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Post by nomad on Mar 18, 2016 19:46:29 GMT
I have never had the pleasure of seeing Limenitis populi but I have heard the males behaviour is very similar to Apatura iris. In the UK people try all sorts of strange baits to lure iris down from the treetops. I have never needed to use baits when looking for iris as the males seem to like damp spots along the hard and sometimes the soft tracks through the woodlands. To be successful you need to arrive in the morning, although males will come down at different periods during the day but earlier the better. I suggest that you go to where there is a high density of Limenitis populi and search along the tracks. Give the search a whole day, starting in the morning around 9 to 10am. The longer you search for grounded males the better. The males of Limenitis populi like iris will be after vital salts and Minerals. Also keep a look out for animal dung including horse droppings. You can see from the wonderful image how like iris, Limenitis populi enjoy these damp spots. However, in Britain, the female iris rarely descend to damp spots on tracks or visit baits preferring to mate up in the tree tops, but they will descend in the Afternoons to seek out the foodplant.
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Post by bobw on Mar 18, 2016 21:13:08 GMT
I've seen L. populi in quite a few countries and you can often find large congregations of males on the ground at damp patches, however, I've never seen females come to the ground. It's not easy to see females at all but sometimes they can be found flying up and down forest rides early in their flight period, later in the flight period they seem to stay up in the treetops laying - I guess they feed on honeydew.
That's an amazing photo Peter, they seem to have a lot more white than almost any males I've seen; I thought you could only find males with that much white in the far east and Japan.
Bob
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Post by nomad on Mar 19, 2016 7:57:56 GMT
You are quite right Bob. The Limenitis populi in the magnificent image above are of ssp ussuriensis and they were photographed by Alevey Yakovlev near Khabarovsk City close to the Chinese border.
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Post by bobw on Mar 19, 2016 9:36:40 GMT
You are quite right Bob. The Limenitis populi in the magnificent image above are of ssp ussuriensis and they were photographed by Alevey Yakovlev near Khabarovsk City close to the Chinese border. I thought so. I caught a couple of females of this ssp. in Ussuri a couple of years ago, I was too late for them but found a couple of female stragglers. It's a magnificent ssp., it's smaller than European ones but has a huge amount of white and a wonderful blue colour. Bob
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Post by bobw on Mar 19, 2016 12:22:05 GMT
I don't know whether either sex will come to bait, I've never heard of anybody collecting them with bait but it's always worth a try.
Bob
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Post by nomad on Mar 19, 2016 12:56:25 GMT
It is the same with iris females, I have never heard of them coming to bait. They spend the mornings up in the tree tops and then come down to egg lay among the sallows in the afternoons, and thus are more rarely encountered. I think your best chance in seeking females of L. populi would be to keep an eye on the Aspens, but good luck if you try to bait them, you will certainly I feel, need it.
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Post by nostrodamus on Mar 20, 2016 7:37:56 GMT
Hi all,
L. populi females are also attracted to bait ! David
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Post by cabintom on Mar 20, 2016 11:25:36 GMT
L. populi females are also attracted to bait ! If that's the case, I think the question is: what kind of bait?
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Post by Adam Cotton on Mar 20, 2016 12:05:44 GMT
It may be that you need to raise the bait trap high up into the trees to catch females, similar to a Charaxes trap.
Adam.
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Post by nostrodamus on Mar 20, 2016 12:47:51 GMT
I caught in the past in France one female that was mudpudling and one on "horseshit".... So "horseshit" would work ??
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Post by timmsyrj on Mar 20, 2016 14:16:47 GMT
" horseshit " not bullshit, I was wondering if raising the trap into the canopy would work as with African and South American nymphalidae.
Rich
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Post by Paul K on Mar 20, 2016 14:30:39 GMT
" horseshit " not bullshit, I was wondering if raising the trap into the canopy would work as with African and South American nymphalidae. Rich ...just make sure to pull it up strait so the "horseshit" will not roll off on your head
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Post by nomad on Mar 20, 2016 14:57:24 GMT
I think Jan mentioned he was going to use sweet baits not Animal dung. Catching or observing specimens on natural dung and mud puddling is not exactly baiting for specimens. I would be surprised if sweet baits in traps would work with this species, no matter how high you put them.
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Post by Paul K on Mar 20, 2016 15:32:43 GMT
Yes I thinks Jan should use some fruits, I would try sweet oranges, maybe smashed apples with sugar. In tropics females are coming to drink juice too. I don't thing animal dung or urine will attract females as this is the source of salts and minerals for males, but I am not a specialist in bait traps , it is just my thoughts .
Paul
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