Clive's Open House Day.

[nomad]

In Britain, well known collectors such as Henry Stainton and a century later Robert Watson used to have an event where those that had a passion for entomology were all welcome to come and view their large collections on open house days. I am glad to say that this kindly and thoughtful tradition is being carried on in England by Clive Pratt.

The weather this Saturday was awful, windy with heavy driving rain but some made it up to the peaceful village of Woodfalls on the edge of England's splended New Forest, fittingly a famous entomological locality where many a rarity were taken.

The gathering of kindred souls invited much discussion on a wide range of entomological topics. I learnt many new things for instance, if your hobby is moth collecting a wine rope often out performs the old fashion method of sugaring for these insects. The new Gemlight Moonlander moth trap ( which I nearly bought) has had negative reviews with poor results and the MV Robinson Moth trap is by far the best for still attracting large numbers of moths in temperate regions without having to stay up all night. I was delighted to learn a few butterfly photography techiniques and secrets of that pastime.

There was much time to view Clive's large British and World collections. There were many treasures to behold including for me some new specials which included, the only genuine female specimen of P. antimachus I have ever seen in the flesh so to speak. I also saw for the first time, the finest aberration of Lysandra coridon a radiata-extrema that I have seen in a private collection. Perhaps the most talked about specimen of the day, was an all black melanic Colias croceus which came forth from a very large captive bred stock.

Another highlight of the day was seeing one young collector who has recently taken up the hobby by specializing in Parnassius and who was already becoming knowledgeable in his chosen passion..Who said Entomology was dead in England.

Many thanks are due to Clive for his delightful idea and being the Perfect host. A very enjoyable time was had by all.

[wollastoni]

Great !
Congrats to Clive for having organized this.
This is the best method to build a united and dynamic entomological community.

How is the Delias collection, Peter ? Any goodies ? I know that Clive is also a Delias collector, but I have never understood how good his collection is. Knowing that he is a Master Collector, there must be some great stuff !

I am sure his aberrant Lycaenidae collectio, is breathtaking ! If one day I work in the UK, I will come for sure.

Hope this Open House Day will become a Tradition !
Congrats again to Clive !

[nomad]

Hi Olivier. Thank you for your nice comments. Yes, Clive's Delias collection is large, with many hard to obtain species. During this visit I only had a chance to view a small part of it, as he is currently reorganizing his Delias collection into new cabinets.

[luehdorfia]

nomad is Clive having his Open House Day to look at his collection every year? If by any chance he did the same this year my brother and I would love to join!

[nomad]

Hi. I am not sure if he is having another open day this year but if I hear anything I will post the information here.

[Deleted]

That house looks familiar.

[nomad]

News. Clive is having an Open Weekend 22nd and 23rd October where you will be able to chat to fellow Entomologists and view his very extensive World Collection of both Lepidoptera and Coleoptera and view his super British Collections. If you want to attend, please PM me and I will tell Clive you are coming and give you details of how to get there. Those British members who are attending the AES can chat to Clive, he has tables of specimens at the event Fingers and toes crossed I shall be both at the Open day and the AES. 

[wollastoni]

Great news.
If Clive is ok, I would be happy to see some pictures of his Delias collection here.

[nomad]

There was a good friendly gathering of Entomologist at Clive Pratt's on Saturday, part of his open house weekend. Below are some of those that attended. Nice to meet the ICF member luehdorfia, Simon and his brother who came all the way from Manchester. During a recent trip to China, Simon found a very special butterfly and hopefully he will show it here, at least for the time being, the image he has of the live butterfly.

Again Clive was a perfect host and his guests, some of who are shown below were well watered and fed.

Unfortunately Olivier, Clive's Delias collection was not on show but here is a nice drawer of Australian species that was. Some nice Delias aestiva and Delias nysa nivira and others.

I have just noticed this is my 2000 post!!  What a prolific fellow I am. 



Clive middle, Simon left with his brother.

[wollastoni]

Congrats to Clive for organizing this kind of events.
It is all what entomology is about. Sharing our passion about insects and chatting with friends !

[luehdorfia]

nomad thanks for putting up the photos and again for inviting me to Clive's open house event. It was fantastic,so many rare butterflies and abberations, and great people, well worth the long drive. I have never seen that many specimens in a collection, and especially his historic Polyommatus coridon and Maculinea arion abberations collection was stunning.
And I learned many new things! I was always wondering why some of my specimens did not look as fresh after taking them off the spreading boards after only two weeks.Tiny little mites that live on the spreading boards and can do damage in a few days. One fellow collector instructed me to use lighter fluid to wash off the spreading boards every time after using them, to completely kill off mites and eggs, will definitely do that.
Also need to freeze my whole collection again and make sure nothing got in there. Another great thing was Phil explaining me how to make caterpillar ovens and specimens.I hope next year Clive will host all of us again and we can continue to exchange stories and techniques.

Yes, that butterfly I found in China is very special, and it was very fresh. I will put the photo I showed you soon up here, although it is a little bit blurry. It is in the freezer right now, as soon as I have spread it I will upload a high quality shot.

[nomad]

 luehdorfia
I am pleased that you enjoyed the event. It was my idea to post the information here but it was Clive's invite to any interested parties. Good to see you picked up tips on the storage and protection of your specimens. I must admit I had never heard of the lighter fuel tip before for preventing or killing mites or their eggs hiding in the pin holes. Yes, those British M. arion abs are among my favourites in the entire collection and what about the old walnut cabinet with 80 or more drawers, made by a master craftsman. Surely that cabinet is fit for a king. I believe Clive will hopefully host the event next year.

[trehopr1]

Gosh, no other collection pictures other than those Delias?

[nomad]

On the day, I was too busy chatting about entomological matters to take images.   Plus at least twenty fellows were accessing the cabinets in different rooms and as they were enjoying themselves I decided not to, anyway it was nice to have a relaxed day without the use of the camera.   Perhaps next year 

[nomad]

I spent a nice day today with my brother and fellow entomologists at Clive's open day. A very nice way to spend the day chatting about entomology and seeing such a splendid collection, full of rarities.  A big thank you to Clive and his wife for hosting us and keeping us all well watered and fed.