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Post by nomad on Dec 28, 2018 9:48:00 GMT
Judging by all those big exotic beetles on the adverts and their large prices they remain popular collectors items, although there is a huge range of just as fascinating smaller beetles. Looking through the old journals there were many beetles collectors. I rarely now see beetle posts or comments to posts on the forum, these do occur but they are far fewer than those about butterflies. Is it that that Coleopterists do not like forums or are they a declining breed?
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Post by trehopr1 on Dec 28, 2018 10:38:59 GMT
I agree Nomad and what a pity so little imput overall. Speaking for myself, I do try (every now and again) to post a photo, interesting tidbit, or summary article on some beetle I may find fascinating in my small Coleoptera collection. I like several families however, Lepidoptera have always been my first love. Response to my posts on beetles has always been a little "cool" so there is not much incentive to post very much more. Again, what a pity because I do have at least a few other nifty things to show. I still plan on posting a few of my Diptera specimens down the road to show some of the splendor present among them. You have done an "outstanding" job showing us all the wonderful species which you have encountered in your field excursions in Britain. While my pinned specimens may not be quite as good as living specimens to view; I still think they are a mighty cool order of insects to pick up when something presents itself. Hence, I do have a few cool items of them to show as well.
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Post by nomad on Dec 28, 2018 13:21:13 GMT
It seems today that its the giant beetles that attract (an extra 5mm will cost you extra many dollars etc, which I find rather boring and senseless. You can't learn much more about a 150mm beetle that you can a 100mm one. I sure there are still a few collectors and others that study the smaller beetles but they don't seem to like forums. Good luck with your posts on Diptera, I for one will welcome those, although my posts on this fascinating group have met with a often zero response and distinct lack of interest.
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 28, 2018 18:43:22 GMT
The cerambycid forum is very active. There used to be an active tiger beetle forum, though last time I checked it was quiet or dead, but that was a few years ago. My observation is that coleopterists tend to be very serious. Like Leon the Professional serious. They don't dally with small talk. I'm not talking about who has the biggest dynastes pennisites collectors, they are simply hoarders. Beetle collectors tend to be less gregarious, less flamboyant, less social. Not that they are demented, only that there is an odd, perhaps not coincidental analogy between what we focus on and our own personalities- see here now, Lep collectors tend to be showy and proud and loud. And we can be, like those Karzakian (or whomoever) girls or Melania. Everybody wants to see the beautiful big butterflies. Nobody wants to see your Carabid collection, got it? If somebody finds you with a butterfly net on their land, they may tell you to get lost, and then have a story to share for the next week. If they find you looking under dead raccoons and tearing up dead trees, you're either leaving with a gun pointed at your back, or talking to the cops. This, I believe, also translates to web forums. The appeal of butterflies is widespread, from human databases to fruits who believe Bigfoot lives in their back yard. Not so much with Coleoptera- smaller groups, more serious. That's my take on it. I'm cool with beetles, though I'm an opportunist, not a hunter. I have a few dozen species of lady bugs. I admittedly do like Goliathus, and in that I struggle to read those wonderfully written stories about The Worlds Most Boring Brown British Leps, I can't imagine reading, much less participating in, discussions on fungus beetles. :-) Chuck
ETA: Schitt, I'm an American, what do you expect?
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entomofou
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 91
Country: France
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Post by entomofou on Dec 28, 2018 21:02:15 GMT
There are many forums with coleopterists. But since many years, we are very few on Insectnet or Insect collectors forums...
I and friends who are specialists of Cetoniidae, Tenebrionidae, Buprestidae, Meloidae, Curculionidae, or Chrysomelidae,... are on Entomologi Italiani, Le monde des Insectes, Cerambycoidea, entomo.pl, etc. On these forums, we have many colleagues we can speak with.
Stéphane
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bandrow
Junior Aurelian
Posts: 80
Country: USA
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Post by bandrow on Dec 29, 2018 5:19:31 GMT
Greetings from one of the dying breed!!!
I read exoticimports characterization of beetle guys with some amusement. Not that I disagreed, but that I conjured images of one colleague after another as I read it. And I learned a new phrase - "dynastes pennisites" - not sure what that means but I suspect it has something to do with "beetle envy" - the "my Titanus is bigger than your Titanus", kinda thing.
I've noticed a paucity of beetle guys on here and on InsectNet as well. I've tried to contribute wherever possible, but the opportunities are few and far between. I guess all I can do is hang out and help where I can!
And trust me - beetle guys can be as obnoxious, fun, loud, strange, showy and social as folks working in any other group - maybe they're all just old-school and carrying on off-line rather than in the forums! And from personal experience, carabid guys ARE too damned serious - maybe it's from walking around staring at the ground all their life...
Cheers! Bandrow
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Post by nomad on Dec 29, 2018 9:15:53 GMT
I believe and agree that many that specialize will be a member of the forums that cater for their specialist tastes. For instances there are two excellent Diptera forums, which are a must for identification and in the main the members are helpful. There are also a number of very popular British Diptera facebook groups concerning the more popular groups which also aid identification, and they are very friendly. There are also a number of such groups that cater for those not all brown British Moths, a browse through a British moth book will convince you of this. I would suggest that when you read an article, if it has something that interests you, you might enjoy it, otherwise you might believe it is a bit of a Turkey.
I am currently writing an article on the Janson family which run a successful London Natural History business from 1852 until the 1980s. Not just dealers these, Edward Wesley Janson was a very well respected Coleopterist, an authority on British beetles and the world Elateridae (he had the largest world collection) and his son who took over the shop, Oliver Erichson Janson not only was an authority on British Beetles but the world Cetoniidae and published many papers on the group. When you enter the world of the Janson's you also enter the world of butterflies as well as beetles, Charles Darwin, Henry Walter Bates, Frederick Bates, Alfred Russell Wallace, the Rothschilds and many more are all part of the Janson story. The Janson archive at the BMNH is fascinating and huge, thousands of letters from nearly all the well known entomologists of this period. One of the important functions of the Jansons was as natural history agents and they received collections from the most remote parts of the world. Not to be biased I have researched or I am going to, the Janson correspondence of three different professional collectors of different nationalities, Doherty, Meek and Waterstradt, who all sent many fabulous new insects to Janson. Other family Janson members are also detailed but to a lesser degree, all entomologists to a man.
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Post by nomad on Dec 29, 2018 12:50:12 GMT
And I learned a new phrase - "dynastes pennisites" - not sure what that means but I suspect it has something to do with "beetle envy" - the "my Titanus is bigger than your Titanus", kinda thing. Also new to me and an excellent one. I guess having the biggest dynastes might be well down on the list of "Keeping Up with the Joneses" as they say here in Blighty but I guess not with certain collectors .
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 29, 2018 14:33:58 GMT
Following from Solomon Islands. Including some from Temotu Province, which is very far east toward Vanuatu.
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jhyatt
Aurelian
Posts: 224
Country: U.S.A.
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Post by jhyatt on Dec 29, 2018 15:00:01 GMT
Hello Nomad,
Have you (or anyone else you know of) ever investigated the career of Ida Laura Pfeiffer? I'm reading Wyhe and Rookmaaker's excellent "Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters from the Malay Archipelago" (Oxford, 2013). On p. 49, in a letter to his sister Frances Sims written from Borneo, Wallace says "Madame Pfeiffer was at Sarawak about a year or two ago and lived in Rajah Brookes house while there [...] The insects she got in Borneo were not very good, those from Celebes and the Moluccas were the rare ones for which Mr. Stevens got so much money for her. I expect she will set up as a regular collector now [...] I have told Mr. Stevens to recommend Madagascar to her." A footnote says she was an Austrian widow who visited many of the same islands before Wallace. I'd never heard of her before; she might make an interesting study.
Best regards, jh
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 29, 2018 16:17:33 GMT
Following from Solomon Islands. Including some from Temotu Province, which is very far east toward Vanuatu.
I can't upload more than one per post, so here are some more for you beetleofiles.
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 29, 2018 16:20:27 GMT
Following from Solomon Islands. Including some from Temotu Province, which is very far east toward Vanuatu.
And one more for you guys:
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Post by trehopr1 on Dec 30, 2018 5:54:03 GMT
Exoticimports, did you happen to personally collect those Batocera kibleri and lemondei? Or did you get them packaged up from some dealer or outfit... It must be absolutely fantastic to hold one of those living giants in your hand (provided you stay away from the mandibles). What an experience that would surely be. I have to wonder though how anybody even euthanizes such beasties? An oversize killing bottle? If you use a syringe where does one place it. Maybe, a beetle guy or two has some ideas...
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Post by nomad on Dec 30, 2018 10:22:48 GMT
Hello Nomad, Have you (or anyone else you know of) ever investigated the career of Ida Laura Pfeiffer? I'm reading Wyhe and Rookmaaker's excellent "Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters from the Malay Archipelago" (Oxford, 2013). On p. 49, in a letter to his sister Frances Sims written from Borneo, Wallace says "Madame Pfeiffer was at Sarawak about a year or two ago and lived in Rajah Brookes house while there [...] The insects she got in Borneo were not very good, those from Celebes and the Moluccas were the rare ones for which Mr. Stevens got so much money for her. I expect she will set up as a regular collector now [...] I have told Mr. Stevens to recommend Madagascar to her." A footnote says she was an Austrian widow who visited many of the same islands before Wallace. I'd never heard of her before; she might make an interesting study. Best regards, jh Ida Laura Pfeiffer is new to me. It looks perhaps at the advice of Wallace that she used Samuel Stevens also of Bloomesbury to dispose of some of her collections. A quick check of the Janson correspondence list that I was given by the very helpful staff at the Library and archives at the BMNH reveals there is are letter/letters from Pfeiffer written to Janson in 1904. The Janson archive is huge and is kept off site, which they access once a month. I have already requested the letters of several persons for a visit at the end of January. Probably my last visit there for a while (my third recently) due to the expense of getting there by British rail who charge exorbitant prices for its use, surely the dearest by far in the world. There's no cutting corners as you need a whole day (getting there at 10am) reading and writing out letters, no photographing or copying there. But what a library, I sure my friend Michel could spend many happy days in. As, you probably well know Ida Laura Pfeiffer is on Wika with a picture of her. In fact if you look there is quite a bit about her on the web. She herself wrote a number of books including A Woman's Journey Round the World. Regards Peter.
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Post by Paul K on Dec 30, 2018 18:07:11 GMT
Exoticimports, did you happen to personally collect those Batocera kibleri and lemondei? Or did you get them packaged up from some dealer or outfit... It must be absolutely fantastic to hold one of those living giants in your hand (provided you stay away from the mandibles). What an experience that would surely be. I have to wonder though how anybody even euthanizes such beasties? An oversize killing bottle? If you use a syringe where does one place it. Maybe, a beetle guy or two has some ideas... I remember when I caught my Titanus giganteus in French Guiana I had a problem where to give it a shot and my assistance showed the mouth. This was the only possible place to insert the needle. It was still difficult as Titanus was successfuly blocking mouth with its mandibles.
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