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Post by 9876morpho on Mar 12, 2019 19:28:21 GMT
The book is sold out. It seems that I just bought the last copy.
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Post by nomad on Mar 13, 2019 9:15:25 GMT
I guess you mean the book has been sold out on this site and not literally. The book being available elsewhere.
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Post by wollastoni on Mar 13, 2019 9:22:38 GMT
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mothman55
New Aurelian
Posts: 33
Country: Canada
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Post by mothman55 on Mar 26, 2019 19:27:11 GMT
I bought this 2 volume book a little more than a year ago, but really didn't spend a lot of time on it until this winter. The history section is great, learned a lot. Also some great "live in nature" photos, although some of the best are borrowed from Matsuka's book,(which I have and love). Most of the pages are specimen photos for identification purposes. I spend a few days trying to properly identify the birdwings I have accumulated over the years, and I have to say it is frustrating. There seems to be so much overlap in subspecies and local forms that I think different people could come up with different conclusions based on the photos and descriptions in the book. As an example, there are pages and pages of local forms within priamus poseidon, and the differences between them are unclear, even with all the photos. Try to distinguish between paradisea paradisea and paradisea chrysanthemum, or croesus lydius f. loc lydius from f. loc. toeantei. In the end I decided it really doesn't matter. Is there really a need to describe such a proliferation of ssp and f.loc, seems like overkill.
There is also an extensive section on hybrid specimens. My feeling is if they don't or can't geographically exist in the wild, there is no point in "creating" them through hand pairing efforts to create freeks. I would not buy these unnatural hybrids, even if they were not priced as high as they are. I don't see the value in them. But just my opinion. Have to say though, this book did help me pass the time this nasty cold Canadian winter.
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Post by nomad on Mar 26, 2019 20:28:32 GMT
I guess if you love your birdwings you are going to love these books. Seeing as there are so few species of Ornithoptera, and they are very popular with collectors, it is no wonder there are so many subspecies or if you like here, form locals. What impressed me most about the books is the quality of the plates and the extensive distribution maps. Certainly this is a labour of love by the authors, which is what all good reference books should be.
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