CHARAXES IMPERIALIS
ISAAC BLEASE
Photographs informed by the Butterfly collection of C. J. T Blease
Ch.1 EXPEDITION 1-7
Ch.2 MANIPULATION 8 - 23
Ch.3 APPROPRIATION 24 - 29
Ch.4 PRESERVATION 30 - 37
EXPEDITION
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EXPEDITION
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EXPEDITION
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EXPEDITION
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EXPEDITION
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MANIPULATION
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MANIPULATION
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MANIPULATION
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MANIPULATION
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MANIPULATION
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MANIPULATION
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MANIPULATION
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MANIPULATION
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MANIPULATION
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APPROPRIATION
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APPROPRIATION
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APPROPRIATION
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APPROPRIATION
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PRESERVATION
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PRESERVATION
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PRESERVATION
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PRESERVATION
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CHARAXES IMPERIALIS
Informed by the African butterfly collection bequeathed to me by my Grandfather, Charaxes Imperialis draws upon the similarities between the act of catching, ordering and preserving of Lepidoptera, with the colonial ideologies of conquest, control and acquisition. This similarity occurred the deeper I analyzed the collection; as more and more my prior romanticized vision of the continent was being contradicted by family photographs from the time that depicted, a bourgeois and contained Africa in which the expatriate roamed free. I began to see the selective amnesia regarding the mental and physical stain, left by the adverse history of British interference in Africa, being unwrapped visually and metaphorically in the forceful nature and methodology of butterfly collecting. The consisting images were taken following the routes made by my Grandfather, which were annotated within the collection.
Butterfly Collecting Handbook (as supplement in back of book)
To obtain satisfactory results from fieldwork, the apparatus used by the Lepidopterist need not be extensive or elaborate, but requires to be of a strong and serviceable type.
IT IS OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE THAT ALL EQUIPMENT SHOULD BE ADEQUATE IN EVERY WAY FOR THE PURPOSE FOR WHICH IT IS USED. FAR TOO OFTEN, SPECIMENS, INCLUDING RARITIES, DO NOT REACH THE COLLECTION BECAUSE OF SUCH SIMPLE ERRORS AS THE USE OF AN UNSUITABLE KILLING MEDIUM, OR A CONTAINER NOT FIT FOR THE SPECIMEN CAPTURED.
One should go out in search for Butterflies as a means of aquisition, not only for its healthful and entertaining purposes, but also to become acquainted with the objects under their natural conditions.
NETS
The net may be a simple cane ring, one of home construction, or the more elaborate, but not necessarily more efficient, fabrication of steel jointed ring with a grenadine bag and y-piece handle.
Baiting or ‘sugaring’ is a tried and true technique for Lepidopterists. There are many variants and the act can be frustratingly unpredictable, however the results can prove to be worthwhile:
The butterflies which are attracted to the bait, rarely become inebriated to the extent that they can be collected directly into a cyanide bottle. Therefore it is almost always necessary to catch them in a net.
Feces on the ground has also been observed to attract many butterflies.
A sugared trap, should be selected in an area where the desired species of butterflies occur. The mixture is placed within a trap hanging from the chosen tree. The baited trees should be visited frequently, with a minimum of noise or quick movements, as butterflies are easily frightened. It will be noted that many butterflies are attracted only at certain times of the day.
KILLING METHODS
Some collectors seem to be experts at killing Butterflies by pressing the sides of the thorax together. The method is not, however, as satisfactory as one could wish, and so no more need be said about it. For the happy despatch of insects, the cyanide bottle is frequently used. All that has to be done is to clap the open bottle over the captive while still in the net, then draw the gauze or what-not over the mouth of the bottle until the bung can be inserted, and the whole affair withdrawn from the net.
Once field collection is finished, there are three aims. First to maintain each specimen in the best possible condition throughout the processes of killing, mounting, labelling and storing.Secondly to produce the permanent record, which includes all the relevant data surrounding the capture and its accurate determination.
Finally, to relegate the specimen to a place where it can be permenantly and safely housed, so that the subsequent workers can have access to it and to all the information which has been gathered together.
PINNING
In pinning a specimen, care should be taken that the pin passes in a direct line through the center of the thorax. Insects that are properly pinned set better, and have a neat appearance when arranged in the collection.
RELAXANT METHODS
There are occasions when specimens that have become hard and dry before setting, have to be suitably relaxed for this purpose. The specimens should be immersed in the fluid, only when a proper degree of relaxation has been achieved should they be taken out.
LABELLING
Before putting the specimens away in drawers to preserve, they must be labelled appropriately with the date of capture, the locality, the name of the captor. All these particulars may be written on small squares of paper and put on the pins underneath the specimens.
SETTING
Setting as it is called, is the spreading out and fixing of the wings so that all there parts are displayed, arranging the horns etc... This is perhaps the most tedious work that the collector will be called upon to perform. However this the most important part of appropriating your capture as it will become how your collection is in effect viewed and studied.
The ultimate for the arranged collection of prepared specimens should be the cabinet drawer, this is the vessel for a well ordered and safely housed collection of Lepidoptera. The cabinets should always stand where they are free from damp.
Dedicated to Anne and Kit Blease, loving parents and Grandparents