Archivos de diario de enero 2021

07 de enero de 2021

1969-70 the beginning

as a boy I started with summer camps, observing birds, plants and insects. Started to use holidays with my parents for collecting insects.

first collection items were skulls, stones, spiders and insects. My mum was horrified, so I had to leave it all outside my room

I learned how to pin insects and label them correctly with date and location

an old butterfly collector in Luzern, Mr. R.Buholzer, gave me a few tropical butterflies

in the Nendaz area (Valais, Switzerland)

in the Airolo-Biasca area (Ticino, Switzerland)

Publicado el 07 de enero de 2021 por amzamz amzamz | 9 comentarios | Deja un comentario

1972-76 mothing with superactinic tube

... after 2-3 years of night walking along street lights, I decided to go for superactinic tubes. Often, I combined them with a self ballasted Mercury lamp, because it was easier to see the moths arriving

at Eslex, Lavey (Vaud, Switzerland)

at Campascio, Poschiavo (Graubünden, Switzerland)

at Egerkingen (Solothurn, Switzerland)

Publicado el 07 de enero de 2021 por amzamz amzamz | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

1975-78 summer job at ETH research station

I was jobbing in Zuoz, maintaining pheromone and light traps for the "Lärchenwickler" Zeiraphera project, under guidance of Dr. W.Baltensweiler. Instead of a salary I got free access to a VW minivan and Mercury lights. I also evaluated light traps in high mountain locations for Noctuidae moths

typical set of Mercury lights, bedsheet and generator used in the Engadin, Vintschgau, Val Müstair, Poschiavo and Bregaglia

an example of an ETH light trap, this one was used on Julier pass during Summers 1975/76

Publicado el 07 de enero de 2021 por amzamz amzamz | 2 comentarios | Deja un comentario

1970 ff logbooks

this is my first logbook from 1970. Just a few pages shown. I used logbooks mainly 1970-95. Most of the information is now in iNat, with the exception of dubious identifications without a corresponding specimen in the collection.



in later years, the logbook became more organised and later it was based on single sheets





in 1978/79 I was programming at ETH Zurich and had access to its mainframe computer. I entered all observations on punch cards (IBM) and had the sorted output printed on a chain printer. It's a massive pile, I still have a copy of the 256 pages output. Lost the 12,800 punchcards (7 boxes).

Publicado el 07 de enero de 2021 por amzamz amzamz | 1 comentario | Deja un comentario

2015 ff self ballasted Mercury lamp with sheet

this is the set currently in use. Located under a balcony, in a corner such that neighbors cannot directly see the bulb. The light is on the sheet, but also in a 60 degree angle towards a South facing slope with dry grassland which I established in my back yard. In about 30m distance the forest starts. The stand was home made from water piping, cable and lamp holder. The side arm was used to hold an umbrella to protect the lamp from rain. WARNING: I am wearing glasses! Protect your eyes and don't look into the light!

sometimes, I use UV LEDs in addition, to attract micro lepidoptera to a specific location near the bottom of the sheet. here shown with the Mercury lamp off

Publicado el 07 de enero de 2021 por amzamz amzamz | 0 comentarios | Deja un comentario

08 de enero de 2021

some info about the tags I am using

Uploaded observations 1970-1995 may be without photos, or with photos of collection specimens. But they are all my own, and referring to the observation of a live animal. Whenever possible, I used labels for light sources and high altitudes.

elevation 2800-3000m
elevation 2600-2800m
elevation 2400-2600m
elevation 2200-2400m
elevation 2000-2200m

label (in German).............. = (in English)

superaktinische Röhre.......superactinic tube
Mischlicht.............................self ballasted Mercury lamp
Hg-Lampe.............................Mercury lamp
Petromax...............................pressurized kerosene lamp
Heath trap
UV-LEDs
UV-Energiesparlampe........UV energy saving bulb
ETH Lichtfalle (Hg).............light trap, operated by Entomology, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH)
Pheromonfalle......................phereomone trap
Strassenbeleuchtung..........street lights
Beob 23 24 01......................Observation time 23 to 01 o'clock
Beob ( 20 21 ) 22 23...........Light on from 20 to 23 o'clock, personal attendance only 22-23 o'clock

If you see the label "date shift -1day" that means that the date is correct, but this part of the night traditionally is counted to the previous date. This is important for time series and night-to-night comparisons. A moth seen 5 minutes before midnight and the same moth seen 5 minutes after midnight should be only one observation! Not sure how to solve this in iNat...

Publicado el 08 de enero de 2021 por amzamz amzamz | 2 comentarios | Deja un comentario
Vida Silvestre es una entidad asociada a la Organización Mundial de Conservación