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Post by Adam Cotton on Aug 1, 2018 12:20:38 GMT -8
The pleasure was all mine, and I will be back. I still haven’t look at all your drawers, rembemer? It will be very interesting to look at Ting’s collection too as it most likely covers most Thai species ( if you will still taking care of). Paul You will always be welcome. I look forward to it. Meanwhile your wife can talk to mine. Adam.
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Post by joachim on Aug 6, 2018 12:59:47 GMT -8
Adam, and you also collect t-shirts of sport club members?
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leptraps
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Posts: 2,397
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Post by leptraps on Aug 6, 2018 14:56:28 GMT -8
As of my last count, 15 January 2018, I have 701 Cornell Drawers plus room for 21 more. I have made almost everyone of the Cornell Drawers. I have 28 Cabinets that hold 25 drawers and two 11 drawer cabinets. I began collecting as a young boy and my collection was in Cornell drawers while I was in High School. I have approximately 80 temporay storage boxes and two freezers (Chest Type) full of papered material, mostly moths from trips out west. I do not believe I will live long enough to mount it all.
And yet I am out collecting something almost every day.
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Post by johnnyboy on Aug 6, 2018 22:49:14 GMT -8
Adam,
I'm curious as to how you protect your collection from pests, mould etc, especially as you're living in the tropics. Your housing looks very clean and well kept. Do you use any chemicals to treat potential pest outbreaks?
Johnny
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Post by Adam Cotton on Aug 7, 2018 2:47:18 GMT -8
Adam, and you also collect t-shirts of sport club members? I have a collection of signed shirts of my team, West Bromwich Albion, which I obtained from a friend who was a good friend of the sadly deceased ex kit man who worked at the club for over 50 years. Adam.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Aug 7, 2018 3:22:28 GMT -8
Adam, I'm curious as to how you protect your collection from pests, mould etc, especially as you're living in the tropics. Your housing looks very clean and well kept. Do you use any chemicals to treat potential pest outbreaks? Johnny Thank you for the compliments. Firstly the collection room was purpose built, so it only has one door, no windows and one ventilation fan and grille. Both the door and the ventilation grille have rubber seals to minimise possibility of crawling insects from entering. All pipes (electricity, internet etc) containing cables from outside were sealed with silicone to reduce the possibility of pests entering that way. Here are the important steps that I follow to keep the collection safe: As I have said elsewhere the most important prevention is via airconditioning. I keep the room at 24C most of the time. This keeps the humidity in the room below 30% all the time. I also have a dehumidifier as a back up which monitors the humidity and would automatically start working in the event that the humidity rises above 40%. It never does, even though the outside humidity is often well over 80% or more. Pests cannot live in low humidity, and they tend not to enter by themselves. I put a very small piece of vapona no-pest strip in each drawer. These last for many years as a preventative. It is very important NEVER to touch the resin strips or anything contaminated by the chemical when preparing them. I use thick rubber gloves and garden pruning scissors to cut the resin into small pieces, and always thoroughly scrub the scissors and rubber gloves before removing them, then scrub my hands after taking the gloves off. Very occasionally I spray the whole room with a pyrethrin insect spray (the type you can buy to kill cockroaches and other insects), but I don't do that very often as it isn't normally necessary. One critical pest prevention measure is to put ALL newly acquired specimens (papered or spread) in the freezer inside sealed plastic boxes for at least 3 days or more, usually a week, before bringing them into the collection room. I have often received specimens from dealers with psocids or dermestids inside, and not only from tropical suppliers, I often found them in specimens sent by western suppliers too, SO BE WARNED! Note that after removing frozen specimens from the freezer the unopened box should be placed in the room for 24 hours before opening it to prevent condensation on the specimens. Even in low humidity condensation occurs on anything colder than the air. I have a little insect attracting light (actinic or UV?) with 'zapper' in one corner of the room which I check every so often to look for pests that may have been caught. I also have a pot of dry rice under my desk which I check occasionally for pests. Basic common sense helps keep pests out. Keeping the floor clean is useful, and although I do eat in my room (not really a good idea), I make sure that all food crumbs etc are removed regularly. Adam.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Aug 7, 2018 3:49:28 GMT -8
I forgot to mention one important point - whenever you open a drawer keep an eye open for any signs of infestation - dust below any specimens and other clues that there could be a problem, such as damage to specimens or larval skins. If you see anything treat the drawer with insecticide or by freezing straight away.
Adam.
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Post by johnnyboy on Aug 7, 2018 22:49:14 GMT -8
Thank you for your detailed reply. This is useful information that will benefit all those maintaining a collection. Your collection, given its size, coupled with your expert knowledge and input, is an important resource for the entomological community as a whole, so it is comforting that you take such great care of it.
My own insect collection is kept in a far less suitable situation, namely a spare bedroom that doubles up as a study that all my family use. My cabinets sit on a thick woollen carpet and the room, being north facing, is prone to getting damp at one end. I have had a couple of serious pest attacks over the years, from a couple of museum beetle larvae, these occurred when I was distracted by other matters that meant that I had neglected taking care of my specimens as I should have.
In order to preserve my insects I resort to heavy use of naphthalene mothballs, PCB and "zero" mothballs that contain the potent pyrethroid transfluthrin. I also use thymol frome time to time as an anti mould agent, some moths, wasps and cicadas seem particularly vulnerable to pin mould and I paint a solution of thymol on the bodies to kill and prevent it.
I was fortunate that, in the wake of the European Union ban on vapona, in the form of the organophosphate dichlorovos as the active ingredient, I decided to take the precaution of buying quantities of naphthalene and PCB in advance of the further bans that I could see coming. The authorities never announce such bans in advance to prevent people stockpiling the chemicals in question. Some years ago I warned one of the major UK suppliers of naphthalene to entomologists, that the crystals and mothballs would likely be banned within the next 12 months. His response was to laugh at my suggestion saying it would never happen, naphthalene was banned for general use in the UK three months later. PCB, when used long term, "plates out" inside cabinets and provides an extra barrier to pests.
Johnny
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Post by beetlehorn on Aug 8, 2018 9:43:25 GMT -8
currently I have some 80 drawers. Fourty two of them are 24 inches by 24 inches. So I would guess drawers of that size equal 4 square feet, (about double the capacity of Cornell's). So in that respect I would say around 165 drawers. I am also in the process of making another 14 drawers out of red cedar, to aid as a pest repellent. Here is an example of what I build for myself.
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Post by LEPMAN on Aug 8, 2018 11:35:25 GMT -8
I have several thousand specimens all collected or reared by myself from Asian countries, Brazil, and the US. But still only have 3 drawers of mostly small day flying moths such as Amata, zyngaena, Illiberis, as well as some lyncaenidae and other specimens I wouldn’t risk setting after dried. I’m in no rush to acquire any more drawers as I need my collection to be movable for the time being.
Ed
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Post by 58chevy on Aug 9, 2018 11:05:56 GMT -8
I have about 60 drawers of USA leps and beetles, a few drawers of tropical leps and beetles, and a few drawers of USA insects from other orders.
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Post by albert214 on Aug 9, 2018 17:53:59 GMT -8
I have about 250 drawers (a combination of Cal Academy and Cornell) and a couple dozen redwood boxes. Most of my collection is from Panama (moths, butterflies, insects of all sorts) that I have been collecting on trips there since 1974. I also have several drawers of Arizona specimens that I have been collecting around the state for over 22 years, and a few drawers of specimens from previous trips to Brazil and Colombia in the 1970's, and from Ecuador, Peru, French Guiana, Guyana, and Guatemala in the 1990's. I built about 100 of the drawers that are not the highest quality (but very cheap) and they serve their purpose for temporary storage. The other 150 drawers I've purchased, mostly from Bioquip. Read more: insectnet.proboards.com/thread/7692/insect-drawers-boxes?page=2#ixzz5NjhoCtx1
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Post by civix001 on Oct 20, 2018 13:22:10 GMT -8
i have about 80 drawers (50cm X 40cm) of SATURNIIDAE : nearly 700 differents species. ABout 150 drawers of everything else
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Post by exoticimports on Oct 21, 2018 5:33:59 GMT -8
i have about 80 drawers (50cm X 40cm) of SATURNIIDAE : nearly 700 differents species. ABout 150 drawers of everything else Pics?
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robert61
Full Member
Posts: 184
Country: GERMANY
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Post by robert61 on Oct 21, 2018 6:21:49 GMT -8
nearly 900... Robert
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