Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 12:20:35 GMT
Western Cape, South Africa Attachments:
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Post by wollastoni on Dec 15, 2014 12:25:01 GMT
Splendid !
Would be great Duncan, if you take the time to indicate the collecting data of the specimen you are showing on the forum.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Dec 15, 2014 13:28:01 GMT
Indeed that is a splendid butterfly, one that I have never heard about before. I must agree with Olivier that it would be much more educational for readers if data was included.
Adam
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daveuk
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Post by daveuk on Dec 15, 2014 20:26:51 GMT
Adam/Olivier
If Dunc got his specimen from a similar place I got mine then I doubt there would be any data..sadly that's just the way it is. I don't think this species is particularly rare but very infrequently collected. I believe my specimens are well over 100 years old.It is a magnificent species. Probably the most desirable of all the satyridae. Attachments:
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 20:38:31 GMT
I got it from a friend who I had been bugging for ages to let me have it, luckily it had data.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Dec 15, 2014 20:59:09 GMT
Well, my being rather ignorant of Satyrines, I didn't even know which part of the world it came from. Even 'South Africa' is information for those of us who don't know.
Adam.
PS. Thanks for adding the data Dunc, it really helps.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 21:01:34 GMT
As Dave rightly says I don't think it is a rare butterfly, in fact if you look on google images at specimens congregating together it proves it.
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Post by deliasfanatic on Dec 15, 2014 21:01:55 GMT
I believe it's restricted to Cape Province and very near, which is seldom collected and explains its scarcity these days. I rarely see one. I've got a van Someren specimen from 1962, the only one I've ever found available, and that only because I got it from a deceased collector's estate.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 15, 2014 21:07:19 GMT
must just be local and rarely collected. Attachments:
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daveuk
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Post by daveuk on Dec 15, 2014 23:11:26 GMT
I believe I remember this species featured in David Attenborough's "Private life of plants" as the sole pollinator of a red species of orchid found in the Drakensburg mountains. Red flowers seem to be very attractive in general to this species.I have read that collectors would wait by clumps of Red Hot Pokers with net ready until the butterflies settled to feed rather than chase them over rough & dangerous terrain. They are apparently very fast on the wing.
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Post by cabintom on Dec 16, 2014 5:07:32 GMT
I was looking for some info on Melanitis leda, when I came across the following paragraph about Aeropetes tulbaghia: found on pg.37 of " The Entomologist Vol.14" I'm not sure if "occurs freely" means that it is locally common...
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Post by cabintom on Dec 16, 2014 5:42:32 GMT
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Post by nomad on Dec 16, 2014 5:56:28 GMT
Thanks for adding the historical information Tom, this really helps in better understanding this species.
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Post by wollastoni on Dec 18, 2014 19:48:33 GMT
Thank you very much for sharing those interesting links with us Jan !
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Post by cabintom on Dec 18, 2014 21:49:28 GMT
Probably the most desirable of all the satyridae. Personally, I'm on the look-out for Melanitis ansorgei... This is the best picture I could find online: discover.odai.yale.edu/ydc/Record/2504411
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