all kind of transports

[Jean-Michel MAES]

Dear Ron,

Dr. Laurence Mound, in some of his wonderful works on Thysanoptera, has
shown some maps where we can see the distribution by man. For some species
he gives also some hypothesis of when and by which transport the thrips has
come. In the case of thrips, no possibility of flying from Meditteranea to
India... In many case of localities far of "normal" distribution, it's
important to look for the most "logical" solution. A specimen of a big
Dorcus from Japan was found some years ago in Bordeaux (France), probably
travelling with some wood...  If I remember well there is an english
entomologist who made a very big work on the larvae of tropical  longhorn
beetles without going out of england, just looking at the trunks coming from
there and there in the world, he describes the larvae of some hundreds
species of longhorns... it is not so casual that an insect moves with boat,
planes, train (there are reports), car (fumigations against mosquitoes on
car and buses at border Nicaragua/Costa Rica), and including on people, we
get sometimes german cockroaches in the bag from the market... I have a
friend who import a small nest of termites with some wood art from Zaire (?
Congo).

Good hope to get a Caligo in Charleston...
More easy to come to Nicaragua and get some of them. We get nerly 50 of them
(4 species) in Los Guatusos, near border of Costa Rica last week, with fruit
traps. Perhaps if you put some fruit traps in the harbour could work, just
pacience...

Sincerely,

Jean-Michel MAES
MUSEO ENTOMOLOGICO
AP 527
LEON
NICARAGUA
tel 505-3116586
jmmaes at ibw.com.ni
www.insectariumvirtual.com/termitero/termitero.htm#nicaragua
www.insectariumvirtual.com/lasmariposasdenicaragua.htm
www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/workers/JMaes.htm
www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/database2/honduintro.htm
----- Original Message -----
From: Ron Gatrelle <gatrelle at tils-ttr.org>
To: Leps-l <Leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2000 6:52 PM
Subject: Agricultural transport


>    Honestly, one of my great fantasies is to catch a Caligo (owl
> butterfly -- can't believe I just lowered myself to use a common name)
here
> in Charleston. This is entirely possible as Charleston is a very busy
> commercial port. I just need the right batch of bananas to get on the
right
> boat to the right city (here) with a Caligo pupae attached. Upon emerging
> locally, I just need to be at the right place at the right time.
>     The unintended commercial transport of insects is a problem the world
> over. For those who may not know, Point Pelee is just a few miles
southeast
> of Detroit, Michigan. It is the Key West of Canada -- its southern most
> point. This peninsula over looks one of the most heavily utilized transit
> areas in the world, the Great Lakes sea way. It is next to a major port in
> Detroit. Why is it never mentioned that odd specimens in this area could
> have just possibly arrived by commercial transit?
>     Alan just referred to the capture of a cecrops hairstreak in...
> "Saskatchewan, many hundreds of miles (perhaps 1000+ miles?) from the next
> known record.  Migratory or not, this demonstrates that a hairstreak has
the
> ability to cover some ground.  And I don't think Red-banded Hairstreak is
> considered highly migratory." This statement of Alan's is revealing, not
> about the butterfly but Alan.
>     The people who get these e-messages are scattered all over the world.
> The clear message Alan has conveyed here to those who know nothing about
> this Saskatchewan cecrops specimen is that it traveled hundreds perhaps a
> thousand miles to where it was caught. He uses the phrase "this
> demonstrates" as proof.
>     Allow me to inform you about this specimen. It is mentioned in the
> Butterflies of Canada on page 136 and 137 and is figured on plate 10. It
is
> perfectly FRESH!. It didn't fly in from anywhere. Read the text, I know
Alan
> has. The authors even call into question the authenticity of the
specimen...
> "The single Canadian specimen is damaged from mounting but looks _freshly
> emerged_, which casts some doubt on the authenticity of the record."
>     This specimen is either a falsified record or a specimen of commercial
> import. I suspect commercial import. For me, this discussion has now gone
> beyond strays and stays, opinions, climate, the pros and cons on how
things
> get someplace -- honestly.
>
>
>
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