leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Oct 13, 2018 16:56:13 GMT -8
This has been an incredible year for Colias philodice. I collected and mounted over 175 specimens. Some were winter hibernaters that were extremely dark, but not especially small. I Also collected some Colias eurytheme in early April that were hibernaters as well, and these were extremely dark. However, none were unusual. But, when I was placing them in my collection today, I saw some specimens that I collected 26 December 1961 and 6 January 1962.
I actually have my field notes from 1961 and 1962. (I still keep field notes to this very day. Hand printing in Spiral Note Books, and yes, they still make and sell Spiral Note Books)
(26/12/61) Indian Summer, sort of. Temp 68°. Sunny/Windy. Colias on the wing. Both philodice 4m & 3f, and eurytheme 6m & 2f Dark green V and dusty D.
(06/01/62) warm weather 60° plus rather windy. Colias eurytheme common. Collected 14 spec. Snow tomorrow.
I can find all but two of the 1962 specimens of Colias eurytheme females. They were on my species card but marked off. Probably gave them to someone.
56 years ago. I am an old geezer!!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2018 4:22:39 GMT -8
I think as far as self caught specimens are concerned their value is so special, remembering what you were doing at a particular time in the far distant past and the feelings of excitement, I never knew the value of data at that young age but I'm so glad I put labels on my early specimens, if nothing else they told me how bad my handwriting was then.
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 14, 2018 11:25:03 GMT -8
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? Not English, but nearly Briton as I am Breton. I am from Brittany, a Celtic country, now part of France. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BrittanyI was born in Rennes, the city of the famous entomologist Charles Oberthur.
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Post by miguel on Oct 14, 2018 12:56:27 GMT -8
My first butterfly was collected in 1988,It was Leptidea sinapi.
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Post by coloradeo on Oct 15, 2018 17:16:11 GMT -8
I was 12 or 13 when I started collecting, in 7th grade science. My first specimens is from 1985. I started black lighting each summer after that... how lights have improved since then! Eric
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Post by 58chevy on Oct 16, 2018 18:37:54 GMT -8
I started collecting in 1956, when I was 8 years old. Those specimens turned to dust, but I still have a few from the late 1950s. I also have my uncle's 4-H collection from the late 1940s.
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Post by jonathan on Oct 17, 2018 12:17:02 GMT -8
The answer to this is relative to one's age. I was born in 1979...now 39. I remember the day when I caught my first Danaus chrysippus in Malta on 28-Sep-1997 (18 years old) from a place which now is built up. It is a migratory species so it is not found every year. I still have it in my collection including the collecting data and locality. I can still remember the exact moment I caught it and the flower it was feeding on. On that very same day I lost another specimen.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Oct 20, 2018 3:06:53 GMT -8
I have attached a photograph of one of my drawers of Colias philodice. These included some of my oldest specimens. These are Hibernators, and early spring specimens. The first five columns the majority are from Ohio, Kentucky and Virginia. The four columns on the right are late April and early May from Ohio, Virginia and Kentucky. Each specimen has a Location Data Label and specie name and checklist number. I have six (6) Drawers of Colias philodice and nine (9) drawers of Colias eutrytheme. I have another nine (9) drawers of other Colias species. Double click the image to enlarge.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 20, 2018 19:23:53 GMT -8
I started collecting in the early sixties, but my oldest collected specimen i still have is a N. j-album from 1966 on a family vacation to Wisconsin.
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Post by bandrow on Oct 21, 2018 7:06:30 GMT -8
Leptraps - what is the specimen by itself in the center of the drawer of Colias? Looks pretty evenly gray - is that a morph of philodice? Remember - I'm a beetle guy, so I'm easily confused by unusual leps... Cheers! Bandrow
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Oct 21, 2018 13:02:54 GMT -8
When I first moved to Virginia in 1975, it was one of the first butterflies I collected, and it was wing worn. A hibernator no less. Here is a photograph of the specimen.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Oct 21, 2018 13:05:17 GMT -8
Here is the very first butterfly I collected as a resident of Virginia. Colias eurytheme 17 February 1975.
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leptraps
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Post by leptraps on Oct 21, 2018 13:07:41 GMT -8
And a dorsal view:
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Post by bandrow on Oct 21, 2018 15:37:45 GMT -8
Interesting - it looks like a melanic. Have you seen others like that since then - or is a "once-in-a-lifetime" aberration?
Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by leptraps on Oct 21, 2018 16:08:28 GMT -8
When I first saw it flying, I thought it was a moth. I caught it with a lazy swing not really trying. When I looked at it in the killing jar, I was stunned.
I originally thought is was a Collis eurytheme. It is a female and (10 years later) the Claspers and the pink edges said it was Colias philodice.
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