Extremely rare world collection of diurnal butterflies in a museum drawer

Offered: an exceptionally complete and historical museum cabinet with 16 prepared exotic day-flying butterflies, derived from the renowned private collection of entomologist Vestergaard. Introduction: What you see here is not a standard decorative butterfly collection—it is a museum-worthy entomological world collection of 16 specimens from the famous Vestergaard collection. This is an intercontinental collection focusing on Neotropical and Paleotropical rare material, all with handwritten/typed original field labels: 1. South America - the rarest part, collected directly by Vestergaard: • Hamadryas sp. - Peru, Bellavista Dept. Cajamarca, 12.VI.1989 - The blue cracker with eye spots • Prepona / Archaeoprepona - Peru, El Nuyo, Amazonas, 14.VI.1989 • Zerene cesonia - Mexico, Candelaria Loxicha, Oaxaca, 500m, 3.VIII.1970 - The Dogface Sulphur • Mechanitis / Dryas - Ecuador, Ponce Loma, Oriente, 630m, 4.I.1981 • Mechanitis polymnia - Peru, Juanjui, San Martin, 17.X.1999 • Philaethria dido - The Green Bamboo butterfly - Neotropics - Very sought-after for its transparent green. 2. Asia - Absolute highlights: • Amesia (Erasmia) sanguiflua sanguiflua - Fang, Chiang Mai, Thailand, SEPT. 2001 THIS IS THE STAR OF THE COLLECTION!!!! A day-active Zygaenidae moth with an insane metallic blue / ruby red sheen. Very rarely offered commercially. A holy grail for Chalcosiinae collectors!!!! • Litinga mimica - Hei Mt. 1300m, Lanchang, Yunnan, China, VIII.1999 leg. Zhi - A master of mimicry from the highlands of Yunnan. Extremely local and rare in collections. • Euphaedra / Euptera? - Cameroon, Yaounde, 8-3-1995, Vestergaard - African forest jewel. • 2x Chinese endemics: China, W. Sichuan, Kangding Paoma-Shan & Emei Shan, 1600m, leg. Wu/Wan 1997-1998 Likely Apatura and Lethe species, high-altitude fauna. • Belenois / Appias - Cameroon, Douala, 5-7-1974, Vestergaard 3. Europe & Middle East - Historical material: • Charaxes jasius - Yugoslavia, Insel Lopud near Dubrovnik, 6.6.73, O. Legler - The Two-tailed Pasha, the largest butterfly in Europe. Yugoslavian material from before 1990 is historical and cannot be collected at this location anymore. • Parnassius sp. - Iran, Ostan Tehran, Alborz, Dizin Gardaneh, 2800-3100m, 23-6-1973 leg. W.I. Blom - High-m mountainous Apollo butterfly from the Alborz. Iranian high mountain material has been inaccessible for 40 years due to political circumstances. • Parnassius apollo - Iran, Prov. Gorazan, Kuh-e-binAlud, 1500-2000m, 16-7-1981 leg. W.L. Blom, Collection A. de Jonge / Holland incl. Amesia sanguiflua & Litinga mimica - With Original Data Description per butterfly: ROW 1 - TOP ROW 1. LEFT TOP: Iran Ustan Tehran Reshteh Ye Alborz Dizin Gardaneh 2800-3100 Mt 23-6-1973 leg. W.I. Blom / Holland Collection A. de Jonge - Parnassius Apollo - White. 3000m Alborz. Unobtainable Iran material. 2. AMESIA (ERASMIA) SANGUIFLUA SANGUIFLUA FANG CHIANG MAI THAILAND SEPT. 2001 - Amesia sanguiflua - ABSOLUTE TOPPIECE - Metallic blue with ruby red. The rarest piece in the cabinet. 3. EL NUYO AMAZONAS PERU 14.VI.1989 - Archaeoprepona - Dark with white band from the Amazon. 4. RIGHT TOP: Iran Shandz Prov. Gorazan Kuh-e-binAlud 1500-2000 m 16-7-1981 Leg. W.L. Blom / Holland Collection A. de Jonge - Parnassius apollo with red eye spots. ROW 2 5. LEFT: Jugoslavija Surroundings of Dubrovnik Insel Lopud 6.6.73 O. Legler - Charaxes jasius - Two-tailed Pasha - Largest in Europe. Historic Yugoslavia. 6. Cameroon Yaounde 8-3-1995 Vestergaard - Euphaedra - African forest nymph - Green/orange/blue iridescent. 7. BELLAVISTA DEP. CAJAMARCA PERU 12.VI.1989 - Hamadryas - Blue Cracker - Dark with bright blue speckles. 8. RIGHT: COLOMBIA Tolima Melgar 800m 21-7-1977 Vestergaard & Vis - Callicore - Colombian 88-butterfly - Orange/black. Original Vestergaard & Vis expedition label 1977. ROW 3 9. LEFT: CHINA, W. SICHUAN, Kangding, Paoma-Shan. VIII.1998. leg. Wan - Apatura Emperor’s Mantle - Dark with white band. 10. JUANJUI SAN MARTIN PERU 17.X.1999 - Mechanitis - Tiger - Bright orange/black. 11. Candelaria Loxicha OAXACA, 500M MEXICO 3.VIII.1970 / ZERENE CESONIA 23J - Zerene cesonia - Dogface - Yellow with dog-face pattern. Mexico 1970. 12. RIGHT: CHINA, W. SICHUAN, Emei Shan. 1600 m VII.1997. leg. Wu - Lethe - Bamboo brown - Brown velvet. ROW 4 - LOWER ROW 13. LEFT: PHILAETHRIA Billberg, 1820 P. dido Linnaeus, 1760 - Philaethria dido - Green Bamboo - Black with mint green. 14. HEI MT 1300M LANCHANG 20 YUNNAN CHINA VIII.1999 LEG. ZHI / LITINGA MIMICA - Litinga mimica - Second-top rarity from Yunnan. 15. Cameroon Douala 5-7-1974 Vestergaard - Belenois - African White - White with black. 16. RIGHT LOWER: PONCE LOMA ORIENTE ECUADOR 630M 4.I.1981 - Eueides / Dryas - Orange Tiger - Orange with black stripes from Ecuador. Why this collection is unique for the serious collector: Provenance and Scientific Value: All 16 specimens come with their original, unique data labels, partly handwritten by Vestergaard himself. No trade labels. This concerns field-collected material from expeditions between 1970 - 2001 to Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Cameroon, Thailand, China, Iran and former Yugoslavia. The labels are partly written by himself and partly by fellow entomologists such as Wu, Ten Broek and Peregovits and Varga. A one-off opportunity for advanced collectors, study, museums or a very extensively documented museum cabinet from a renowned A complete and very extensively documented cabinet like this will never be assembled again. A lifetime of collecting, handcrafted. This is a lot for the serious collector seeking provenance, data and species you will never find in a shop. We have received 100 new Vestergaard museum cabinets!!! Again a very large complete scientific insect collection. Provenance Vestergaard / Gyulai and several other national and international entomologists. We will auction this collection again without minimum prices on Catawiki, so keep an eye on my offers. Pickup is preferred due to the fragility. If you buy multiple boxes we can arrange a possible personal delivery. When shipping we will pack the boxes with care and extremely well. Although all insects are securely mounted on pins, there is always a small risk of damage. Therefore shipping is also at your own risk. We have now shipped more than 80 boxes and all of them, except for one pin, arrived in good condition. Will be packed with great care and shipped insured.

Estimate:£167.73

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