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Post by nomad on Mar 26, 2016 11:57:47 GMT
An illustrated list of the Genus Delias Hubner of the World by Yagishita, Nakano and Morita published in two volumes in 1993 is still today an indispensable work on these butterflies, being the only modern book available. It is true that being published some 23 years ago, some of nomenclature is out of date and therefore a few species and those that have recently been described are missing from this work. The big downside is that apart from the localities which are in English the text is entirely in Japanese. The first volume in hardback comprises the plates and the second in paperback the text with the species distribution maps. Where this work really comes into its own is the 1600 life size full colour specimens images which are a glory to behold, being of a high quality and a reference work at your finger tips without the need to press any buttons. Only a few of those figures from the British Museum collections are sub-standard where the photograph quality is poor. There are around 37 full colour Delias habitat images and a few, around 7 photos of the living butterflies. A must for Delias enthusiasts. This book can be ordered here www.pemberleybooks.com/product/an-illustrated-list-of-the-genus-delias-hbner-of-the-world/20150/
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Post by Paul K on Mar 26, 2016 12:53:01 GMT
I think instead of buying that book just for a pictures (unless one can read Japanese) better use wonderful website: Delias of the world and support its creators Paul
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Post by deliasfanatic on Mar 26, 2016 13:19:32 GMT
Actually, using both is the ideal solution.
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Post by nomad on Mar 26, 2016 14:46:41 GMT
I think instead of buying that book just for a pictures (unless one can read Japanese) better use wonderful website: Delias of the world and support its creators Paul Indeed both are are very useful I believe the creator of the Delias website was a guy called Les Day, who I do not know much about and that our Admin Olivier is now running the website.
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Post by nomad on Mar 26, 2016 14:51:12 GMT
I think instead of buying that book just for a pictures (unless one can read Japanese) better use wonderful website: Delias of the world and support its creators Paul Well for identification, the book is superb using those high quality images. As for the text in Japanese, well what is really known about Delias, mostly just the localities which are in English in this book. Their life histories are mostly unknown.
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Post by nomad on Mar 26, 2016 14:55:31 GMT
A good thing about the website which is a great Online resource, is that it can be updated easily, but there is still much work to be done, Delias are always being revised. I guess the best thing about the book is its good for ID and a superb photographers work of art. I keep thinking of more things to add hence the flurry of posts.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Mar 26, 2016 15:00:29 GMT
Les Day did indeed create the website. He is British and moved to live in Koh Samui, S Thailand some years ago. I met him a few years ago when he came to visit Chiang Mai. Adam.
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Post by Paul K on Mar 26, 2016 15:23:58 GMT
Les Day did indeed create the website. He is British and moved to live in Koh Samui, S Thailand some years ago. I met him a few years ago when he came to visit Chiang Mai. Adam. I will be spending few months next winter on Koh Samui. I should perhaps meet Les one day. He was interested about my research work on Koh Tao when I emailed him few times about Koh Samui fauna. Paul
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Post by wollastoni on Mar 26, 2016 18:07:08 GMT
Yes you should meet Les, he doesn't collect anymore but I am sure he will be able to help you.
Peter > a splendid book that I should buy one day !
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Post by trehopr1 on Mar 26, 2016 18:46:59 GMT
I have always had a "soft spot" in my heart for a good well illustrated book on insects. And while I mostly prefer books on Lepidoptera I would happily snap up a fine copy on beetles or otherwise. Really superb examples (as this one appears to be) are a beautiful and just tribute to someone's passion. They are also a tangible resource of reference and a delight to own and have at one's fingertips! Admittedly, references like this can sometimes be pricey however, if the group it concerns is also your passion than it can easily be as meaningful as specimen ownership. All I ever really need to know is the specimens country of origin anyway. It's not as though I'll ever get to go there and collect anything myself. Books will always be with us. Websites CAN be wonderful, flexible, and informative in the right hands. However, they too can become outdated without maintenance. But, more concerning to me is our apparent reliance and comfort zone for them. As I've said before: when the net goes black it may never come back...
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Post by Paul K on Mar 27, 2016 3:44:21 GMT
Yes you should meet Les, he doesn't collect anymore but I am sure he will be able to help you. Peter > a splendid book that I should buy one day ! Is Les Day still retaining his collection or he passed it to some institution ? I would love to see it.
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Post by wollastoni on Mar 27, 2016 15:49:09 GMT
Not sure he moved it to Thailand.
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Post by nomad on Mar 28, 2016 8:40:49 GMT
I expect starting a website on Delias, Les Day must have had a good Delias collection. I believed he was helped a great deal by Clive Pratt who supplied many images for the website. It seems that Les Day visited the Exeter Museum to photograph a number of rarities that were collected by Eichhorn which the Museum has. As far as I can tell, he did not get access to the BMNH collections. What happened, did he just lose interest, as he seems not to post anything about Delias anymore. Perhaps like many people do, he found new interests. Perhaps he sold his collection when he left Blighty?
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Post by wollastoni on Oct 3, 2016 12:27:15 GMT
I have found that books on Abebooks at good price, and I am very happy with it ! Even if in Japanese, a lot of useful information : many rare specimens with detailed collecting data in English. And some unique specimens and abs worth seeing for all Delias collectors. As the book was written in the 90ies, many new species and subspecies are lacking in this book and the taxonomy has been improved since then.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Oct 3, 2016 13:41:41 GMT
Beware of some errors too; Henk van Mastrigt detailed the New Guinea area problems in one of his publications.
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