obtain them.

cheers,
mokky

Nov 25, 2012 4:09:41 GMT -8 radusho said:

OMG box full of Japanese eversmanni daisetsuzana and also sasai from Korea

Radovan

[Adam Cotton]

Fantastic! It is really great that the data for each specimen is listed below the photo of each draw. It is a slight pity that you cannot zoom in to examine individual specimens closely.

Will there be an English version of the webpages, so it is easier for us non-Japanese readers to navigate?

Igarashi-san came to visit me here in Chiang Mai in the mid 1980s and signed my copy of his great book, Papilionidae and their early stages.

Adam.

[gauthier]

I have compiled Biblio papers on Rhopalocera of Dr. Igarashi, If someone is interrested, tell me.

[bas]

there o alexandrae how much would they be worth also this collection is REALLY REALLY COOOOOL I want that !!!! awesome