Ray Straatman the Birdwing Guru.
Sept 27, 2018 7:57:23 GMT
deliasfanatic, mygos, and 7 more like this
Post by nomad on Sept 27, 2018 7:57:23 GMT
This article was originally written in 2013, and posted on Insectnet, but as it is an important part of butterfly history, I thought I would refresh the article and add it here. It is dedicated to the memory of Raymond Straatman [1917-1987] and to his considerable achievements in the study of lepidoptera.
Ray Straatman the Birdwing Guru.
In New Guinea during the 1960s and 1970s a number of talented lepidopterists were all busy in the field studying the life histories of the birdwing butterflies. Richard Carver, Ray Straatman, Harry Borch and Jan Pasternak all greatly contributed to our knowledge of these magnificent insects. Foremost among these lepidopterists was Raymond Straatman who was regarded by many as a birdwing guru. Ray Straatman arrived in Indonesia in the late 1940s and settled in Sumatra where he worked for a Dutch company on their rubber and copra estate. In the 1950s he was the first to discover the early stages of Trogonoptera brookiana and Atrophaneura hageni and produced detailed drawings and descriptions of them. An interesting paper was written by Straatman in 1955, Notes on the methods of collecting Indo-Australian Lepidoptera and can be read at the link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1950s/1955/1955-9(2-3)74-Straatman.pdf
The political situation in Indonesia under Sukarno makes it very difficult for the Dutch, and Ray migrates to Australia in 1959. In 1960 he leaves for Papua New Guinea where he gets a job as a planter on a rubber estate near the Veimauri River. Between the years 1965-1967 Ray was working for the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, travelling extensively throughout PNG and the Solomons collecting specimens for this museum (butterflies, beetles, Diptera, Hymenoptera etc). In 1966 he travels to Bougainville and the Solomons for the Bishop Museum and here he records the early stages of Ornithoptera victoriae and Ornithoptera priamus urvillianus, in 1969 his paper is published Notes on the Biology and Hostplant Associations of Ornithoptera priamus urvilleanus and of Ornithoptera Victoriae (Papilionidae). Link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1960s/1969/1969-23(2)69-Straatman.pdf
In the Solomons Ray Straatman discovers a new subspecies of O.victoriae which Dr Fernard Schmid named epiphanes in 1970. During 1967 Ray gets a job on a rubber estate in Milne Bay Province in Eastern Papua and here he makes many observations of the local population of O. meridionalis. In 1969 Ray Straatman rented a small house at Sogeri on the high plateau some 20km north of Port Moresby. From now on he becomes a professional field lepidopterist and butterfly hunter and works on his own. He is hired by the PNG government in 1970 for a special project to conduct a land survey of the distribution of O. alexandrae in the Popondetta region. In 1971 he produces a fine paper The Life History of Ornithoptera alexandrae Rothschild. Link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1970s/1971/1971-25(1)58-Straatman.pdf
During 1971 Jan Pasternak a friend of Raymond Straatman explored the Omeri Mountains and after some heroic efforts, he was the first to discover the early stages of O. chimaera. A year later Jan Pasternak found a much higher concentration of O. chimaera at Bundi in the Bismarck Mountains. At Bundi Jan Pasternak also found the larva on a then unidentified Aristolochia vine which produced a female of O. goliath. Later Ray Straatman would visit Bundi and study and photograph the early stages of O. chimaera and those of O. goliath near his home at Sogeri. In 1975 Ray and F. Schmid publish the paper Notes on the biology of Ornithoptera Goliath and O. Chimaera (Papilionidae). Link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1970s/1975/1975-29(2)85-Straatman.pdf
Ray was also interested in breeding other Papilionidae and in 1975 produces the paper Notes on the Biologies of P. laglaizei and P. toboroi. Link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1970s/1975/1975-29(3)180-Straatman.pdf
In 1976 Ray succeeds for the first time in crossbreeding O. victoriae with O. priamus urvillianus and thus proves that Ornithoptera allottei is not a species but a hybrid. During 1978 someone in the PNG Fishery and Wildlife Department gathers evidence and charges Ray with the illegal catching and dealing with protected birdwings. He is found guilty and ordered to leave his beloved Papua. Ray settles in Cairns, Queensland and will later build a house at a rainforest property at Freedom county 5 km west of Kuranda in the hilly country 20 km west of Cairns. He is still very active and travels frequently almost every year to Indonesia including West New Guinea where among other place he visits the Arfak Mountains and the lovely Paniai Lakes region in the Central mountain range. He also visits Europe and the U.S. where he is hosted by his many lepidopterist friends. In 1981 he travels with Jan Pasternak to visit Jan Haugum in Leiden in the Netherlands. In his Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies, Jan Haugum would make much use of Ray Straatman's extensive knowledge of these butterflies and use a number of his photographs. At his home near Kuranda he keenly engages in butterfly experiments especially with the Papilios producing interesting hybrids of P. aegeus x P. fuscus x P. ambrax etc. His triumph comes in 1985-1986 when after several failed attempts he finally succeeds in crossbreeding O. victoriae x urvillianus and produces for the second time allottei and the wonderful golden allottei, victoriae x euphorion.
The golden O. allottei, the hybrid victoriae x euphorion. Photograph Ray Staatman. Courtsey of Jan Pasternak.
In 2003 Bernard D' Abrera published his new edition of his Birdwing Butterfies of the World and in this work, the author is very critical of Raymond Straatman, who having passed away in 1987 was unable to counter these accusations and it was left to Jan Pasternak to come to his defense in his CD ROM A Naturalist in Birdwing Paradise. The D' Abrera and Straatman intrigues are legendary among lepidopterists and there was a great rivalry between the two. D' Abrera having produced lavish volumes on lepidoptera and Straatman with his unrivaled field knowledge of butterflies.
Perhaps the best known of these intrigues are the events in 1973 on Kokoda Trail at the Goldie River near Straatman's home at Sogeri. Ray had taken D' Abrera to photograph the O. goliath larvae, where they arrived late. D' Abrera, who would not use flashlight, complained of poor light conditions and wanted to move the larvae into a more open space to take his photographs. This Ray would not allow because he did not wish to disturb the larvae. Furious and returning the next day on his own, D' Abrera says that he found the larvae gone and the hostplant savagely cut down. Straatman gave Jan Pasternak his version of these events. Ray told Jan that the O. goliath larvae had devoured and then destroyed the Aristolochia vines. Ray had them moved early to a new location and to stop any interference of them by D' Abrera. In spite of D' Abrera opinion of Raymond Straatman he was a highly respected lepidopterist who was very popular with many people.
Ray Straatman with Dr Takashi Ohya, Japan 1983.
Below. Images taken by Ray Straatman. Copyright California Academy of Sciences.
O. chimaera in the Bismarck Range, PNG. 1973.
Pupa of Ornithoptera chimaera.
O. goliath Kokoda, PNG.
O. goliath larva.
O. alexandrae larva.
Papilio toboroi larvae, Bougainville.
Delias sagessa, PNG.
Troides vandepolli at Brastagi, North Sumatra 1983.
Jan Pasternak provided much of the information for this article and permission to use his Ray Straatman photographs. I would also like to thank the California Academy of Sciences for permission to use the Ray Straatman images.
Ray Straatman the Birdwing Guru.
In New Guinea during the 1960s and 1970s a number of talented lepidopterists were all busy in the field studying the life histories of the birdwing butterflies. Richard Carver, Ray Straatman, Harry Borch and Jan Pasternak all greatly contributed to our knowledge of these magnificent insects. Foremost among these lepidopterists was Raymond Straatman who was regarded by many as a birdwing guru. Ray Straatman arrived in Indonesia in the late 1940s and settled in Sumatra where he worked for a Dutch company on their rubber and copra estate. In the 1950s he was the first to discover the early stages of Trogonoptera brookiana and Atrophaneura hageni and produced detailed drawings and descriptions of them. An interesting paper was written by Straatman in 1955, Notes on the methods of collecting Indo-Australian Lepidoptera and can be read at the link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1950s/1955/1955-9(2-3)74-Straatman.pdf
The political situation in Indonesia under Sukarno makes it very difficult for the Dutch, and Ray migrates to Australia in 1959. In 1960 he leaves for Papua New Guinea where he gets a job as a planter on a rubber estate near the Veimauri River. Between the years 1965-1967 Ray was working for the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, travelling extensively throughout PNG and the Solomons collecting specimens for this museum (butterflies, beetles, Diptera, Hymenoptera etc). In 1966 he travels to Bougainville and the Solomons for the Bishop Museum and here he records the early stages of Ornithoptera victoriae and Ornithoptera priamus urvillianus, in 1969 his paper is published Notes on the Biology and Hostplant Associations of Ornithoptera priamus urvilleanus and of Ornithoptera Victoriae (Papilionidae). Link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1960s/1969/1969-23(2)69-Straatman.pdf
In the Solomons Ray Straatman discovers a new subspecies of O.victoriae which Dr Fernard Schmid named epiphanes in 1970. During 1967 Ray gets a job on a rubber estate in Milne Bay Province in Eastern Papua and here he makes many observations of the local population of O. meridionalis. In 1969 Ray Straatman rented a small house at Sogeri on the high plateau some 20km north of Port Moresby. From now on he becomes a professional field lepidopterist and butterfly hunter and works on his own. He is hired by the PNG government in 1970 for a special project to conduct a land survey of the distribution of O. alexandrae in the Popondetta region. In 1971 he produces a fine paper The Life History of Ornithoptera alexandrae Rothschild. Link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1970s/1971/1971-25(1)58-Straatman.pdf
During 1971 Jan Pasternak a friend of Raymond Straatman explored the Omeri Mountains and after some heroic efforts, he was the first to discover the early stages of O. chimaera. A year later Jan Pasternak found a much higher concentration of O. chimaera at Bundi in the Bismarck Mountains. At Bundi Jan Pasternak also found the larva on a then unidentified Aristolochia vine which produced a female of O. goliath. Later Ray Straatman would visit Bundi and study and photograph the early stages of O. chimaera and those of O. goliath near his home at Sogeri. In 1975 Ray and F. Schmid publish the paper Notes on the biology of Ornithoptera Goliath and O. Chimaera (Papilionidae). Link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1970s/1975/1975-29(2)85-Straatman.pdf
Ray was also interested in breeding other Papilionidae and in 1975 produces the paper Notes on the Biologies of P. laglaizei and P. toboroi. Link below.
images.peabody.yale.edu/lepsoc/jls/1970s/1975/1975-29(3)180-Straatman.pdf
In 1976 Ray succeeds for the first time in crossbreeding O. victoriae with O. priamus urvillianus and thus proves that Ornithoptera allottei is not a species but a hybrid. During 1978 someone in the PNG Fishery and Wildlife Department gathers evidence and charges Ray with the illegal catching and dealing with protected birdwings. He is found guilty and ordered to leave his beloved Papua. Ray settles in Cairns, Queensland and will later build a house at a rainforest property at Freedom county 5 km west of Kuranda in the hilly country 20 km west of Cairns. He is still very active and travels frequently almost every year to Indonesia including West New Guinea where among other place he visits the Arfak Mountains and the lovely Paniai Lakes region in the Central mountain range. He also visits Europe and the U.S. where he is hosted by his many lepidopterist friends. In 1981 he travels with Jan Pasternak to visit Jan Haugum in Leiden in the Netherlands. In his Monograph of the Birdwing Butterflies, Jan Haugum would make much use of Ray Straatman's extensive knowledge of these butterflies and use a number of his photographs. At his home near Kuranda he keenly engages in butterfly experiments especially with the Papilios producing interesting hybrids of P. aegeus x P. fuscus x P. ambrax etc. His triumph comes in 1985-1986 when after several failed attempts he finally succeeds in crossbreeding O. victoriae x urvillianus and produces for the second time allottei and the wonderful golden allottei, victoriae x euphorion.
The golden O. allottei, the hybrid victoriae x euphorion. Photograph Ray Staatman. Courtsey of Jan Pasternak.
In 2003 Bernard D' Abrera published his new edition of his Birdwing Butterfies of the World and in this work, the author is very critical of Raymond Straatman, who having passed away in 1987 was unable to counter these accusations and it was left to Jan Pasternak to come to his defense in his CD ROM A Naturalist in Birdwing Paradise. The D' Abrera and Straatman intrigues are legendary among lepidopterists and there was a great rivalry between the two. D' Abrera having produced lavish volumes on lepidoptera and Straatman with his unrivaled field knowledge of butterflies.
Perhaps the best known of these intrigues are the events in 1973 on Kokoda Trail at the Goldie River near Straatman's home at Sogeri. Ray had taken D' Abrera to photograph the O. goliath larvae, where they arrived late. D' Abrera, who would not use flashlight, complained of poor light conditions and wanted to move the larvae into a more open space to take his photographs. This Ray would not allow because he did not wish to disturb the larvae. Furious and returning the next day on his own, D' Abrera says that he found the larvae gone and the hostplant savagely cut down. Straatman gave Jan Pasternak his version of these events. Ray told Jan that the O. goliath larvae had devoured and then destroyed the Aristolochia vines. Ray had them moved early to a new location and to stop any interference of them by D' Abrera. In spite of D' Abrera opinion of Raymond Straatman he was a highly respected lepidopterist who was very popular with many people.
Ray Straatman with Dr Takashi Ohya, Japan 1983.
Below. Images taken by Ray Straatman. Copyright California Academy of Sciences.
O. chimaera in the Bismarck Range, PNG. 1973.
Pupa of Ornithoptera chimaera.
O. goliath Kokoda, PNG.
O. goliath larva.
O. alexandrae larva.
Papilio toboroi larvae, Bougainville.
Delias sagessa, PNG.
Troides vandepolli at Brastagi, North Sumatra 1983.
Jan Pasternak provided much of the information for this article and permission to use his Ray Straatman photographs. I would also like to thank the California Academy of Sciences for permission to use the Ray Straatman images.
and welcome to the forum. 