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Post by deliasfanatic on Mar 6, 2016 18:54:32 GMT
Here are varied African Graphium, comprising several groups of tailed and banded species. Some are very common and found over much of the continent, while others are restricted to smaller areas. I like them very much; it seems to me that African Papilionidae in general are rather neglected compared to some of their glamourous Asian and Neotropical cousins.  Graphium African drawer 01 1070 by D B, on Flickr  Graphium African drawer 02 1071 by D B, on Flickr |
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Post by cabintom on Mar 6, 2016 19:30:35 GMT
Those are a couple of really great boxes! Hopefully my collection will rival this some day.  |
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Post by cabintom on Mar 6, 2016 20:05:03 GMT
It's a shame the colours tend to fade so quickly... Here's my most recent capture: Graphium (Arisbe) policenes policenes (Cramer, [1775]) 23/I/2016 Along the Tumani River, near Mbogi, Ituri, DRC (1°41'N, 30°07'E) 1250m male  In this particular location, these guys, along with the Papilio from the nireus group, like to quickly patrol up and down the river, staying a meter or two above the water's surface and tending towards the middle of the water course. This last time I visited the site, I went with a friend and brought along one of the street boys. We had fun spacing ourselves out along the river bank and each taking a couple swings at the patrolling males as they flew past. When we'd almost inevitably miss (they're quite agile insects), we'd call it out and the next man down the bank would prepare himself for a try. Fortunately, if/when all three of us missed the butterfly it was sure to run the gauntlet again in a few minutes. It being the dry season meant that their weren't many specimens flying about, and this was the only G. policenes we managed to catch that was worth keeping. |
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Post by deliasfanatic on Mar 6, 2016 20:09:04 GMT
Thanks, Tom! Yes, all too true about the greens; many of these specimens date back as far as the 1950s, and have lost most of their colour. It's unfortunate that there isn't some type of preservative that could prevent it.
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Post by cabintom on Mar 6, 2016 20:32:49 GMT
It's unfortunate that there isn't some type of preservative that could prevent it. LepSoc of Africa just put out a guide that suggests you can fix the colours in place by baking the specimen at a low temperature... though if I recall correctly it stated it works better for reds/oranges/pinks of Heliconiinae than it does for these greens.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Mar 6, 2016 21:23:50 GMT
Interesting. I might like to try it on some common items, although most of my Heliconius are already too far gone!
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Post by Paul K on Mar 7, 2016 2:51:28 GMT
It's unfortunate that there isn't some type of preservative that could prevent it. LepSoc of Africa just put out a guide that suggests you can fix the colours in place by baking the specimen at a low temperature... though if I recall correctly it stated it works better for reds/oranges/pinks of Heliconiinae than it does for these greens. Tom, do you know what temperature it should be and is it for already dried specimen ? I still have some 10 years old Heliconius, I would try on one perhaps. Paul |
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Post by cabintom on Mar 7, 2016 4:02:08 GMT
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Post by wollastoni on Mar 8, 2016 10:10:10 GMT
it seems to me that African Papilionidae in general are rather neglected compared to some of their glamourous Asian and Neotropical cousins. I fully agree with you. I guess they are neglected because less available. |
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