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Post by jonesy610 on Oct 1, 2016 15:07:07 GMT
Hello all, For those of you that do some major purchasing and don't collect or trade everything, how do you make the determination on species and subspecies on all the specimens if all you have to go on is their full data. Is the breath of your knowledge such that you pretty much know, have you amassed a huge library of identification books, or is there somewhere online that is a great resource to be able to tease apart the various subspecies. Any info would be greatly appreciated as I don't have a huge library and my knowledge base only gets me to species if I am lucky. Thanks and cheers.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Oct 1, 2016 17:27:44 GMT
You can find a lot of information online, which varies in usefulness and depth by quite a lot. Sites that specialize in a certain region or family are generally more useful than a "what butterfly is that" type of reference; the latter will almost never indicate subspecies. Are you looking for particular region or family information, or just a general question? Google is your friend; search for species or families of interest and many times you'll get a good reference or two. You'll also get a lot of commercial sources for taxa that are commonly offered (especially on Ebay). Many times, you'll see misidentifications, especially on commercial sites, so it's best to stick to sites that are more scientifically oriented.
All that said, I couldn't get along without a comprehensive reference library. I use the latter daily; it includes carefully selected books, which I generally buy according to family or region. All-inclusive books, such as the popular but rather outdated volumes by Smart and Lewis, include a little of this and that, but are rarely comprehensive. A good library needs both current and older books; the latter, such as Seitz, often include useful text and other details that are often omitted from newer sources.
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Post by jonesy610 on Oct 1, 2016 18:49:41 GMT
Thank you for the reply. Specifically, I have recently purchased a large lot of butterflies from north vietnam off of eBay. The seller says that the butterflies have full data, but I doubt that they have all been determined judging from the sellers other sales. I have found a book collection in seven parts of butterflies from vietnam, but only the first three volumes are published and they are cost a bit. I was just curious if anyone had a specific idea of where I could go for determining all of these north vietnam species having only locale data, no library, and my limited knowledge. Thanks!
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Post by Adam Cotton on Oct 1, 2016 19:42:33 GMT
Ah, now you are being more specific it is easier to answer your question. "Full data" really means place and date of capture (date often only to month), and does not include accurate identification. Indeed some of the Vietnamese eBay sellers don't know the difference between butterflies and day-flying moths, or even which family the butterflies belong to, never mind accurate IDs. This website will help a lot, if you know approximately what you think they are: A Check List of Butterflies in Indo-China yutaka.it-n.jp/index.htmlIf you really have a problem you can always post a photo in the "Insect Identification" section of the forum, and you will almost certainly get an accurate identification. If possible it is best to load your photos to a hosting site and post the link using the 'Insert Image' function rather than uploading the photo to this forum directly. See collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/11/attach-picture for a full explanation. Adam.
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Post by jonesy610 on Oct 1, 2016 20:40:10 GMT
Thanks so much Adam, I will check that site out!
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