One hundred and 27 and still A1...

[trehopr1]

Pictured here is the oldest extant specimen present in my collection. A true centenarian and then some...

Collected in 1893 it is now 127 years old and in absolutely remarkable condition. In fact, A1 condition. All legs accounted for including proboscis. Wings are tabletop flat. My collection is at least the 3rd (if not the 4th) it has seen. It has always been a "drawer" specimen so I believe it has always been accorded due care.

It is a "smallish" species with a 45mm wingspan. The data you see is all it has and I have no idea what country it is from. So, if there are any intrepid folks out there who care to "take a stab" at geography of the specimen I would heartily welcome your comments or detective work.



I would love to see what others may have in terms of aged or historical specimens. So please feel free to submit any of your "oldies but, goodies" for the rest of us to admire. There was a former member whom specialized in this grand old stuff and he submitted several pictures of things he had older than this; however, he has apparently moved on...

[bobw]

Laggan is an old name for Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada.

[exoticimports]

Mar 31, 2020 9:17:12 GMT bobw said:

Laggan is an old name for Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada.

I did not know that!

[Paul K]

...and the specimen is Parnassius smintheus smintheus, thought I could mention that in case some readers would wonder

[bobw]

I guess the reason I knew it is that Laggan is the type locality of Colias pelidne minisni Barnes & McDunnough, 1916, now a synonym of C. skinneri.

[Adam Cotton]

Here is the oldest specimen in my collection, caught in 1879:

[Adam Cotton]

Info about the collector can be found in an older thread about 'old butterflies' here:

collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/497/old-butterflies-famous-collectors?page=3

Scroll down below the photo to a post I made about Buckley.

Adam.

[trehopr1]

A HUGE Thank You goes out to Bobw for that data clarification ! ! Very grateful...

Another Thank You goes out to Paul K for that species determination !

Thank you as well Adam for showing us that remarkably good specimen of yours. How did you happen to run across such an incredibly old specimen? Is that Parides still to be found in Ecuador?

[Adam Cotton]

I probably bought this specimen at Watkins and Doncaster back in about 1980 at a guess, but I don't remember. W&D often have old specimens for sale from collections they buy up in order to refurbish the cabinets. They make their main profit on those rather than selling the specimens.

The species is certainly alive and well in Amazonian Ecuador and Peru, as well as northern Brazil.

Adam.