Oldest Specimen that you Collected?

[leptraps]

In another topic, Anaea andria on the Road, John Hyatt had a specimen of Anaea andria that he collected in 1962ish. The oldest specimen that I collected in my collection is a Graphium marcellus. 17 July 1958.

It is still the most prized specimen in my collection. The Zebra Swallowtail was considered a real rarity in NE Ohio. I was 13 years of age at the time.

Even now as I write this and just thinking about it, brings a smile to my face.

[nomihoudai]

Does 1996 count?

[leptraps]

Most certainly! How old were you when you collected your oldest specimen?

And to the SA who sent me the PM, buying that specimen does not count. Going out with a net, trap or lights is collecting.
Sitting on you FA and writing a check, using a credit card and send money via PayPal is NOT collecting.

Did I say that correctly?

[wolf]

I have a self caught Lycaena virgaureae, Thecla betulae, Polygonia c-album and Nymphalis antiopa from early 90's. i dont know exactly, but from like 92-94 somewhere. I was 4-6 years old. My oldest specimen is from the early 80s. Its another Nymphalis antiopa which i got from a friend of my mother who caught it for her biology project when she was in highschool.

[Paul K]

I have a few specimens from Poland I collected in 1983 when I was 13 years old. My first butterfly that I collected in 1982 was A.urticae and moth Catocala nupta which came to the lights in the hallway of the building I was living in. I remember this large triangle on the faded yellowish wall like it was just yesterday. Unfortunately I don’t have them anymore.

[mothman27]

The oldest specimens I collected are from 2011 when I was 10.

[beetlehorn]

I was 15 years old when I netted a Parnassius phoebus during a family vacation in Colorado. That was 1978 and I still have that butterfly. I still have some specimens from Europe that I collected in 1976 that are still intact. I had a very nice collection from the early 1970's when we lived in Germany, but due to my negligence at the time, they were completely decimated by dermestids. That was one loss I still regret. I can replace the specimens with new ones, but the original self collected ones are gone forever. To myself, self captured specimens just have a special meaning. At the very least though, I still have some special memories of encounters in the field.

[nomihoudai]

In 1996 I was 8 years old. My grandfather built me a net and I went out in a field in front of their house. Nowadays there is houses built where this happened. We then glued to butterflies to a cardboard board as we didn't know how to mount them. I also collected a Lycaena phlaeas and a Gonepteryx rhamni earlier in my life, but the specimens didn't survive, but I can still remember catching them. For my 10th birthday I got a dead Aglais io a friend found and I still have that specimen in the original plastic container that he handed it to me. The specimen ia still at the bottom of an old cabinet in my old childhood bedroom.

[rayrard]

My first was likely the early 90's. I remember my Mom opening the windows at night around schooltime and a Catocala amatrix flew in the window. The big brown moth on the wall opened up and had red hindwings. That got me started with collecting insects but I played with insects in the yard going back to the mid-80's. That Catocala is faded light pink and missing antenna but I still have it.

[Deleted]

1972, aglais urticae caught with a little fishing net and bamboo handle outside my uncle's house on a thistle, up to the age of 10 it's the only net I had and I was super efficient with it, hardly ever missed, I set it on a polystyrene tile, badly, following the instructions on setting in there observers book of butterflies but I will resist the temptation to reset it, great early memories.

[wollastoni]

Should be 1990, some butterflies from my garden (Catocala, Pieris, Vanessa...)
I was 8.

[leptraps]

You are a young man, I envisioned you to be my age (70 ish).

I have assumed you to be of English decent. Am I correct?

[Adam Cotton]

If you are referring to wollastoni, he's French. He is indeed younger than I thought too, but I already knew that he was quite young compared to codgers like you and me

The oldest specimen I caught myself is a Papilio machaon I collected in San Remo, N Italy in August 1972. I was 13 at the time. I still have the specimen, although it doesn't have any antennae.

Adam.

[mikeh]

1995

[joachim]

Hello,
the first specimens I caught was in Germany in 1967 when I was a young boy. All these butterflies are somewhere gone because my parents moved and so my collection was thrown away - I do not know. I was 11 years old.( so you see I am now 48 )
The oldest specimen I have is a Papilio machaon which is from January 1972, I found the larvae and my biology teacher told me the pupas needs cold wheather. So I put it in the refrigerator until beginning of 1972.
the next specimens I have are some Troides I got as pupa in 1974.
I also was collectiing with my family in the Harz mountains
www.google.de/maps/place/37520+Osterode+am+Harz/@51.7925944,10.2420471,25610m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x47a5251e9b31e28b:0x425ac6d94ac43b0!8m2!3d51.7293769!4d10.2580311
and vcollected Aglais urticae, inachis io, some pierids and Lasiommata megera which where rather common in those days. Also some noctuidae. But, as I said, this collection is somewhere....
I always wonder when people tell me found hundreds of butterflies. Here, at the moment, most species are very very rare. 10 years ago, my neighbour had a treee with many many vanessa atlanta, this year I saw 2. So I do not collect any butterflies here. If a Geometrid is inmy flat, I catch it and let it ly.
Joachim