A new M. arion Paper.

[nomad]

A project I started in April has now been finally finished with a new ' dispar' online article ' A History of Large Blue M. arion ssp eutyphron ( Frustorfer 1915) in Somerset. 

This articles focuses on the importance of Historical specimens at this link .

Read it here

www.dispar.org/reference.php?id=107

The project was concieved in April with a visit to the Taunton Heritage centre to study their little known collections and was then followed up with visits to Bristol City Museum, the Hope Department at Oxford and not least a day spent among the British treasures of the BMNH in London. Image copyright BMNH.

[nomad]

I have certainly had some strange comments on the information contained in my recent M. arion article and certainly not what I expected.   Those who made these will remain nameless. A lepidopterist has remarked that he believes that Ian Heslop in fact introduced his two 1949 rediscoveries of Large Blues to Somerset and then found them again and that they survived for a few years. However, he is unable to substantiate such a story. The remark was made that Heslop just seemed too lucky in capturing and finding rare butterflies. It seems he was too lucky to the chargin of others. As regards the Large Blue, his new site in the Quantocks and his rediscovery of the butterfly in the Polden Hills at Butleigh I believe it was due to his expert knowledge and long hours in the field . Heslop would have had to falsify his diary, his written accounts and his great entomological friends the Baron de Worms and Hemmings. Butleigh in the Polden Hills was certainly an historical locality and is next to Collard Hill where the Swedish population of M. arion was successfully reintroduced. I find that it is too incredible to believe that such a distinguished lepidopterist would have done this. Heslop was in the field for half a century and collecting at a time, especially in the 1940s when many rare migrants turned up and he collected a number of these, sometimes there are lucky collectors and unlucky ones and thankfully Heslop belonged to the former.



My images of Large Blues from Oxford contained in my article are calibrated meaning they were taken in a lightbox in natural light. Those at the BMNH which I did not take were probably taken by the staff under similar circumstances. Those from Taunton had too be taken with flash in poor light and brightened up, so they may not represent the true colour of the specimens. Now, someone has mentioned that those two specimens said to be taken by W.J. Paul at Langport in the early part of the 19th century appear to be fakes. They were originally placed in the large British Rawlinson collection donated in 1878, as some earlier bequest appear to have been, they are set in the old British style with old British pins. His suggestion has been that W.J. Paul's specimens have been replaced and the two specimens shown appear to have captured in France or Northern Italy during the last 35 years??. Again, at this stage, I find this too amazing to believe and his suggestion is instantiated by direct information Many of the the Large Blue populations are quite variable and are quite dark in those countries especially at high elevation.

Two very curious comments but at least the article has generated some interest.

[wollastoni]

Conspirationists are everywhere... even in entomology !

[frohawksghost]

Tremendous piece of work, Peter. Most enjoyable, thank you. Having lived in the shadow of Langport for a few years in the early 80s, I often wandered the hills at the flanks of the Levels and thought some hillsides looked perfect for M.arion - it was a competing fantasy at the time to either find a Berger's or Pale Clouded Yellow (we had some brilliant clover fields, and a couple of good Colias years) or to discover an overlooked and extant small population of M.arion.

Of course, neither happened!

Regarding Heslop's records - I'm inclined to believe M.arion may have persisted in Somerset in the mid twentieth century; the habitat would have good still, after all, and there was a pattern with the species of 'new' colonies being discovered throughout the south-west by the collectors of the day, so it's not beyond the realms of possibility that the species could have been existing quite happily until its discovery, at which point specimens were taken. That said, I have always felt a little uneasy about Heslop's almost supernatural luck where finding rare native or immigrant species is concerned. I acknowledge he was a fine and dedicated student of our butterflies, but I have always felt a little Meinertzhagen about his good fortune.

Richard Meinertzhagen appeared, outwardly, to be a dedicated and successful field ornithologist credited with many discoveries of new populations of species, and extra-limital records of other species. Many such were substantiated with specimens shot, skinned and, eventually, donated to the British Museum; and were recorded in meticulous detail in his exhaustive diaries.

There were murmurings during his life that all might not be as it seemed; but it was only after his death that the web of deceit he'd spun began to unravel. Staff at the British Museum realised some of his many donated specimens showed discrepancies in their preparation style, indicating he had not prepared them all himself; and then began to realise that some specimens were, in fact, specimens stolen in the past from the Museum itself by Meinertzhagen and re-labelled with fictitious data.

The whole sorry debacle was investigated by Brian Garfield in his excellent work "The Meinertzhagen Mystery: The Life and Legend of a Colossal Fraud" ( www.amazon.co.uk/The-Meinertzhagen-Mystery-Legend-Colossal/dp/159797160X - a really enthralling read, btw). It covers every aspect of his life, and demonstrates that his deceit was not limited to the birds alone. His diaries were examined too, and it transpired that he had written diary notes to support his demonstrably fraudulent bird records; and many other aspects of his life besides.

I think the point I'm trying to make here is that data labels and substantiating diary notes don't necessarily add up to genuine records...

(He also quite skilfully doctored some specimens to make them look more credible and authentic; latterly discovered with some forensic examination by museum staff. We're all aware of some unscrupulous dealers who've offered for sale Continental specimens with false British data (I almost got my fingers burnt a couple of years ago with a dodgy M.jurtina specimen, for example) and it's far from beyond the bounds of possibility that such a fraud might go a step further than merely adding a false data label - consider a Continental-caught M.arion set with an old English pin and with the wings in the old-style position, perhaps a lost antenna, and a data label on old discoloured paper and written with a fountain pen left on a windowsill in the sun to fade the ink... Lo and behold anyone could 'create' a Somerset or Northamptonshire M.arion. Frightening and, deception of collectors for commercial gain aside, the potential to skew the historic record's accuracy is considerable).

[nomad]

Thanks you for some good input Frowhawkghost. I enjoyed reading it very much. I have ordered the Meinertzhagen book. Thank you for the link. He seems to be of the Professor Heslop Harrison yolk. Yes,  unfortunately nothing is cut and dried in this world. I have been given some information regarding the Heslop Large Blue discoveries in Somerset but have been told to keep it confidential. I enjoyed visiting the Langport area recently and I too wished I could have been here when arion flew along those hills.   

[frohawksghost]

You're in for a real treat with the book - I've only scratched the surface of his duplicity! He was indeed rather akin to Heslop Harrison, but led a considerably more colourful life... you've got his numerous military (mis)adventures in both World Wars to look forward to (Churchill appeared to cordially despise him), not to mention the mysterious death by accidental gunshot of his wife during peacetime.

[nomad]

Yes, I am really looking forward to this book, I know it will be a great read.   He sounds a very colourful character.