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Post by Adam Cotton on Jul 22, 2013 3:04:13 GMT -8
Thanks for clarifying that for us Adam. C. parryi is my favorite of all the Cheirotonus species. I hope its not in real danger of extinction and protection is guided more towards minimizing trade, rather than a need to protect it due to a threatened status. Common as muck in the right habitat and season (well, maybe not quite that common, but not rare), as with all the other protected species here in Thailand. They were put on the protected species list because the head of the Entomology Department (a rice pest expert) was given the job of compiling a list of species for protection, so she looked in the Department collections to see which spectacular looking species were not well represented and which fetched high prices on the Japanese market. Of course she didn't take into account that beetle price often depends on size, or the fact that many species such as Mormolyce ringens or Papilio protenor are at the edge of their range in Thailand and thus rare here, but dirt common in other countries. She also listed all the Thai CITES species as protected species as well, and then added all Actias species, Lyssa zampa, Papilio protenor, P. palinurus, Meandrusa payeni and ' sciron' [= lachinus], and all Stichopthalma. Subsequently Troides aeacus and Lyssa zampa have been removed from the protected list, but in reality the whole lot of listed insect species don't really deserve special protection. It would be much more cost effective and better for the insects (and other animals) to concentrate on enforcing habitat protection. After all, if there is good habitat the insects that live there will always thrive. Adam. |
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Post by benihikage92 on Jul 22, 2013 9:00:43 GMT -8
My friend said that he heard that killing Cheirotonus with Sulphur dioxide stops the loss of colour. The only problem is it makes the legs very stiff. He asked me only a couple of days ago whether Sulphur dioxide could be bought in Chiang Mai or not. Unfortunately I didn't know the answer to that one, as it's not a chemical I use for Papilionidae. Adam. PS. My friend said that the Sulphur dioxide is formed by mixing 2 chemicals in the killing jar, he said the Japanese use it, but doesn't know what the chemicals are. Let me explain the method Adam had mentioned. Sulfurous acid gas is used among beetle collectors in Japan to kill certain kinds of beetles whose colors change when killed with ethyl acetate. It is particularly effective to keep yellow color of Lepturinae (small longicorn beetles) and white color of Cicincelidae (tiger beetles). Those colors tend to turn brownish after some time when ethyl acetate is used to kill them. The following two kinds of chemicals are used to produce sulfurous gas. sodium metabisulfite (Na2S2O5) citric acid (C6H8O7) Both substances come in powder form. Mix 1 part of sodium metabisulfite to 1 part citric acid. Candy wrap small amount of the mixture with a small strip of tissue paper. They don't react as far as you keep them dry. Put the candy wrapped mixture in a killing jar. Add one or two drops of water to it. Chemical reaction kicks in and sulfurous acid gas is produced. Don't sniff it. The gas is deadly. You keep beetles for about 8 hours in the jar. Don't keep them too long in the gas. Some people say that sometimes antennae of longicorns become brittle. I haven't experienced stiffing of legs Adam mentioned, though. I'm basically a butterfly guy, and don't have much experience in using the gas. But I found it effective to keep yellow color of wasps and green color of cicadas beside the beetles mentioned above. I'm not a chemist, so I don't know if the 1 to 1 is the right ratio. The stuff is deadly, so caution should be exercised. You also need to know with which insects you can't use this method. I heard it shouldn't be used to kill such longicorns as Rosalia and Saperda since it discolor their blue/red of Rosalia or the green of Saperda. |
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Post by bichos on Jul 24, 2013 19:13:28 GMT -8
All very good to know, however most collectors will never get the chance to see their cheirotonus alive, and unlikely to be able to have such chemicals out in the jungle anyway. Good info though, worth trying on other beetles. Oh, and here is a link to add to Adam's info about the protected species in Thailand www.dnp.go.th/fig/protected_brochure_E.htm They misspelled at least one name, not good, comming from a Government department. Perhaps an indication of their incompetence and poor judgement. |
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Post by lucanidae25 on Aug 5, 2013 6:02:00 GMT -8
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Post by a1472188740 on Apr 18, 2014 7:46:05 GMT -8
Hi, I was just wondering with my cheirotonus i bought from Laos what ssp. it is It looks like Gestroi but also bit like battareli I can not really tell which type really... Can anyone help me to identify what ssp. it is ? thanks It is collected in Houaphan Laos    |
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Post by lucanidae25 on Apr 18, 2014 14:34:57 GMT -8
If your Cheirotonus is from Houaphan Laos, it's battareli. Gestroi isn't found north of Xiang Khoang.
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Post by a1472188740 on Apr 18, 2014 18:48:53 GMT -8
hi! thanks for the reply but its a bit weird because I bought 4 cheirotonus in total and they are all from houaphan, laos but the other ones look like gestroi If above thats an battareli that means their living zone is overlapping it is really confusing... maybe it is battareli x gestroi? what do you think.... other then collection data are there ways to identify what ssp. it is through it appearance? thanks a lot!!  |
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Post by lucanidae25 on Apr 19, 2014 1:34:52 GMT -8
They all looks like battareli to me.
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Post by a1472188740 on Apr 19, 2014 23:32:29 GMT -8
okay! thanks!!
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