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Post by cabintom on May 21, 2016 18:05:11 GMT
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Post by cabintom on May 21, 2016 18:07:07 GMT
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Post by cabintom on May 21, 2016 18:10:59 GMT
Nymphalidae ( Full resolution) I was quite happy to find Bicyclus suffusa ituriensis. It's endemic to this high altitude area of the escarpment, and, I believe, quite rare in collection.
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Post by cabintom on May 21, 2016 18:13:44 GMT
Pieridae ( Full Resolution) My first time catching E. mandarinula. Only found 2 specimens though.
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Post by cabintom on May 21, 2016 18:17:04 GMT
Papilionidae ( Full Resolution) Does anyone else have P. jacksoni hecqui in collection? This is another endemic species I'm told has been rarely collected.
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Post by mcheki on May 21, 2016 18:56:10 GMT
YOUR QUOTE -- Does anyone else have P. jacksoni hecqui in collection? This is another endemic species I'm told has been rarely collected.
No such luck, I am sorry to say. Good species to have found, and a female as well
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Post by deliasfanatic on May 21, 2016 19:39:45 GMT
Very scarce indeed - I'm missing the subspecies in both sexes. Well done!
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Post by Adam Cotton on May 21, 2016 20:09:45 GMT
So you caught nireus and lyaeus at the same place, then? Could one of them be sosia, or are the valves the same shape?
Adam.
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Post by cabintom on May 22, 2016 4:55:00 GMT
So you caught nireus and lyaeus at the same place, then? Could one of them be sosia, or are the valves the same shape? The larger one is not at all like sosia (which I've only ever found in proper forest), and yes, both have pointed valves. This is one of the mysteries I'm dealing with at the moment. Perhaps the smaller specimen also belongs to the nominate ssp., but it's got (as far as I'm aware) all of the key features of lyaeus, and is unlike (relatively speaking) any of the nominate specimens I've caught elsewhere.
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Post by deliasfanatic on May 22, 2016 5:30:39 GMT
P. nireus is particularly variable in Uganda; a series shows every step of blending with pseudonireus. I haven't seen others from your area, Tom, but it may be a blend zone between nominate and lyaeus. Your upper specimen has quite narrow bands for n. nireus, especially on the hindwing, although it looks to be at the limit of narrowness for the nominate.
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Post by cabintom on May 22, 2016 10:01:35 GMT
Your upper specimen has quite narrow bands for n. nireus, especially on the hindwing, although it looks to be at the limit of narrowness for the nominate. I quite agree. I don't have any other nominate with quite so narrow bands, but a few are close. The whole region seems to be blend zone for several species/subspecies, so what you suggest is likely. Next time I'm in Rethy I'll need to collect more of these and see if I can find more transitional examples.
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Post by cabintom on Jun 17, 2016 15:45:41 GMT
Here's a few Poritiinae, because non-blue Lycaenidae are fun. All three are from the same plantation on the outskirts of the city. Pentila tachyroides isiro Berger, 1981 - 8/XI/2015 Beni, Nord Kivu, DRC (0°31'N, 29°26'E) 1090m Telipna aurivillii aurivillii Rebel, 1914 - 8/XI/2015 Beni, Nord Kivu, DRC (0°31'N, 29°26'E) 1090m Telipna consanguinea consanguinea Rebel, 1914 - 25/X/2015 Beni, Nord Kivu, DRC (0°31'N, 29°26'E) 1090m
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Post by wollastoni on Jun 17, 2016 16:01:29 GMT
Nice mimics of unpalatable species : first one seems to mimic Mylothris, third one an Acraeidae.
Thanks for sharing them with us !
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Post by cabintom on Jun 17, 2016 16:22:03 GMT
Yup. 2nd one mimics a number of Acraeidae as well (Telchinia oberthueri, and to a lesser extent, male Telchinia alciope/aurivillii & T. viviana)
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Post by cabintom on Jun 19, 2016 16:05:46 GMT
It must be relatively dry where you stay in Africa . Do you know what is the humidity there? In Koh Tao in the house we stay ( no air con ) it is between 65-92% on average about 75-80%. I have try one micro moth to mount but it looks like it is not fully dry at all. Forget to have collection here without air condition and dehumidifiers. Paul Responding to this again after another 6 months of closer observation. First, being in the savanna it is a lot drier here than in the forest. Most leps are fine once I pull them off the setting boards and don't droop (or if they do, only very slightly). I've started leaving them on the boards for a lot longer than I used to, (usually a couple of weeks), but this is mostly because I've been a lot busier with other aspects of life, and have more room to store boards of drying material. I've also been doing a lot of organizing of my specimens (I'm having actual storage boxes made), and the moving around of specimens (instead of them staying sealed up) has been negatively affecting things more than anything else. I now avoid organizing/storing specimens on especially humid days. The heaviest impact has been on my Lycaenids... I'll likely need to reset close to 50% of them so that I can get better quality photos of them. For the rest of the collection, I'd say 2/3 look like they did when they came off the spreading boards. It's strange, I have a few specimens that I've reset a couple of times and they insist on drooping or folding up slightly no matter what I do. I keep them with other specimens which show no issues... so I'm thinking some specimens are just going to be affected worse than others.
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