homard
New Aurelian
Posts: 19
Country: Russia
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Post by homard on May 22, 2015 20:29:55 GMT
Thanks colleagues for compliments and appreciation of my modest collection, it is only a small part of my Arctiidae and in general not the most 'showy' part of it. I only wanted to share the day-flying Arctiids, which I collected personally and know for sure they are day-flyers
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Post by nomad on May 24, 2015 15:33:46 GMT
The local and tiny day-flying Small Yellow Underwing Panemeria tenebrata of the Noctuidae family, feeding at Ramsons. Photographed in Limestone grassland on the Cotswold Hills yesterday.
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Post by nomad on May 24, 2015 17:03:36 GMT
The day-flying Drab Looper Minoa murinata of the Geometridae family, resting near the larvae foodplant Wood Spruge Euphorbia amygdaloides. Surrey England May 2015.
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mantisboy
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 81
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by mantisboy on May 24, 2015 21:49:56 GMT
Here are my favorite day flying moths I have collected, Hemileuca nevadensis. Attachments:
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Post by Paul K on May 24, 2015 22:50:56 GMT
One of the most beautiful day-flying moths. I have seen many of them in Amazon rain forest of French Guiana. Urania leilus
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Post by deliasfanatic on May 24, 2015 23:04:02 GMT
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Post by trehopr1 on May 25, 2015 2:29:11 GMT
WOW, deliasfanatic that abberant is absolutely breathtaking...... Never have I seen anything like that among leilus. But, have seen a couple of things something like that in madagascariensis. Have you ever seen any others like that since you acquired your specimen?
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Post by deliasfanatic on May 25, 2015 2:38:49 GMT
It's the only one I've seen personally, but a friend has mentioned seeing less-extreme aberrations. I've seen a lot of similar-looking madagascariensis, but they've been bred with the intent of creating aberrations, whereas this leilus is wild-caught.
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Post by trehopr1 on May 25, 2015 3:22:53 GMT
The fact that your specimen is wild-caught makes it all that more extraordinary ! ! Absolutely stunning and I am sure a great pride to have in your collection.
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Post by trehopr1 on May 25, 2015 3:36:04 GMT
As a matter of fact I have always long considered wild-caught abberations the very best and certainly THE most special of all. Bred abberations and hybrids have their place and always garner attention and interest. But, somehow when the hand of man is able to "control" the relative outcome of something through experimentation the value and uniqueness about them seems "watered down".
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Post by deliasfanatic on May 25, 2015 4:17:04 GMT
I typically have a lower opinion of bred specimens compared to wild-caught, but particularly if there is "monkey business" being done to artifically alter the outcome. Artificial hybrids can have scientific interest, but really they're curios and I think it's ridiculous to pay high prices for something that can be created at will. Same with "man-made" aberrations, freaks, etc. Worst of all are created hybrids between taxa that don't occur together in nature if it's being done simply to get "novelties" or "new" items for sale - the recent spate of Heliconius hybrids (or, as I call them, "Frankenconius") being the perfect example of this.
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Post by Paul K on May 25, 2015 13:10:43 GMT
Some of the South American day fliers ( French Guiana )
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Post by nomad on May 25, 2015 18:36:22 GMT
I also believe that man made aberrations fall far short of wild caught ones. It is also a lucky collector who has a rare ab turn up in his breeding cages . Although there are many aberrations in collections, they are rarer than many believe. You can search though large colonies of butterflies all day and the next day and just find normal specimens. I believe those lucky to have wild caught aberrations, which includes those obtained from wild collected larvae, are very pleased to have them. Because these abs are so rare, industrious dealer breeders have turned to chemicals and cold storage to produce the darker varieties. Even the latter in my opinion, falls far short of the old entomological breeders who used selective means, often over many years to obtain nice abs.
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Post by nomad on May 29, 2015 10:17:55 GMT
The day-flying Burnets are among my favourite moths. Their bright colours bring back boyhood memories of sunny days spents on Chalk Downs and in meadows. The other day, I photographed two similar looking British endemic subspecies in the same locality, dry chalk downs. Both are hard to distinguish in the field. Zygaena trifolii is slightly smaller than Z. lonicerae and the latter rarely has confluent spots. Zygaena lonicerae ssp latomarginata. Zygaena trifolii ssp palastrella.
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Post by nomad on Jun 2, 2015 11:50:46 GMT
I enjoy seeing the metallic bronze-green Forester Moths Adscita geryon on the limestone hills and chalk Downs. These images were taken a few days ago on the Cotswold Hills. Although a local moth, it can be common where it occurs. The small metallic leaf beetle joining the moth on the hawk-bit flower has the impressive name of Cryptocephalus hypochaeridis. Thanks to Amanda the beetle expert at the BMNH website Nature Plus for the ID on the beetle.
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