?? Large Cerambycidae distribution in Solomon Islands

[exoticimports]

Hi all,

Question for the beetleologists:

I have record of kibleri from Guadalcanal and Bougainville; lamondi from Malaita, and porioni from San Christobal (Makira).

Does anyone know if any of the above "really big" species, or an equivalent species, has been recorded from the other islands including Choisul, Santa Isabel, and New Georgia group?

Thanks,

Chuck

[bandrow]

Hi Chuck,

Sorry - I just noticed this post - normally my 'bycid senses' would have sniffed this out... must be a leftover symptom of Covid!


I haven't seen any species from any of those islands, but something certainly must occur there, but I wouldn't know which. Batocera inconspicua seems to be more widespread than the 'white' species, so it's probably on those islands. One species that I'd love to get is B. oceanica from just a little bit north on New Britain. I've only seen one specimen, but I'll bet it's the dominant species if one could get access. Probably true too for the islands you mention - maybe it's some kind of accessibility issue?

I noticed recently that B. porioni has been synonymized with B. una, and B. una is now the current name. Unusual to see species of Batocera being sunk, rather than another local population being described as new...

Cheers!
Bandrow

[exoticimports]

Well that’s interesting!! Porioni is una. That’s a hell of a distance from Makira to Vanuatu. And again kibleri known only from two islands 600 miles apart.

I can only imagine what’s on the other major islands. Wish I was there to figure it out. So many mysteries, so many discoveries sitting in wait.

Chuck

[bandrow]

Mar 12, 2021 18:58:31 GMT -8 exoticimports said:

Well that’s interesting!! Porioni is una. That’s a hell of a distance from Makira to Vanuatu. And again kibleri known only from two islands 600 miles apart.

I can only imagine what’s on the other major islands. Wish I was there to figure it out. So many mysteries, so many discoveries sitting in wait.

Chuck

One of the things that makes sorting these out so tough is that so little material is available from a wide variety of locales. Most of the specimens come from the same few localities due to the majority originating with dealers focused on certain places. Or worse, dealers that generalize and "centralize" their data based on their own place of business. Maybe a dealer in the Solomons has hunters that provide specimens from all over, and then he labels them all as "Makira" or something.

Best example is the amazing and endless diversity in "Chiang Mai, Thailand". I'll bet 80% of the specimens I have from Thailand have only that place name in the data, despite the certainty I have that those specimens may have come from anywhere within 500 miles.

It'd be a bucket list event for me to travel from island to island in a place like the Solomons collecting Batocera on each. But I think the closest I'll ever get to something like that is traveling the western U.S. in the late summer collecting Crossidius in a hundred spots!!

Cheers!
Bandrow

[exoticimports]

Bandrow, I vaguely remember we touched on this subject in an old thread.


Back until 20-40 years ago (depending on location) many regions had a thriving export on reptiles, birds, insects, fossils, etc. As always, there are "field people" typically distant villagers who would (and still do) feed the material to a central clearing house. For the sake of expediency, some clearing houses would stamp the specimen with the location of the clearing house and processing date; neither are accurate. "Chang Mai" and "Bulolo" are particularly notorious.

Properly labelled specimens at the source depend(ed) on the ability of the source. In Solomons, for example, many specimens were correctly labeled, down to the name of the individual. Today I don't know.

As far as sourcing material, it's a dying career, largely because of global anti-collecting efforts. The old-time experts have quit, retired, etc. Thus, AFAIK there's nobody really doing much except ranching Ornithoptera in New Georgia Province, Solomon Islands. There are some remote Centers of Expertise, such as on the island of Ranongga, but that too is reduced in scope (to Ornithoptera) and the young kids don't bother with ecological studies, specimen capture, etc.

Availability of regionally occurring species has always been hit-or-miss. Clearly, those specimens that could be bred near the capitals/ airports are readily available. Of course, the lower-demand species are largely ignored, so sadly they don't even bother picking up beetles they find every morning at the airport lights.

When we look at Solomon Islands as an example (and, not too far a logical stretch to apply the same to the remote islands of PNG) the focus is on the "big ticket" stuff that's easy to market. Specifically, Ornithoptera and Papilio. Even then, some entire islands are not well worked- Choisul and Isabel, for example. Meaning, there's virtually nobody there to breed or catch specimens, and if there is "one guy" he's focused on Ornithoptera, which provides enough cash to get by. Then there are the more remote islands/ island groups, and there's NOBODY there to collect insects.

Beetles are one thing, pick 'em up stick 'em in a jar of vodka. Butterflies, from the perspective of a remote collector and the clearing house, are a PITA. Everyone wants perfect, and the only way to get perfect is extreme luck or breeding. Largely, they aren't worth the time.

Oddly enough, the large batocera (kibleri, una, lamondi), and Xixuthrus costatus, are not hard to catch. Likewise the stick insects. The locals have a method to do so, and told me about it, it just takes 2-3 days advance notice. So applying those same techniques to the "unknown" areas like New Georgia, Isabel, Choisul, and in PNG New Britain and New Ireland, would be easy. It's getting somebody to do it, then getting the specimens to you.

The fact is though, we have huge black holes of knowledge, and with the anti-collecting climate, those conundrums are going to remain unresolved.

Chuck

[exoticimports]

To add: scientist and collectors in USA (and, to an extent, Europe) are at a disadvantage because the Japanese get most of the specimens. The Japanese pay top dollar, buy wholesale, and don't impose all sorts of paperwork on the sellers. Thus, anything "new" or unusual hitting the exporter will be earmarked for Japanese collectors and scientists.

Chuck

[trehopr1]

I too have heard through my retired dealer/friend (for many years running) that the Japanese
get 1st "dibs" on the marketing of insects...

[hakomoto]

I have the same question. I have also only seen kibleri from Bougainville and Guadalcanal, and it would make no sense that they're not found on any of the islands in between. Likewise with Xixuthrus lansbergei which is known from Bougainville and Guadalcanal.

[hakomoto]

Hi Chuck, I'm interested in your Xixuthrus costatus. However I'm new to this forum and don't know how to use the private messaging, could you possibly send me a personal message?

[livingplanet3]

Mar 15, 2021 8:33:36 GMT -8 exoticimports said:

To add: scientist and collectors in USA (and, to an extent, Europe) are at a disadvantage because the Japanese get most of the specimens. The Japanese pay top dollar, buy wholesale, and don't impose all sorts of paperwork on the sellers. Thus, anything "new" or unusual hitting the exporter will be earmarked for Japanese collectors and scientists.

Chuck

Is this something that's come about in recent times, or has this always been the case? Also, does this apply more to specimens from certain parts of the world than others?

[trehopr1]

I doubt that you will ever get a reply to your questions because he indicated in his (last) post that he was "signing off".

[livingplanet3]

Mar 2, 2022 17:13:58 GMT -8 trehopr1 said:

I doubt that you will ever get a reply to your questions because he indicated in his (last) post that he was "signing off".

Oh - I must have missed that.