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Post by cabintom on Sept 15, 2016 3:37:06 GMT
Yeah... antennae and legs... sometimes I'll try to reattach an antenna (if it's an otherwise really nice/rarer specimen), but not legs. I figure, I'll just catch a better specimen at some point, so why bother?
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Post by Paul K on Sept 15, 2016 4:10:59 GMT
Well, these would be pretty sturdy legs compared to most butterflies Yep, they're sturdy legs for a butterfly, and they're large and easy to reattach correctly. I just didn't want to be the guy who busted a leg or even a tarsus off this specimen. I excersized extreme care. The last time I had seen pair of O. alexandrae was in 1964 at Janson and Son's London shop. These were the first I've handled. I don't blame you. My hands would shake so bad that after examination such beauty there would be a pin and the dust under. PS. I still have not see O.alexandrae in reality .
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jedgar
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Post by jedgar on Sept 15, 2016 13:11:26 GMT
Yep, they're sturdy legs for a butterfly, and they're large and easy to reattach correctly. I just didn't want to be the guy who busted a leg or even a tarsus off this specimen. I excersized extreme care. The last time I had seen pair of O. alexandrae was in 1964 at Janson and Son's London shop. These were the first I've handled. I don't blame you. My hands would shake so bad that after examination such beauty there would be a pin and the dust under. PS. I still have not see O.alexandrae in reality . The case with the O. alexandrae was one that took me a good bit longer than usual to work on since I had to move each specimen to another case and admittedly I was a tad nervous about handling them. I had to move them because the case was stained and not at all suitable for such beauties. Here's a photo of the old case with the specimens in it. The new case looks great.
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jedgar
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Post by jedgar on Sept 15, 2016 13:40:42 GMT
"Yes, I would like to see Mr May at work, " Here's a photo of Mr. May's hands as he was preparing an Orthoptera specimen. For days this week I've been working on case after case full of Orthoptera and some full of Phasmida. All the specimens Mr. May collected are stuffed.
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Post by trehopr1 on Sept 16, 2016 8:38:48 GMT
Could you see if the male O. chimaera also bears janson's name on it. It too is spread like the male O. alexandrae. Might we have another possible Meek specimen present here?
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jedgar
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Post by jedgar on Sept 16, 2016 13:46:27 GMT
Could you see if the male O. chimaera also bears janson's name on it. It too is spread like the male O. alexandrae. Might we have another possible Meek specimen present here? I will be checking all Birdwings as soon as possible for tags from Janson and sons and any other pertinent info that may be under the specimens. Here's another photo of the O. chimaera pair, but the data I've placed on the photo was taken from the cardboard pinned by the specimen so take it with a grain of salt.
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jedgar
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Post by jedgar on Sept 16, 2016 13:52:39 GMT
Could you see if the male O. chimaera also bears janson's name on it. It too is spread like the male O. alexandrae. Might we have another possible Meek specimen present here? One of the museum's O. paradisea is mounted in a similar fashion. Again the data on my photo was taken from the tag pinned by the specimen. I will let you know what I find out.
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Post by nomad on Sept 16, 2016 14:01:32 GMT
The Ornithoptera chimaera are probably Meeks. He also collected the nominate paradisea but many of the old collectors set the legs up. There is a couple of the nominate paradisea at Oxford set like yours from NE New Guinea and they were probably captured by German collectors. I have started to source the Oxford Ornithoptera, some really great old stuff there and some strange data that I am investigating, dong a bit of Sherlock Holmes. I will do a thread on them when I have studied the data in detail. The nominate paradisea is as rare as O. alexandrae, like that butterfly in danger of extinction.
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Post by wollastoni on Sept 16, 2016 14:10:59 GMT
As there are some Meeks Ornithoptera in this collection, are there any Delias from New Guinea too ?
Some Delias caught by Meek are world rarities !
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jedgar
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Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jedgar on Sept 16, 2016 14:24:57 GMT
As there are some Meeks Ornithoptera in this collection, are there any Delias from New Guinea too ? Some Delias caught by Meek are world rarities ! Thanks for the heads up. I will be checking. There are many, many cases with Delias specimens. I will post what I find out.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Sept 16, 2016 14:28:40 GMT
That would be very interesting. Several of us here are Delias fanatics
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Post by wollastoni on Sept 16, 2016 16:02:24 GMT
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Post by mothman27 on Sept 16, 2016 20:19:20 GMT
Hi there, As you know I am fairly new to insect collecting. I figure with all of the delias experts here, if anyone has extra specimens I am looking into possibly collecting delias. I have never really had an interest in the past, probably because no species live in the US. As of now I have 0 delias. Thanks, Tim
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jedgar
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Post by jedgar on Sept 17, 2016 20:32:32 GMT
My sincere apologies for posting photos that cost you hosting fees. I have some new ones to post and will do all I can to do so correctly. Jim
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jedgar
Junior Aurelian
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Post by jedgar on Sept 17, 2016 20:58:47 GMT
Here's my way of saying "Thanks" to the forum members for their help and useful criticisms. A 1MB photo, without clutter, I took with my Nikon of the Ornithoptera alexandrae in the May Natural History Museum. This is also a test to see if I can properly attach a photo. I took a lot of photos yesterday and will post them once I get them sized in photoshop. I checked all tags and took photos of them as well. I will be interested to hear what other forum members have to say about them.
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