Post by nomad on Jul 11, 2018 15:41:45 GMT
The Dale Papers : The insect discoveries.
This article looks at some of insect discoveries of James Charles Dale (1791–1872) that he made in England between 1819-1845. Many of these insect discoveries that were either new to Britain or to science, were published by John Curtis in his British Entomology, being illustrations and descriptions of the genera of insects found in Great Britain and Ireland. John Curtis issued parts of his British Entomology, in no particular order between 1823 and 1840. When the last part of his work was published in 1840, the different parts were put into eight volumes of their respective insect orders. It is possible to tell when each description was originally issued in the original parts because Curtis added a date to the accompanying plate. Curtis who lived in London, visited Dale at Glanvilles Wootton in Dorset on a number of occasions, and among other places, they collected together in the New Forest in Hampshire and Parley Heath in adjoining county of Dorset. Further Dale and Curtis insect discoveries can be found in the forthcoming articles in this thread, An 1825 Entomological tour of Scotland and Collecting in the Lake District and the Manchester Mosses in 1827.
For futher information on Dale and specimens in his collection, see 'I would go through fire and water for insects'.
collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/512/dale-fire-water-insects
The Lulworth Skipper, Thymelicus acteon Rottemburg, 1775. Hesperiidae.
Thymelicus acteon is by far J. C. Dale's most famous discovery of a British insect. On August 14, 1832 Dale set out on horseback from the manor house at Glanvilles Wootton to travel the 25 miles to Lulworth on the coast of Dorset, he had his pair of pistols with him, in case of footpads. Nearing Lulworth he recorded in his diary that he observed Polyommatus coridon. The village of Lulworth is set at the head of Lulworth Cove, an imposing amphitheater of chalk cliffs rising above the sea. The next morning Dale left Lulworth, probably walking rather than riding over the whale backed down to the cliffs above Durdle door, a natural limestone arch. Here on the edge of the cliffs he records in his diary for August 15, "Hesperia acteon plenty". The capture of T. acteon in Britain was announced by John Curtis the following year 1833 in British Entomology vol 5, and he was more enthusiastic about the discovery than Dale appeared to be in his diary, he writes " We cannot often hope to record the addition of a butterfly to our British Fauna, but this species was discovered at Lulworth Cove, last August by J.C. Dale, Esq, through whose liberality it now ornaments most of our cabinets; it was found upon Thistles, and is very local. The exact place where he took the first specimen is called Durdle Dove, and is situated to the west of Lulworth Cove. " Curtis who gave the butterfly its English name, the Lulworth Skipper, illustrated the butterfly in his usual fine style, from specimens sent to him by Dale, figuring the male above and the female below. Since Dale's notable discovery, T. acteon has been found in other places long the Dorsetshire coast and inland on the Purbeck Hills of that county.
The Lulworth Skipper, Hesperia actaeon. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 5, plate 442, 1832.
Thymelicus actaeon male. Dale coll, OUMNH.
Halictophagus curtisii Dale 1832. Halictophagidae, Order Strepsiptera.
On August 15, 1832, when Dale added the Lulworth Skipper to the British list, he discovered two other insects that were new, a parasitic wasp, that C.W. Dale (1878) records as Eucyrtus Mirabilis, and Halictophagus curtisii, a small bee parasite of the order Strepsiptera, a genus which had been created by the Rev William Kirby. Dale's description of H. curtisii appeared in John Curtis' British Entomology, vol 3; he had discovered this tiny insect when cleaning his net from sweeping long grass after he returned to the inn at Lulworth from collecting at Durdle Door.
The Amateur Entomologist's Society web page (2017) gives a brief account of the Strepsiptera, " These little insects live as parasites on other insects. As you can imagine, that means they must be small - no more than 4mm long in most cases. They are obligate parasites - which means that that is the only way they can live. And this means that they must have evolved to do this alongside their hosts, over many millions of years. In most species of Strepsiptera the females stay inside the insect they are parasites of (their host). This means that the females don't need wings. Neither do they need antennae, nor even legs. However, in a few types of Strepsiptera, the females get their own back on the free flying males by being able to reproduce by parthenogenesis. This means that they don't need males at all, and just lay eggs and produce offspring asexually, without males."
Halictophagus curtisii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 3, plate 433, 1832. You can see the actual size of this tiny species in the figure beneath the enlarged one.
Ringled Carpet moth, Cleora Cinctaria Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775. Geometridae.
Curtis (1825) recorded in his British Entomology that " For the introduction of this rare species into our fauna we are indebted to J.C. Dale, who first took it on the trunk of an oak near Brockenhurst, Hants on 2nd June 1823. A second specimen was taken by Dale on the trunk of a Scotch Fir at Parley Heath in Dorset on 11th May 1824 and a third by him near Lyndhurst on 31st May 1824."
This species occurs in heathland and open woodland, it is very local in the southern counties of England, its headquarters have always been Hampshire's New Forest. A paler endemic subspecies bowesi Richardson, 1952 occurs in Scotland. The larvae feed on a number of plants and deciduous trees, often being obtained from birch.
Cleora Cinctaria. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 6, plate 88, 1825.
Cleora Cinctaria. New Forest. Bristol Museum coll.
Orange-spotted Emerald, Oxygastra curtisii Dale, 1834. Corduliidae.
Sidney Charles Scarsdale Brown (1980) in an unpublished manuscript, J.C. Dale of Glanvilles Wootton, writes of Oxygastra curtisii " On the 29th of June 1820, Dale, when at Parley, caught a dragonfly of the genus Cordulia, which be did not recognize, or could he identify it from the literature available to him at that time. It is most probable that he considered it to be a new species, but lacked the confidence and experience to name it. He came across it again in 1823. On June 8th 1831, he and Curtis were on Ramsdown together, and here they both took a single specimen. No doubt encouraged by Curtis, Dale finally decided to describe it, and named it in honour of his friend and companion. It would appear that curtisii was not at any time plentiful. In the Curtis collection, now in the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, are four specimens, two males and two females. The Notebook entry reads: "July, common on Parley Heath, J.C.D. 1823, male and female at Hume, Dorset. In an article in Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, 1834 A list of the more rare of the Species of Insects found on Parley Heath, he said that he had taken a minimum of twelve, the number being expressive of fewer than those he had given away. This figure is in contrast with fifty of Gomphus vulgatissimus. Dale, like most of the entomologists of that time, was in the habit of taking very long series, probably for exchange. When he came across a rare or local species, he took all he could obtain."
Oxygastra curtisii. Dale collection. OUMNH.
Dale himself when describing the new Dragonfly as Cordulia curtisii in Loudon's Magazine of natural history and journal of zoology (1834) writes " On June 29, 1820 I discovered a new Cordulia on Parley Heath, Hampshire. It is one of the finest insects I have ever found ; and I had proposed to name it after a certain friend, but objection had been made to its bearing his name, " he not being the captor" As it has remained nondescript up to this time, and is unnoticed, so far as I can found out, by Vander Linden, Charpentier, and other writers, I venture to descibe and name it after a friend whom I saw capture it ; and, as some jealously has been displayed on account of my having given a manuscript name only to Halictophagus curtisii, I request the favour of the following appearing in print. "
When alive, this species has an attractive melanic orange markings on the abdomen, which is lost in museum specimens. The habitat is slow flowing rivers and streams, however this species is now extinct in Britain, probably due to pollution of its last known habitat on the Moors river in Dorset where it was last recorded in 1957. It is also sadly extinct in Holland but occurs elsewhere over much of Europe.
Cordulia curtisii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 4, plate 616, 1836.
J.C. Dale captured a number of new insects on Parley Heath, he was credited with the discovery of the Speckled Footman, Coscinia cribraria bivittata South, 1900, there in 1820 by Brown (1980) but according to J.F. Stephens in his Illustrations of British Entomology, a William Bentley took two males the previous year in June 1819 near Ringwood. See
collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/1544/moths-men-endemic-british-subspecies
Parley Heath is situated near West Parley in south-eastern Dorset, here Dale owned a farm, he would arrive on horseback to collect here from Glanvilles Wootton, 35 miles away. The Moors river flows through the heath and in the western corner is Parley Copse which is shown on a map dated 1633. John Curtis in Dale's company, first collected insects on Parley Heath in 1822, and that year they also collected together in the New Forest.
Cryptocephalus biguttatus Scopoli, 1763. Chrysomelidae.
Cryptocephalus biguttatus is a rare and attractive beetle that is confined in Britain to wet heathlands in the New Forest, Dorset and Surrey. Curtis (1824) writes " Nothing can prove completely the rapid progress of Entomology in this country than the extensive additions that have been made to this beautiful Genus within the last twelve years, amongst the most splendid of which is C. bipustulatus, a single specimen having been captured by Mr Dale near a coppice on Parley Heath, Dorset, 1st July 1823."
Cryptocephalus bipustulatus Fabricius, 1775 = Cryptocephalus biguttatus Scopoli, 1763. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 2, plate 35, 1824.
Ctenophora ornata. Meigen, 1818. Tipulidae. Order Diptera.
Dale first met the great parson naturalist the Reverend William Kirby (1759 –1850) when he was at Cambridge University. Kirby spent his entire working life at the parsonage at Barham in Suffolk and was the author of several books and his most well known was written with William Spence, An Introduction to Entomology, published in four volumes between 1815 & 1826; he was a friend of John Curtis who he employed to work on the plates in 1819 for the latter work.
On July 7, 1821, Kirby and Dale were collecting together in the New Forest near Lyndhurst when Dale observed a specimen of the Lobster moth, Stauropus fagi, then considered a rarity. Dale was preparing to box the moth, when Kirby claimed he spotted it first, " take it" said Dale. Shortly afterwards, Dale took something much rarer, the first British specimen of the hornet-mimicking Cranefly, Ctenophora ornata. Kirby said " Now Dale, I change with you", "No" replied Dale, " The Lobster moth I may take a future day, but the fly never" Dale was right in his assumption, for no other British specimen of this rare fly was taken again until 60 years later to the day when his son, Charles William Dale in the company of the Rev. C.R. Digby, found one on the trunk of an oak tree at Lyndhurst on July 7, 1881. C. ornata is mainly confined in the UK to Windsor Forest in Berkshire and to the New Forest.
Ctenophora ornata. John Curtis (1823-1840), British Entomology, vol 8, plate 5 1824.
The Durham Tinea, Acrolepiopsis betulella Curtis, 1838. Glyphipterigidae.
In August 1837, Dale made his last major journey in search of rare insects, travelling to Castle Eden Dene, County Durham in Northern England, to secure Polyommatus salmacis. J.F. Stephens (1829) in his Illustrations of British Entomology, vol 3, p 235, had described P. salmacis as a new species, after specimens were sent to him from that locality by George Wailes. Castle Eden Dene is a steep wooded ravine that leads down to limestone grassland by the sea, the habitat of salmacis, which is now recognized as a subspecies of Aricia artaxerxes. Here Dale succeeded in taking a series of salmacis and also found Erebia aethiops to be common in the grassy wooded clearings, sadly this population is now extinct there, however, a small population of A. artaxerxes salmacis still occurs in that locality.
Aricia artaxerxes salmacis. Lycaenidae. Castle Eden Dene. Dale coll. OUMNH.
Erebia aethiops. Top female, bottom male underside. Specimens from the extinct population that once occurred at Castle Eden Dene. Dale coll, OUMNH.
While he was collecting in the Dene, Dale took specimens of a moth from small birch trees that was new to science, which Curtis in 1838, described as Acrolepia betulella, a species that has now been placed genus Acrolepiopsis. This is a rare moth being found in a few localities in the 20th century in Scotland and which was thought extinct in County Durham but was rediscovered there in 2012, after being last seen there 120 years earlier. The larvae feed on Ramsons, Allium ursinum.
Acrolepia betulella. John Curtis (1823-1840), British Entomology, vol 6, plate 679, 1838.
Mottled bee-fly Thyridanthrax fenestratus Fallén, 1814. Bombyliidae
Dale added this uncommon beefly to the British list when he found it at Parley Heath, Dorset in July 1821, and shortly afterwards at St. Leonard's and Hurne in the same country. John Curtis who referred to this species as Anthrax ornata Hoffmansegg, 1824, a synonym of Thyridanthrax fenestratus, Fallén, 1814 took specimens near the centre of Parley Heath and others at nearby Ramsdown.
This is an attractive species with patterned wings is confined in Britain to the heathlands of Dorset, the New Forest, Surrey and Berkshire, where it can be found basking on the sandy ground. The larvae are parasitoids of the Heath Sand-wasp Ammophila pubescens, and the adults can often be seen hovering over the nesting areas of the wasp in dry sand between clumps of heather.
Anthrax ornata = Thyridanthrax fenestratus. John Curtis (1823-1840), British Entomology, vol 8, plate 9, 1824.
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Anthaxia nitidula Linnaeus, 1758. Buprestidae.
Curtis (1824) writes in British Entomology, vol 2, " This brilliant little species was first detected by Mr Dale and myself, the early part of last June 1824 in an excursion in the New Forest ; we beat four out of whitethorn flowers in the neighbourhood of Brockenhurst, in the heat of the day, at which time they flew with great celerity. Mr Dale has subsequently taken it as early as the 19th May." In Britain this jewel beetle, is very local being confined to the New Forest where the wood boring larvae feed in Prunus (Blackthorn) and Crataegus (Hawthorn) stems.
Buprestis nitidula. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 2, plate 31, 1824.
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Haworth's Minor, Celaena haworthii Curtis, 1829, Noctuidae » Xyleninae.
In the July of 1819, Dale visited the fenland of Whittlesea Mere in East Anglia to search for Lycaena dispar, in which he was unsuccessful. He added the Reed Tussock, Laelia coenosa to the British list, when he found a caterpillar of that species, which unfortunately died. On July 23 at Trundle Mere, he captured a noctuid moth which was new to science, which Curtis in 1829, named Apamea Haworthii in honour of Adrian Hardy Haworth (1767-1833). C. haworthii is found on the northern moorlands, the heaths of southern England and the fens of East Anglia, where the larva foodplant Cotton-grass, Eriphorium species grows.
Dale records in his Entomological calendar that he first visited Whittlesea Mere on July 16, 1814, when he saw Papilio machaon in profusion and took several Phryganea grandis, the largest British caddisfly. The next day, the 17th, he was at Stilton Fen to the west of Whittlesea Mere, where he saw further P. machaon and took the Small China-mark, Cataclysta lemnata of the Crambidae family.
Apamea Haworthii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 5, plate 260, 1829.
Emus hirtus Linnaeus, 1758. Staphylinidae.
One of Dale's best finds on Parley Heath was the strange furry and flexible Hairy Rove beetle, Emus hirtus, which he discovered there on May 16, 1821. This beetle which breeds in cow and horse dung, has always been always regarded as a rarity in Britain and is now classified as endangered being confined to the New Forest and a few other sites in southern England.
Emus hirtus John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 1, plate 534, 1835.
Shore Wainscot, Mythimna litoralis Curtis, 1827. Noctuidae » Hadeninae.
On July 8, 1824 Dale was collecting at the sandhills of the strangely named Mount Misery at Bournemouth on the coast of Dorset, when he captured a moth that was new to science which Curtis in 1827, named Leucania littoralis. The sandhills where Dale originally found the moth have long since vanished under the urban spread of Bournemouth. This species is found locally in sand dunes around the English and Welsh coastlines where the larva feed on marram (Ammophila arenaria) during the night and hide during the day in the sand.
Leucania littoralis. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 5, plate 157, 1827.
Mythimna litoralis. Hartlepool, County Durham, 1903, J. Robson. Bristol Museum collections.
A unique melanic specimen of Mythimna litoralis. Hartlepool, County Durham, 1903, J. Robson. Bristol Museum collections. This specimen seems to have escaped the attention of the authors on British Lepidoptera, not being mentioned in any of their works.
Clavigesta sylvestrana Curtis, 1850. Tortricidae
Collecting at Bournemouth, on August 12, 1845 Dale discovered a moth of the Tortricidae family that was new to science. It was described as Spilonota sylvestrana by John Curtis in 1850, in The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Notes upon the smaller British Moths, with descriptions of some nondescript or imperfectly characterized species ; Curtis writes " was first discovered by Mr Dale at Bournemouth, and from 23rd June to the 1st July we found it there in 1846. It inhabits the Pinasters on the cliffs, and we beat it into our nets in the daytime." In Britain, this is a southern species, being found where the larva foodplants, coniferous trees, in particular maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) occur.
Masoreus wetterhallii Gyllenhal, 1813. Carabidae.
Chesil Beach on the Dorset Coast is 29 kilometers in length, consisting of a raised shingle bank ; here Dale was collecting at its eastern end, beneath the Isle of Portland, when turning stones, he found a ground beetle that Curtis in 1829, named Masoreus luxatus, synonym of Masoreus wetterhallii Gyllenhal, 1813. In Britain this is scarce species and is found in only a few coastal localities.
Masoreus luxatus = Masoreus wetterhallii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 1, plate 237, 1829.
Ypsolopha asperella. Linnaeus, 1761. Family Ypsolophidae.
Dale added this species to the British list when he took specimens on hawthorn and apples, in the orchard of his manor house at Glanvilles Wootton on September 8, 1815 ; he presented a pair to J.F. Stephens. Dale captured it again there October 1, 1819, September 8, 19, 1921 and September 17, 1831. After his journey to collect insects in the Lake District in 1827, John Curtis stayed with Dale at Glanvilles Wootton, and he took Y. asperella there in the orchard on October 17. The only other county where this species was recorded was Herefordshire. However, this moth has not been seen in the British Isles since 1886 and is regarded as extinct. The Larval foodplants include apple (Malus) and hawthorn (Crataegus)
Oxycera morrisii Curtis 1833. Stratiomyidae order Diptera.
Dale discovered Oxycera morrisii on the undercliff near Lyme Regis and named it in a unpublished manuscript in honour of the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris ( 1810– 1893) who had added a number of rare soldier flies (Stratiomyidae) to the British list from the same locality. The name was published by John Curtis in British Entomology in 1833. Morris was born in Ireland and wrote a number of books on Entomology and Ornithology. In 1852 he published A History of British Butterflies and in 1859–70 A History of British Moths in 4 volumes. Morris seems to have had a turbulent relationship with Dale. S.C.S. Brown in an unpublished manuscript, The Dale Archives (1980) gives some details from the letters that Morris sent to Dale, he writes " Morris wrote a number of rude letters to Dale. Dale in one of his repiles said that the book British Butterflies, Morris being the author " was not worth a place in the library of any but a mere tyro" Morris complained that Dale had addressed letters to him as Parson Morris and Flycatcher. " O. morrisii is a rare species and occurs near springs and seepages in a scattered distribution in Britain. It is usually swept as an adult, and has rarely been photographed.
Oxycera morrisii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 8. plate 441, 1833.
Stylops Dalii Curtis, 1828. Stylopidae. Strepsiptera.
Stylops Dalii was named in J.C. Dale's honour by his lifelong friend John Curtis in British Entomology. This is another bee parasite of the order Strepsiptera, in his description of the new insect in British Entomology, Curtis gives details sent to him by Dale of its discovery. " Every specimen of Andrena barbilabris (*Sandpit Mining bee) I have seen this year, from the 27th April to the 4th June, have contained larvae, pupae, or exuviae of Stylops, from one to three in each. On the 5th May I picked one out with a pin, on the seventh another rather immature, and caught one flying in the hot sunshine over a quickset hedge in the garden ; it looked milk-white on the wing, with a jet black body, and totally unlike anything else ; it flew with an undulating or vacillating motion amongst the young shoots, and I could not catch it till it settled on one, when it ran up and down, its wings in motion, and making a considerable buzz or hum nearly as loud as a Sesia : it twisted about its rather long tail, and turned it up like a Stayphylinus (*Rove beetle). I put it under a glass and placed it in the sun ; it became quite furious in its confinement, and never ceased running about for two hours. The elytra or processes were kept in quick vibration, as well as its wings ; it buzzed against the sides of the glass, with its head touching it, and tumbled about on its back". (* My italics)
" By putting two bees of A. labialis under a glass in the sun, two Stylops were produced ; the bees seemed uneasy and went up towards them, but evidently with caution, as if to fight, and moving there antennae towards them retreated. I once thought the bee attempted to seize it; but the oddest thing was to see the Stylops get on the body of the bee and ride about,, the latter using every effort to throw its ride. A large hole is left in the tail of the bee when the Stylops escapes, which closes up after a time. I have found five species of Andrena infested. "
Stylops Dalii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 3, plate 385, 1828. The figure of this insect is much enlarged, for its actual size, see the tiny figure beneath.
This article looks at some of insect discoveries of James Charles Dale (1791–1872) that he made in England between 1819-1845. Many of these insect discoveries that were either new to Britain or to science, were published by John Curtis in his British Entomology, being illustrations and descriptions of the genera of insects found in Great Britain and Ireland. John Curtis issued parts of his British Entomology, in no particular order between 1823 and 1840. When the last part of his work was published in 1840, the different parts were put into eight volumes of their respective insect orders. It is possible to tell when each description was originally issued in the original parts because Curtis added a date to the accompanying plate. Curtis who lived in London, visited Dale at Glanvilles Wootton in Dorset on a number of occasions, and among other places, they collected together in the New Forest in Hampshire and Parley Heath in adjoining county of Dorset. Further Dale and Curtis insect discoveries can be found in the forthcoming articles in this thread, An 1825 Entomological tour of Scotland and Collecting in the Lake District and the Manchester Mosses in 1827.
For futher information on Dale and specimens in his collection, see 'I would go through fire and water for insects'.
collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/512/dale-fire-water-insects
The Lulworth Skipper, Thymelicus acteon Rottemburg, 1775. Hesperiidae.
Thymelicus acteon is by far J. C. Dale's most famous discovery of a British insect. On August 14, 1832 Dale set out on horseback from the manor house at Glanvilles Wootton to travel the 25 miles to Lulworth on the coast of Dorset, he had his pair of pistols with him, in case of footpads. Nearing Lulworth he recorded in his diary that he observed Polyommatus coridon. The village of Lulworth is set at the head of Lulworth Cove, an imposing amphitheater of chalk cliffs rising above the sea. The next morning Dale left Lulworth, probably walking rather than riding over the whale backed down to the cliffs above Durdle door, a natural limestone arch. Here on the edge of the cliffs he records in his diary for August 15, "Hesperia acteon plenty". The capture of T. acteon in Britain was announced by John Curtis the following year 1833 in British Entomology vol 5, and he was more enthusiastic about the discovery than Dale appeared to be in his diary, he writes " We cannot often hope to record the addition of a butterfly to our British Fauna, but this species was discovered at Lulworth Cove, last August by J.C. Dale, Esq, through whose liberality it now ornaments most of our cabinets; it was found upon Thistles, and is very local. The exact place where he took the first specimen is called Durdle Dove, and is situated to the west of Lulworth Cove. " Curtis who gave the butterfly its English name, the Lulworth Skipper, illustrated the butterfly in his usual fine style, from specimens sent to him by Dale, figuring the male above and the female below. Since Dale's notable discovery, T. acteon has been found in other places long the Dorsetshire coast and inland on the Purbeck Hills of that county.
The Lulworth Skipper, Hesperia actaeon. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 5, plate 442, 1832.
Thymelicus actaeon male. Dale coll, OUMNH.
Halictophagus curtisii Dale 1832. Halictophagidae, Order Strepsiptera.
On August 15, 1832, when Dale added the Lulworth Skipper to the British list, he discovered two other insects that were new, a parasitic wasp, that C.W. Dale (1878) records as Eucyrtus Mirabilis, and Halictophagus curtisii, a small bee parasite of the order Strepsiptera, a genus which had been created by the Rev William Kirby. Dale's description of H. curtisii appeared in John Curtis' British Entomology, vol 3; he had discovered this tiny insect when cleaning his net from sweeping long grass after he returned to the inn at Lulworth from collecting at Durdle Door.
The Amateur Entomologist's Society web page (2017) gives a brief account of the Strepsiptera, " These little insects live as parasites on other insects. As you can imagine, that means they must be small - no more than 4mm long in most cases. They are obligate parasites - which means that that is the only way they can live. And this means that they must have evolved to do this alongside their hosts, over many millions of years. In most species of Strepsiptera the females stay inside the insect they are parasites of (their host). This means that the females don't need wings. Neither do they need antennae, nor even legs. However, in a few types of Strepsiptera, the females get their own back on the free flying males by being able to reproduce by parthenogenesis. This means that they don't need males at all, and just lay eggs and produce offspring asexually, without males."
Halictophagus curtisii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 3, plate 433, 1832. You can see the actual size of this tiny species in the figure beneath the enlarged one.
Ringled Carpet moth, Cleora Cinctaria Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775. Geometridae.
Curtis (1825) recorded in his British Entomology that " For the introduction of this rare species into our fauna we are indebted to J.C. Dale, who first took it on the trunk of an oak near Brockenhurst, Hants on 2nd June 1823. A second specimen was taken by Dale on the trunk of a Scotch Fir at Parley Heath in Dorset on 11th May 1824 and a third by him near Lyndhurst on 31st May 1824."
This species occurs in heathland and open woodland, it is very local in the southern counties of England, its headquarters have always been Hampshire's New Forest. A paler endemic subspecies bowesi Richardson, 1952 occurs in Scotland. The larvae feed on a number of plants and deciduous trees, often being obtained from birch.
Cleora Cinctaria. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 6, plate 88, 1825.
Cleora Cinctaria. New Forest. Bristol Museum coll.
Orange-spotted Emerald, Oxygastra curtisii Dale, 1834. Corduliidae.
Sidney Charles Scarsdale Brown (1980) in an unpublished manuscript, J.C. Dale of Glanvilles Wootton, writes of Oxygastra curtisii " On the 29th of June 1820, Dale, when at Parley, caught a dragonfly of the genus Cordulia, which be did not recognize, or could he identify it from the literature available to him at that time. It is most probable that he considered it to be a new species, but lacked the confidence and experience to name it. He came across it again in 1823. On June 8th 1831, he and Curtis were on Ramsdown together, and here they both took a single specimen. No doubt encouraged by Curtis, Dale finally decided to describe it, and named it in honour of his friend and companion. It would appear that curtisii was not at any time plentiful. In the Curtis collection, now in the National Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, are four specimens, two males and two females. The Notebook entry reads: "July, common on Parley Heath, J.C.D. 1823, male and female at Hume, Dorset. In an article in Loudon's Magazine of Natural History, 1834 A list of the more rare of the Species of Insects found on Parley Heath, he said that he had taken a minimum of twelve, the number being expressive of fewer than those he had given away. This figure is in contrast with fifty of Gomphus vulgatissimus. Dale, like most of the entomologists of that time, was in the habit of taking very long series, probably for exchange. When he came across a rare or local species, he took all he could obtain."
Oxygastra curtisii. Dale collection. OUMNH.
Dale himself when describing the new Dragonfly as Cordulia curtisii in Loudon's Magazine of natural history and journal of zoology (1834) writes " On June 29, 1820 I discovered a new Cordulia on Parley Heath, Hampshire. It is one of the finest insects I have ever found ; and I had proposed to name it after a certain friend, but objection had been made to its bearing his name, " he not being the captor" As it has remained nondescript up to this time, and is unnoticed, so far as I can found out, by Vander Linden, Charpentier, and other writers, I venture to descibe and name it after a friend whom I saw capture it ; and, as some jealously has been displayed on account of my having given a manuscript name only to Halictophagus curtisii, I request the favour of the following appearing in print. "
When alive, this species has an attractive melanic orange markings on the abdomen, which is lost in museum specimens. The habitat is slow flowing rivers and streams, however this species is now extinct in Britain, probably due to pollution of its last known habitat on the Moors river in Dorset where it was last recorded in 1957. It is also sadly extinct in Holland but occurs elsewhere over much of Europe.
Cordulia curtisii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 4, plate 616, 1836.
J.C. Dale captured a number of new insects on Parley Heath, he was credited with the discovery of the Speckled Footman, Coscinia cribraria bivittata South, 1900, there in 1820 by Brown (1980) but according to J.F. Stephens in his Illustrations of British Entomology, a William Bentley took two males the previous year in June 1819 near Ringwood. See
collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/1544/moths-men-endemic-british-subspecies
Parley Heath is situated near West Parley in south-eastern Dorset, here Dale owned a farm, he would arrive on horseback to collect here from Glanvilles Wootton, 35 miles away. The Moors river flows through the heath and in the western corner is Parley Copse which is shown on a map dated 1633. John Curtis in Dale's company, first collected insects on Parley Heath in 1822, and that year they also collected together in the New Forest.
Cryptocephalus biguttatus Scopoli, 1763. Chrysomelidae.
Cryptocephalus biguttatus is a rare and attractive beetle that is confined in Britain to wet heathlands in the New Forest, Dorset and Surrey. Curtis (1824) writes " Nothing can prove completely the rapid progress of Entomology in this country than the extensive additions that have been made to this beautiful Genus within the last twelve years, amongst the most splendid of which is C. bipustulatus, a single specimen having been captured by Mr Dale near a coppice on Parley Heath, Dorset, 1st July 1823."
Cryptocephalus bipustulatus Fabricius, 1775 = Cryptocephalus biguttatus Scopoli, 1763. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 2, plate 35, 1824.
Ctenophora ornata. Meigen, 1818. Tipulidae. Order Diptera.
Dale first met the great parson naturalist the Reverend William Kirby (1759 –1850) when he was at Cambridge University. Kirby spent his entire working life at the parsonage at Barham in Suffolk and was the author of several books and his most well known was written with William Spence, An Introduction to Entomology, published in four volumes between 1815 & 1826; he was a friend of John Curtis who he employed to work on the plates in 1819 for the latter work.
On July 7, 1821, Kirby and Dale were collecting together in the New Forest near Lyndhurst when Dale observed a specimen of the Lobster moth, Stauropus fagi, then considered a rarity. Dale was preparing to box the moth, when Kirby claimed he spotted it first, " take it" said Dale. Shortly afterwards, Dale took something much rarer, the first British specimen of the hornet-mimicking Cranefly, Ctenophora ornata. Kirby said " Now Dale, I change with you", "No" replied Dale, " The Lobster moth I may take a future day, but the fly never" Dale was right in his assumption, for no other British specimen of this rare fly was taken again until 60 years later to the day when his son, Charles William Dale in the company of the Rev. C.R. Digby, found one on the trunk of an oak tree at Lyndhurst on July 7, 1881. C. ornata is mainly confined in the UK to Windsor Forest in Berkshire and to the New Forest.
Ctenophora ornata. John Curtis (1823-1840), British Entomology, vol 8, plate 5 1824.
The Durham Tinea, Acrolepiopsis betulella Curtis, 1838. Glyphipterigidae.
In August 1837, Dale made his last major journey in search of rare insects, travelling to Castle Eden Dene, County Durham in Northern England, to secure Polyommatus salmacis. J.F. Stephens (1829) in his Illustrations of British Entomology, vol 3, p 235, had described P. salmacis as a new species, after specimens were sent to him from that locality by George Wailes. Castle Eden Dene is a steep wooded ravine that leads down to limestone grassland by the sea, the habitat of salmacis, which is now recognized as a subspecies of Aricia artaxerxes. Here Dale succeeded in taking a series of salmacis and also found Erebia aethiops to be common in the grassy wooded clearings, sadly this population is now extinct there, however, a small population of A. artaxerxes salmacis still occurs in that locality.
Aricia artaxerxes salmacis. Lycaenidae. Castle Eden Dene. Dale coll. OUMNH.
Erebia aethiops. Top female, bottom male underside. Specimens from the extinct population that once occurred at Castle Eden Dene. Dale coll, OUMNH.
While he was collecting in the Dene, Dale took specimens of a moth from small birch trees that was new to science, which Curtis in 1838, described as Acrolepia betulella, a species that has now been placed genus Acrolepiopsis. This is a rare moth being found in a few localities in the 20th century in Scotland and which was thought extinct in County Durham but was rediscovered there in 2012, after being last seen there 120 years earlier. The larvae feed on Ramsons, Allium ursinum.
Acrolepia betulella. John Curtis (1823-1840), British Entomology, vol 6, plate 679, 1838.
Mottled bee-fly Thyridanthrax fenestratus Fallén, 1814. Bombyliidae
Dale added this uncommon beefly to the British list when he found it at Parley Heath, Dorset in July 1821, and shortly afterwards at St. Leonard's and Hurne in the same country. John Curtis who referred to this species as Anthrax ornata Hoffmansegg, 1824, a synonym of Thyridanthrax fenestratus, Fallén, 1814 took specimens near the centre of Parley Heath and others at nearby Ramsdown.
This is an attractive species with patterned wings is confined in Britain to the heathlands of Dorset, the New Forest, Surrey and Berkshire, where it can be found basking on the sandy ground. The larvae are parasitoids of the Heath Sand-wasp Ammophila pubescens, and the adults can often be seen hovering over the nesting areas of the wasp in dry sand between clumps of heather.
Anthrax ornata = Thyridanthrax fenestratus. John Curtis (1823-1840), British Entomology, vol 8, plate 9, 1824.
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Anthaxia nitidula Linnaeus, 1758. Buprestidae.
Curtis (1824) writes in British Entomology, vol 2, " This brilliant little species was first detected by Mr Dale and myself, the early part of last June 1824 in an excursion in the New Forest ; we beat four out of whitethorn flowers in the neighbourhood of Brockenhurst, in the heat of the day, at which time they flew with great celerity. Mr Dale has subsequently taken it as early as the 19th May." In Britain this jewel beetle, is very local being confined to the New Forest where the wood boring larvae feed in Prunus (Blackthorn) and Crataegus (Hawthorn) stems.
Buprestis nitidula. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 2, plate 31, 1824.
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Haworth's Minor, Celaena haworthii Curtis, 1829, Noctuidae » Xyleninae.
In the July of 1819, Dale visited the fenland of Whittlesea Mere in East Anglia to search for Lycaena dispar, in which he was unsuccessful. He added the Reed Tussock, Laelia coenosa to the British list, when he found a caterpillar of that species, which unfortunately died. On July 23 at Trundle Mere, he captured a noctuid moth which was new to science, which Curtis in 1829, named Apamea Haworthii in honour of Adrian Hardy Haworth (1767-1833). C. haworthii is found on the northern moorlands, the heaths of southern England and the fens of East Anglia, where the larva foodplant Cotton-grass, Eriphorium species grows.
Dale records in his Entomological calendar that he first visited Whittlesea Mere on July 16, 1814, when he saw Papilio machaon in profusion and took several Phryganea grandis, the largest British caddisfly. The next day, the 17th, he was at Stilton Fen to the west of Whittlesea Mere, where he saw further P. machaon and took the Small China-mark, Cataclysta lemnata of the Crambidae family.
Apamea Haworthii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 5, plate 260, 1829.
Emus hirtus Linnaeus, 1758. Staphylinidae.
One of Dale's best finds on Parley Heath was the strange furry and flexible Hairy Rove beetle, Emus hirtus, which he discovered there on May 16, 1821. This beetle which breeds in cow and horse dung, has always been always regarded as a rarity in Britain and is now classified as endangered being confined to the New Forest and a few other sites in southern England.
Emus hirtus John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 1, plate 534, 1835.
Shore Wainscot, Mythimna litoralis Curtis, 1827. Noctuidae » Hadeninae.
On July 8, 1824 Dale was collecting at the sandhills of the strangely named Mount Misery at Bournemouth on the coast of Dorset, when he captured a moth that was new to science which Curtis in 1827, named Leucania littoralis. The sandhills where Dale originally found the moth have long since vanished under the urban spread of Bournemouth. This species is found locally in sand dunes around the English and Welsh coastlines where the larva feed on marram (Ammophila arenaria) during the night and hide during the day in the sand.
Leucania littoralis. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 5, plate 157, 1827.
Mythimna litoralis. Hartlepool, County Durham, 1903, J. Robson. Bristol Museum collections.
A unique melanic specimen of Mythimna litoralis. Hartlepool, County Durham, 1903, J. Robson. Bristol Museum collections. This specimen seems to have escaped the attention of the authors on British Lepidoptera, not being mentioned in any of their works.
Clavigesta sylvestrana Curtis, 1850. Tortricidae
Collecting at Bournemouth, on August 12, 1845 Dale discovered a moth of the Tortricidae family that was new to science. It was described as Spilonota sylvestrana by John Curtis in 1850, in The Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Notes upon the smaller British Moths, with descriptions of some nondescript or imperfectly characterized species ; Curtis writes " was first discovered by Mr Dale at Bournemouth, and from 23rd June to the 1st July we found it there in 1846. It inhabits the Pinasters on the cliffs, and we beat it into our nets in the daytime." In Britain, this is a southern species, being found where the larva foodplants, coniferous trees, in particular maritime pine (Pinus pinaster) occur.
Masoreus wetterhallii Gyllenhal, 1813. Carabidae.
Chesil Beach on the Dorset Coast is 29 kilometers in length, consisting of a raised shingle bank ; here Dale was collecting at its eastern end, beneath the Isle of Portland, when turning stones, he found a ground beetle that Curtis in 1829, named Masoreus luxatus, synonym of Masoreus wetterhallii Gyllenhal, 1813. In Britain this is scarce species and is found in only a few coastal localities.
Masoreus luxatus = Masoreus wetterhallii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 1, plate 237, 1829.
Ypsolopha asperella. Linnaeus, 1761. Family Ypsolophidae.
Dale added this species to the British list when he took specimens on hawthorn and apples, in the orchard of his manor house at Glanvilles Wootton on September 8, 1815 ; he presented a pair to J.F. Stephens. Dale captured it again there October 1, 1819, September 8, 19, 1921 and September 17, 1831. After his journey to collect insects in the Lake District in 1827, John Curtis stayed with Dale at Glanvilles Wootton, and he took Y. asperella there in the orchard on October 17. The only other county where this species was recorded was Herefordshire. However, this moth has not been seen in the British Isles since 1886 and is regarded as extinct. The Larval foodplants include apple (Malus) and hawthorn (Crataegus)
Oxycera morrisii Curtis 1833. Stratiomyidae order Diptera.
Dale discovered Oxycera morrisii on the undercliff near Lyme Regis and named it in a unpublished manuscript in honour of the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris ( 1810– 1893) who had added a number of rare soldier flies (Stratiomyidae) to the British list from the same locality. The name was published by John Curtis in British Entomology in 1833. Morris was born in Ireland and wrote a number of books on Entomology and Ornithology. In 1852 he published A History of British Butterflies and in 1859–70 A History of British Moths in 4 volumes. Morris seems to have had a turbulent relationship with Dale. S.C.S. Brown in an unpublished manuscript, The Dale Archives (1980) gives some details from the letters that Morris sent to Dale, he writes " Morris wrote a number of rude letters to Dale. Dale in one of his repiles said that the book British Butterflies, Morris being the author " was not worth a place in the library of any but a mere tyro" Morris complained that Dale had addressed letters to him as Parson Morris and Flycatcher. " O. morrisii is a rare species and occurs near springs and seepages in a scattered distribution in Britain. It is usually swept as an adult, and has rarely been photographed.
Oxycera morrisii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 8. plate 441, 1833.
Stylops Dalii Curtis, 1828. Stylopidae. Strepsiptera.
Stylops Dalii was named in J.C. Dale's honour by his lifelong friend John Curtis in British Entomology. This is another bee parasite of the order Strepsiptera, in his description of the new insect in British Entomology, Curtis gives details sent to him by Dale of its discovery. " Every specimen of Andrena barbilabris (*Sandpit Mining bee) I have seen this year, from the 27th April to the 4th June, have contained larvae, pupae, or exuviae of Stylops, from one to three in each. On the 5th May I picked one out with a pin, on the seventh another rather immature, and caught one flying in the hot sunshine over a quickset hedge in the garden ; it looked milk-white on the wing, with a jet black body, and totally unlike anything else ; it flew with an undulating or vacillating motion amongst the young shoots, and I could not catch it till it settled on one, when it ran up and down, its wings in motion, and making a considerable buzz or hum nearly as loud as a Sesia : it twisted about its rather long tail, and turned it up like a Stayphylinus (*Rove beetle). I put it under a glass and placed it in the sun ; it became quite furious in its confinement, and never ceased running about for two hours. The elytra or processes were kept in quick vibration, as well as its wings ; it buzzed against the sides of the glass, with its head touching it, and tumbled about on its back". (* My italics)
" By putting two bees of A. labialis under a glass in the sun, two Stylops were produced ; the bees seemed uneasy and went up towards them, but evidently with caution, as if to fight, and moving there antennae towards them retreated. I once thought the bee attempted to seize it; but the oddest thing was to see the Stylops get on the body of the bee and ride about,, the latter using every effort to throw its ride. A large hole is left in the tail of the bee when the Stylops escapes, which closes up after a time. I have found five species of Andrena infested. "
Stylops Dalii. John Curtis (1823-1840) British Entomology, vol 3, plate 385, 1828. The figure of this insect is much enlarged, for its actual size, see the tiny figure beneath.