The extinct Lycaena dispar dispar.
Feb 26, 2015 15:09:02 GMT
deliasfanatic, mygos, and 5 more like this
Post by nomad on Feb 26, 2015 15:09:02 GMT
Perhaps the most important of the British insect collections is the incomparable historical collection of James Charles Dale [1792-1872] and his son Charles William Dale [ 1851-1906]. J. C. Dale was the wealthy squire of Glanvilles Wootton in Dorset and an entomologist who collected every insect order. The Dalean collection is very rich in rarities including many unique aberrations. J.C. Dale's yearly diaries and letters give us detailed accounts of what the insect fauna was like during the middle of the 18th century in Britain. His most detailed insects records are the ones he made in his local Dorset Parish ' Glanvilles Wootton between 1810-1840. Dale senior really was collecting in the golden age of discovery of British Entomology and he visited many of the richest localities for rare butterflies and beetles. Dale's passion was the study of Coleoptera and he formed a large collection of beetles including many tiny specimens glued to cards. At the period he was collecting, the insect fauna of even his own county was not largely known . As he was able to spend all his time in the field, it must have been exciting coming across daily new finds. His son, C. W. Dale was also a keen entomologist and he was the author of ' A History of British Butterflies ' [ 1898]. We have much to thank C.W. Dale for. Not only did he add many valuable aberrations to the already large collection by visiting dealers and the auction rooms, he bequeathed the Dale collection to the Hope Department two years before his death in 1906.
James Charles Dale Circa mid 1860s.
Viewing the Dale collection, in spite of their age, I was amazed at the quality and preservation of the specimens, some of which, could have been caught just recently and all are spread in the old, but fine style. Among the many treasures that the Dale collection contains is a very fine series of Lycaena dispar dispar and their story is a most interesting one.
Female Lycaena dispar sent to Dale by Mr T. Speechley, the first specimen to be taken at Yaxley Fen at Trundle Mere. Trundle Mere was connected to the much larger Whittlesea Mere.
James Dale graduated from Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge in 1819 and soon afterwards he visited the Huntingdonshire fens to search for the butterfly he knew as Chrysophanus dispar . Dale was unsuccessful in his search of Yaxley Fen but there met an old boatmen Mr T. Speechley who promised to to send any specimens of the ' Fire butterfly ' that he captured to Dale. On August the 4th Speechley took a fine female, that was sent on to Dale and this specimen still survives today., The month of July is placed at its side. The following year ' Dale ' sent a butterfly collector/ dealer Benjamin Standish from London to search for dispar at Yaxley. Old Speechley took Standish to the spot, Trundle Mere where he had captured the female the year before. Standish was able to procure a small series for Dale. The Standish family, the father and his two sons were able to sell set specimens of ' dispar' for ten shillings each, more than a weeks wages for a local farm labourer at that time. Dale himself visited the Fens in 1826, 1827 and 1833.
James Dale had a regular correspondent that lived in a Peterborough, a town to the north of Yaxley Fen. Mr J.Henderson wrote letters to J.C. Dale between 1826-1845. In March 1830 Henderson wrote that " such immense numbers of the larvae of L. dispar have been taken during the Spring of 1828- 1829 that I fear the habitat will be destroyed, they are taken by every labourer residing over the fen ". I went to the fens one day last summer when the insect was on the wing and found the butterfly to be very scarce indeed ". By 1841 when Henderson sent L. dispar pupae to Dale, he wrote that " the drainage was ruining the fen ". By 1843 Henderson wrote to Dale that " dispar was now confined to one area that had not been burnt or ploughed. "
Series of female Lycaena dispar in the Dale collection. Top, a specimen that emerged from a pupae on June 23rd 1841 that was sent to J.C. Dale by Henderson of Peterborough. The middle specimen is a very rare wild melanic aberration that J.C. Dale acquired from ' Simmonds '.
Very fine series of male Lycaena dispar in the Dale collection.
James Charles Dale Circa mid 1860s.
Viewing the Dale collection, in spite of their age, I was amazed at the quality and preservation of the specimens, some of which, could have been caught just recently and all are spread in the old, but fine style. Among the many treasures that the Dale collection contains is a very fine series of Lycaena dispar dispar and their story is a most interesting one.
Female Lycaena dispar sent to Dale by Mr T. Speechley, the first specimen to be taken at Yaxley Fen at Trundle Mere. Trundle Mere was connected to the much larger Whittlesea Mere.
James Dale graduated from Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge in 1819 and soon afterwards he visited the Huntingdonshire fens to search for the butterfly he knew as Chrysophanus dispar . Dale was unsuccessful in his search of Yaxley Fen but there met an old boatmen Mr T. Speechley who promised to to send any specimens of the ' Fire butterfly ' that he captured to Dale. On August the 4th Speechley took a fine female, that was sent on to Dale and this specimen still survives today., The month of July is placed at its side. The following year ' Dale ' sent a butterfly collector/ dealer Benjamin Standish from London to search for dispar at Yaxley. Old Speechley took Standish to the spot, Trundle Mere where he had captured the female the year before. Standish was able to procure a small series for Dale. The Standish family, the father and his two sons were able to sell set specimens of ' dispar' for ten shillings each, more than a weeks wages for a local farm labourer at that time. Dale himself visited the Fens in 1826, 1827 and 1833.
James Dale had a regular correspondent that lived in a Peterborough, a town to the north of Yaxley Fen. Mr J.Henderson wrote letters to J.C. Dale between 1826-1845. In March 1830 Henderson wrote that " such immense numbers of the larvae of L. dispar have been taken during the Spring of 1828- 1829 that I fear the habitat will be destroyed, they are taken by every labourer residing over the fen ". I went to the fens one day last summer when the insect was on the wing and found the butterfly to be very scarce indeed ". By 1841 when Henderson sent L. dispar pupae to Dale, he wrote that " the drainage was ruining the fen ". By 1843 Henderson wrote to Dale that " dispar was now confined to one area that had not been burnt or ploughed. "
Series of female Lycaena dispar in the Dale collection. Top, a specimen that emerged from a pupae on June 23rd 1841 that was sent to J.C. Dale by Henderson of Peterborough. The middle specimen is a very rare wild melanic aberration that J.C. Dale acquired from ' Simmonds '.
Very fine series of male Lycaena dispar in the Dale collection.