Bennett's butterflies and moths of Sumatra
Jan 17, 2017 19:43:23 GMT
deliasfanatic, mygos, and 4 more like this
Post by nomad on Jan 17, 2017 19:43:23 GMT
Bennett's butterflies and moths of Sumatra.
It is always nice to view museum collections, where everything is taxonomically arranged for the visiting specialist. However, it is just a pleasing to see a personal collection retained in their own cabinet, especially if the contents are entirely self caught. I was able to view such a cabinet that contained a collection of butterflies and larger moths from one location in Sumatra. Because we all like to view specimens here, both common and rare, I add them from time to time.
The collection was made by the late Sydney James Bennett and his wife between 1926 and 1936 at Lebong Tandai, (Benkoelen) Bengkulu, in south-west Sumatra. All the specimens shown here come from that locality. Little is known about Mr Bennett, except he was working as a mining engineer for the Dutch gold mine in that remote part of Sumatra. They later lived at Carbis Bay in Cornwall.
There is a reference to Bennett in Talbot's monograph on the Delias butterflies, Part 6, p 328-329, under the species Delias aglaia triglites Talbot, 1828, which is now known as Delias pasithoe triglites. Bennett had sent three males of this subspecies to the British Museum.
Here I will show some of Bennett specimens from most families. Please fill free to add any comments, such as if there are any rarities and help in their identification. The collection was sent to England in a single cabinet and saw rough handling, a number of specimen had antennae broken and few wings damaged. The Bennett's used cedar oil as a preventive, a few pests got in, but did little damage and the cabinet drawers have now been frozen. How those drawers still smell, it certainly cleared my head and made me dizzy for a moment or two. There is a little mold on a very few specimens, mostly on the antennae.
As Bennett and his wife were collecting for themselves, everything is far from perfect. These butterflies and moths were self-collected before anyone had heard of A1 specimens. I do expect, if you only collected those and caught your own specimens in the jungle like the Bennetts did, your self caught collection would grow at a snail's pace.
Still, there is much to admire here. I just love this type of collection. I hope you will enjoy this ongoing thread and for those that live in the north may it brighten your winter days.
Delias pasithoe triglites.
The Dutch Goldmine at Lebong Tandai, where the Bennetts lived and worked for a decade and collected butterflies in their spare time..
It is always nice to view museum collections, where everything is taxonomically arranged for the visiting specialist. However, it is just a pleasing to see a personal collection retained in their own cabinet, especially if the contents are entirely self caught. I was able to view such a cabinet that contained a collection of butterflies and larger moths from one location in Sumatra. Because we all like to view specimens here, both common and rare, I add them from time to time.
The collection was made by the late Sydney James Bennett and his wife between 1926 and 1936 at Lebong Tandai, (Benkoelen) Bengkulu, in south-west Sumatra. All the specimens shown here come from that locality. Little is known about Mr Bennett, except he was working as a mining engineer for the Dutch gold mine in that remote part of Sumatra. They later lived at Carbis Bay in Cornwall.
There is a reference to Bennett in Talbot's monograph on the Delias butterflies, Part 6, p 328-329, under the species Delias aglaia triglites Talbot, 1828, which is now known as Delias pasithoe triglites. Bennett had sent three males of this subspecies to the British Museum.
Here I will show some of Bennett specimens from most families. Please fill free to add any comments, such as if there are any rarities and help in their identification. The collection was sent to England in a single cabinet and saw rough handling, a number of specimen had antennae broken and few wings damaged. The Bennett's used cedar oil as a preventive, a few pests got in, but did little damage and the cabinet drawers have now been frozen. How those drawers still smell, it certainly cleared my head and made me dizzy for a moment or two. There is a little mold on a very few specimens, mostly on the antennae.
As Bennett and his wife were collecting for themselves, everything is far from perfect. These butterflies and moths were self-collected before anyone had heard of A1 specimens. I do expect, if you only collected those and caught your own specimens in the jungle like the Bennetts did, your self caught collection would grow at a snail's pace.
Still, there is much to admire here. I just love this type of collection. I hope you will enjoy this ongoing thread and for those that live in the north may it brighten your winter days.
Delias pasithoe triglites.
The Dutch Goldmine at Lebong Tandai, where the Bennetts lived and worked for a decade and collected butterflies in their spare time..
