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Post by jshuey on Feb 21, 2020 16:14:46 GMT
A few of us have been discussing this man and his "works" for a while now. The reviews say it all. Come on man! Share some of those reviews! john
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Post by jshuey on Jan 13, 2020 19:56:39 GMT
John, flying through Brazil might be risky but it is also risky flying through US!! Yea I know in Brazil one can end up in not so nice jail ! I almost lost all my specimens going back from Guyana at Miami’s airport. I had a really difficult time with customs to convince them that I only transfer in Miami and in Canada we don’t need any forms at the border. Entering the US with dead insects and appropriate permits is not at all risky - I've done it scores of times. If you had difficulty - I'd guess that you did not contact customs in advance and/or your paperwork / documentation was not intuitive (note that even if you are passing through to Canada, Miami is still in the United States). FWS recommends that you share as much info as possible with FWS in advance of bringing wildlife into the US. Get a name at FWS in Miami and email all your paperwork to them before you hit the airport. Make sure you have extra copies of that paperwork in hand. Have a copy of the rules governing insect collection and export from the country in question in hand. That's what I do, and it takes perhaps a good 5 minutes extra to clear customs - mostly because they still "look at the bugs" and then run my baggage through the extra contraband x-ray machine in the USDA line (just in case I also have an undocumented papaya hidden away). But it does take some advance work upfront of the trip - perhaps an hour or so extra beyond your host county paperwork. But a few years back (2013 I think) even with Brazilian collecting and export permits (and a letter from my sponsors at the University), I had a hard time leaving Brasilia with dead bugs. I can imagine what would happen with bugs from Guiana, a permit written in French, and me speaking spanglish as my best approximation of Portuguese. Like I said - seems risky - nothing more / nothing less. john
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Post by jshuey on Jan 13, 2020 14:32:49 GMT
About the flight to Guyane, would be cheaper to fly from Miami to Belem (Brazil) and from there a second plane to Cayenne. Same, would be cheaper flying from Miami to Martinique or Guadeloupe, then to Cayenne. At least, I presume. Prices are high (but not from Paris), not because "a lack of competition" (two companies between France and Guyane) but more because a lack of travellers. From Paris, prices (economy class, go and back) are more or less as follow : - Air France : 600 euros - Air Caraïbes : 500 euros Flying through Brazil with a bunch of dead bugs sounds risky at best.... John
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Post by jshuey on Jan 12, 2020 17:00:02 GMT
Quick Question. How do people from the US get to the country? I looked a few years ago, and it not simple.
John
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Post by jshuey on Jan 8, 2020 14:48:05 GMT
Are they Pieridae? If so, they are water spots, which can happen in both nature and during relaxing...
john
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Post by jshuey on Jan 5, 2020 16:22:51 GMT
Last year I was desperately trying to find Phanaeus vindex on a sunny and windy day. Being the newbie that I was (still am to an extent), I had no concept of what their dung preferences were, and just walked around my family’s land breaking open dry-ish cow dung with a stick to see if they contained any Phanaeus vindex. After breaking open the last pile of cow dung that I could find, I walked away with no dung beetle until I heard loud buzzing. I turned around and saw a hovering glint of green and copper. I instantly recognized the Phanaeus vindex and snatched it. While I was admiring the lustrous beetle crawling on my hand, another Phanaeus vindex came, then another. I finally figured out the way of the Phanaeus vindex, and I can now get a hundred of them without a problem if I wanted to. I’m interested to learn more about your technique! Look at this thread to see the easy way to collect Phanaeus. insectnet.proboards.com/thread/6198/dung-beetle-trapsJohn
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Post by jshuey on Dec 24, 2019 14:58:50 GMT
My take is that bar-codes really work for differentiating evolutionary lineages. The Karner Blue example is a great case study, where hybridization indicates that the two subspecies involved have not quite separated yet (they may never separate or in a few hundred thousand years - you may see complete divergence). Who knows? But right now, the subspecies exchange mRNA regularly enough to blur the distinctiveness of each lineage. Bar-codes are simply a tool, to be used just like morphology. In the case of skippers from Belize, they seem really powerful for differentiating cryptic species. I use Bar-codes regularly and I find them very useful for this work. Here is the original reference for this type question - the now famous "10 species in one" paper - www.pnas.org/content/101/41/14812. In this case, species which can not be distinguished morphologically, have very distinct bar-codes (and different hostplants and larval morphology as well). The same research group threw out a cautionary tale where really distinct species hardly differed in "short bar-code" readings at - biodiversitygenomics.net/site/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2007%20-%20Burns%20-%20DNA%20Barcodes%20of%20closely%20related%20spcies%20of%20skipper%20butterflies.pdf. John
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Post by jshuey on Dec 9, 2019 17:03:15 GMT
Without looking to see if this is actually true or not, I'd suggest that you look at the figures of genitalia Comstock provided. He had a pretty conservative view of species - typically support by genitalia.
john
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Post by jshuey on Nov 30, 2019 14:37:23 GMT
Micheal,
That binding cost a couple Euros.....
j
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Post by jshuey on Oct 25, 2019 13:07:52 GMT
GPS coordinates could be very helpful if in 100 years the country’s name or cities names would change which in Africa did in past quite often. You could not include seconds in GPS , so the location will be know in larger area. I agree with this sentiment. But an abbreviated set of coordinates still maps to a precise dot in a computer. I usually add the abbreviation "approx-" to such labels as in: Peru, Dept Cusco El Mirador, Valle Cosñipata, 1720 m approx.-13°04´S, 71°33´W 23-27 June 2019, montane forest Juan Ramìrez Hernandez, coll.
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Post by jshuey on Jun 12, 2019 17:00:40 GMT
Now I'm pretty sure that is a Fountainea and very look alike Fountainea nobilis. Toughts? Agreed on the Fountainea part - but I would go with Fountainea eurypyle - a common species throughout much of Central America and likely to be in an export mix of pupae to butterfly houses. j
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Post by jshuey on Jun 3, 2019 13:46:10 GMT
That is the trade-off you get into with a large hoop. It puts lots of stain of the handle if you swing it hard. I would suggest using a very open weave net to reduce "drag" as you swing the net. And if the net ring is stiff, it can really stress the handle as well when your hit limbs during a swing.
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Post by jshuey on May 9, 2019 12:59:16 GMT
I see huge legal issues involved here. In the US, you can't even move live insects across state lines without a permit - let alone trade with Australia. John As far as I am aware, dung beetles are not regulated along with a good majority of other living insects. Reproductive Hymenopterans, Lepidoptera, and a few other things I can't think of at the moment are regulated. Even with leps, you can purchase live without permits as long as they are allowed by the USDA to be shipped to your state. Some of the US butterfly farms outline this when you visit their page. Roaches are another thing that a few states regulate, FL being one of them. Now, talking about exporting out of the US, that is illegal and as far as I am aware nearly impossible with the blanket banning of the live invert hobby in the US. You need to have special connections to even be considered for shipping permits. I'm reasonably sure that it requires an APHIS permit to legally move any species of insect across state lines - go here to create an account to review requirements. - www.eauth.usda.gov/MainPages/eauthWhatIsAccount.aspx. I can't remember if permits are free or not (all I do is renew mine every couple of years). The application asks you to document that the insects in question won't create economic damage if they escape. It's all about - could the species in question become a pest species if you move it. Here in Indiana, you also need permission (aka another permit) from our Department of Entomology as well - which will ask lots of questions about containment facilities. Certain butterflies used in the "live butterfly release" trade are exempt. By and large, people trading ova of silk moths here in the US are in violation of these regulations. John
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Post by jshuey on May 4, 2019 17:07:01 GMT
I have always have some papered material that I'm trying to work through. The "problem" out here is that there's just so many species, and so many of them a very similar and very difficult to tell apart on the wing. I have to remind myself to, basically, try and catch everything I see because, not infrequently, something I assume to be a common species on closer inspection turns out to be a new personal find. Just today I was looking at a rather beat up Bicyclus specimen I have which turned out to be B. rhacotis, a species not previously known from this far east. Or, as another example, a friend had a lot of papered material from N. Kivu, so he very graciously decided to give me a small box of the stuff. Among that material was Bicyclus subtilisurae Brattstrom, 2015, which was known from only 23 specimens at the time of description. Indeed, when working in regions with many look alike species, I've always collected a sort series or everything potentially confusing for later analysis at every place I see them. I've turned up some amazing discoveries in neotropical skippers that way. The most recent, being a couple of Urbanus that I thought we U. belli, but were in fact, recently described species that are impossible to tell apart in the field. Plus, I've used my papered stock as trading material over the years to obtain bugs I'll never have a chance to collect myself. John
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Post by jshuey on May 4, 2019 16:59:19 GMT
Most of these are for beetles and flies, using (I assume) some sort or attractant (like alcohol) to lure insects in, and then preserving them in fluid. I do like the hanging flight intercept design - I've never seen that arrangement before!
John
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