Post by nomad on Dec 30, 2018 16:16:58 GMT
The first British specimens of Cupido argiades Pallas, 1771. Lycaenidae.
The Reverend Octavius Pickard-Cambridge (1828-1917) announced in the Entomologist (1885) the capture of a new British Butterfly, Lycaena argiades. On 18 August 1885 Pickard-Cambridge was out collecting on Bloxworth Heath near Wareham in Dorset with his son Charles Owen, who took a rather worn female of C. argiades and two days later his son Arthur took a male close to the same spot. Repeated searches by the Reverend in the neighbourhood failed to find any further specimens and he remarked that one of the larva foodplants, Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil Lotus major was abundant at the place where he had made his captures. He recorded that another specimen was taken on 21 August 1885 by a Mr Philip Tudor at Bournemouth in Dorset.
Cupido argiades. Bloxworth, Dorset, August 1885. Ex coll Octavius Pickard-Cambridge. Ex coll Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridgel. OUMNH.
The Reverend Octavius Pickard-Cambridge from a Memoir by his son, Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge (1918).
In a letter dated 18 October 1885 published in the Entomologist the Reverend J. Seymour St John of Whatley Rectory near Frome in Somerset, reported that he was given a small Lepidoptera collection that was going to ruin for want of attention. He wrote " I selected all those worth preserving, cleaned and doctored them, and placed the best and most uncommon specimens in my cabinet. Among these I noticed two small blue butterflies which somewhat resembled on the upper surface of the wings the male of Lyceana icarus with the exception of small slender, but quite distinct, white-fringed tail." On seeing the woodcut of C. argiades in the article by Reverend Pickard-Cambridge and reading Kirby's description, St John was in a little doubt his specimens were that species. His friend who had given him the collection containing the two C. argiades specimens told him that they were taken eleven years previously in 1874, close to a small quarry at Whatley, two miles from his house.
When the collection of the Reverend St John came up for auction in 1894 at Stevens Auction Rooms, the two specimen of C. argiades were advertised in the sale catalogue as taken in Somerset in 1874 by Dr Marsh. James Tutt (1894) wondered why one of the pair of L. argiades was a female when the Reverend had clearly stated in his article in the Entomologist they were both males and he suggested Dr Marsh was in fact the Reverend T. Marsh who had collected three specimens of Vanessa antiopa in Norfolk that were in the Burney Collection. Tutt had some doubts as regards the Reverend St John specimens of C. argiades writing " their recorded capture did not appear till eleven years after the time of the capture". During the auction of Reverend St John's collection the pair of C. argiades were sold to Charles William Dale for £4 10s, and are now in the Dale collection in the Oxford Museum of Natural History. The male has a circular label Dr Marsh, 1874, Whatley and the female has Whatley, Somerset placed at its side. Both specimens were figured by E.B. Ford (1945) on plate 1 of Butterflies in the New Naturalist series. South (1886) was in the opinion that C. argiades was a very rare overlooked native species, it is now known to be a rare immigrant butterfly with only 17 records for Britain. The specimens in this article are from OUMNH Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Cupido argiades. Whatley, Somerset, 1874, Dr Marsh. Ex coll Reverend J. Seymour St John. Dale coll, OUMNH.
References.
Ford, E. B., 1945 Butterflies The New Naturalist. Collins, London.
Tutt, J. 1894 The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation. Notes on collecting : The Burney and St John Sales 5: 74-75.
Pickard-Cambridge, O.P., 1885 A Butterfly new to the British Fauna. Entomologist 18: 249-252.
Pickard- Cambridge, A.W., 1918 Memoir of the Reverend Octavius Pickard-Cambridge. Privately published. At this link
www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/76197#page/10/mode/1up
South, R., 1886 Some Observations on Lycaena Argiades. Entomologist 19: 5-7.
St John, J. S., 1885 Lycaena argiades in Somerset. Entomologist 18 : 292-293.
The Reverend Octavius Pickard-Cambridge (1828-1917) announced in the Entomologist (1885) the capture of a new British Butterfly, Lycaena argiades. On 18 August 1885 Pickard-Cambridge was out collecting on Bloxworth Heath near Wareham in Dorset with his son Charles Owen, who took a rather worn female of C. argiades and two days later his son Arthur took a male close to the same spot. Repeated searches by the Reverend in the neighbourhood failed to find any further specimens and he remarked that one of the larva foodplants, Greater Bird's-foot-trefoil Lotus major was abundant at the place where he had made his captures. He recorded that another specimen was taken on 21 August 1885 by a Mr Philip Tudor at Bournemouth in Dorset.
Cupido argiades. Bloxworth, Dorset, August 1885. Ex coll Octavius Pickard-Cambridge. Ex coll Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridgel. OUMNH.
The Reverend Octavius Pickard-Cambridge from a Memoir by his son, Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge (1918).
In a letter dated 18 October 1885 published in the Entomologist the Reverend J. Seymour St John of Whatley Rectory near Frome in Somerset, reported that he was given a small Lepidoptera collection that was going to ruin for want of attention. He wrote " I selected all those worth preserving, cleaned and doctored them, and placed the best and most uncommon specimens in my cabinet. Among these I noticed two small blue butterflies which somewhat resembled on the upper surface of the wings the male of Lyceana icarus with the exception of small slender, but quite distinct, white-fringed tail." On seeing the woodcut of C. argiades in the article by Reverend Pickard-Cambridge and reading Kirby's description, St John was in a little doubt his specimens were that species. His friend who had given him the collection containing the two C. argiades specimens told him that they were taken eleven years previously in 1874, close to a small quarry at Whatley, two miles from his house.
When the collection of the Reverend St John came up for auction in 1894 at Stevens Auction Rooms, the two specimen of C. argiades were advertised in the sale catalogue as taken in Somerset in 1874 by Dr Marsh. James Tutt (1894) wondered why one of the pair of L. argiades was a female when the Reverend had clearly stated in his article in the Entomologist they were both males and he suggested Dr Marsh was in fact the Reverend T. Marsh who had collected three specimens of Vanessa antiopa in Norfolk that were in the Burney Collection. Tutt had some doubts as regards the Reverend St John specimens of C. argiades writing " their recorded capture did not appear till eleven years after the time of the capture". During the auction of Reverend St John's collection the pair of C. argiades were sold to Charles William Dale for £4 10s, and are now in the Dale collection in the Oxford Museum of Natural History. The male has a circular label Dr Marsh, 1874, Whatley and the female has Whatley, Somerset placed at its side. Both specimens were figured by E.B. Ford (1945) on plate 1 of Butterflies in the New Naturalist series. South (1886) was in the opinion that C. argiades was a very rare overlooked native species, it is now known to be a rare immigrant butterfly with only 17 records for Britain. The specimens in this article are from OUMNH Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Cupido argiades. Whatley, Somerset, 1874, Dr Marsh. Ex coll Reverend J. Seymour St John. Dale coll, OUMNH.
References.
Ford, E. B., 1945 Butterflies The New Naturalist. Collins, London.
Tutt, J. 1894 The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation. Notes on collecting : The Burney and St John Sales 5: 74-75.
Pickard-Cambridge, O.P., 1885 A Butterfly new to the British Fauna. Entomologist 18: 249-252.
Pickard- Cambridge, A.W., 1918 Memoir of the Reverend Octavius Pickard-Cambridge. Privately published. At this link
www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/76197#page/10/mode/1up
South, R., 1886 Some Observations on Lycaena Argiades. Entomologist 19: 5-7.
St John, J. S., 1885 Lycaena argiades in Somerset. Entomologist 18 : 292-293.
