Your summer entomological plans ?

[wollastoni]

Just wondered which part of the globe you will explore during your summer holiday and with which entomological target ?

I will spend :
. one week in Sardinia in the hope to see the endemic and lovely Polyommatus coridon gennargenti 
. 2 or 3 weeks in Brittany with the simple hope to add some species in the countings I have been doing there for years for the MNHN

So rather "calm" trips for me this year... having a 2-month old new kid doesn't help !  

[nomad]

Simplon, Switzerland in one months time for a week, followed by a week in Snowdonia, Wales.

[wollastoni]

Cool !
Which objectives in particular ?

Simplon is only 2 hours from Milan, maybe I should join during one day. 

[bobw]

2nd half of July in Ussuri.  Mainly looking for livestock of Apaturinae and Catocala, but also anything else interesting that comes my way.


Bob

[Paul K]

1st two weeks of July in Rocky Mountains Canada searching for Parnassius smintheus , Colias Sp. and maybe late Euchloe  sp. and what ever interesting I find there. End of July back to Thailand and some collecting trips there.

[bobw]

Jun 6, 2016 18:49:09 GMT Paul K said:

1st two weeks of July in Rocky Mountains Canada searching for Parnassius smintheus , Colias Sp. and maybe late Euchloe  sp. and what ever interesting I find there. End of July back to Thailand and some collecting trips there.

Paul

I found a few interesting localities outside of national parks last year.  If you're interested send me a PM.

Bob

[nomad]

Jun 6, 2016 18:08:20 GMT wollastoni said:

Cool !
Which objectives in particular ?

Simplon is only 2 hours from Milan, maybe I should join during one day. 

Being Switzerland this is a photography trip only.  It is a quest to see the very dark high alpine Maculinea arion obscura in a good locality and a search in a forgotten location for Rätzer’s ringlet (Erebia christi), which I found in my search through the journals of the accounts of the many British collectors who once came here.  The best location for Erebia christi was easy to find and reach but it was destroyed in road building. That Ringlet would be quite a find, as even Lepidopterists that live in Switzerland fail to find it, even so many good things often occur together. Plus the views are stunning, no matter which way you look.   

[exoticimports]

Lately been blacklighting (MV is too bright because the forest is too close) in upstate NY. So far just the usual characters- polyphemus, io, inscriptum. Oddly no luna, which are usually the first to appear.

Chuck

[mothman27]

I plan to do more collecting of all kinds in Indiana and spend one week in Florida.

[jshuey]

In August, we'll do a family vacation in Chiapas. I have about a third of the trip planned for collection, the rest focused on family (so they won't be too pissed about the 1/3rd). The big goal for the trip is Euphyes chamuli, a little brown skipper endemic to the highlands of Chiapas and adjacent Guatemala. This all assumes, of course, that a friend figures out how to get me included on their collecting permit.  It has been over 16 years since I've been to the region, so any collecting will be a blast.

Then in September, we'll do a 2-week "work trip" to Belize.  I think we'll work in the Maya Mountains and adjacent Chiquibul National Park and Caracol Ruins.  This will be my 19th and last work-trip to Belize.  Between myself and volunteers, we have logged 1.4 years of active collecting field time, recording over 15,000 discrete collection records (unique collection dates for species by location, regardless of how many specimens were collected) of 937 species.  Perhaps another 15 species will be added as we work through skipper and hairstreak specimens that are difficult to place to species (we are doing CO1 bar codes on many of these).   Jan Meerman, who lives in Belize, adds another potential 47 species to the list and over 10,000 discrete sightings and collections for the country.  And there are about 50 species known from "literature records" only - most of these are very suspect and Belize does not seeming have the correct montane habitats to support them (and even it does - how did those collectors get to those areas in the 1800's?  We used helicopters the last time we went to the high ridge lines).

So, this trip is our last shot at pushing over 1,000 species for Belize a country about the same size at New Jersey (or 1/10th the size of the UK). This will be the heart of the rainy season, so I'm hopeful that with the sites that we sample, we'll add another 15 species to the list, which is the minimum we need to hit the magic number.

John

[wollastoni]

Well, many great plans among ICF members !

It would be great if each of you would post some pictures + a small report about their trip in the Collecting reports' section of the forum after the summer.

[entomofou]

I am in Armenia (from the 2nd to the 17th of June) ! This summer a short trip in the Alpes and in South of France (Var)... Mainly looking for beetles.

[nomad]

Some great collecting trips are being planned.  I look forward to reading some good reports on the forum.  

[luehdorfia]

nomad, what did you discover in Snowdonia Wales, this summer. I just moved to Manchester from Southern Germany, and was quite delighted to see some nice Hipparchia semele, when I went to the beach near Formby last weekend. I am really interested in good butterflies areas around here and Snowdonia is not too far away.
Best greetings

[leon]

I'm in Michigan. I sit on my sofa reading books while my porch light attracts insects. I specialise in coleoptera so I check the porch periodically. Summer's a great time for this & I've found several beetles to add to my collection this way.