The Great British Map Butterfly Sitcom.

[nomad]

The Map buterfly Araschnia levana  is of course an interesting species on account of its marvellous seasonal differences. It was nice to observe the second brood of this butterfly in De Weerribben of Holland. A small colony was found along a broad ride in Carr - birch woodland. The males seemed highly territorial, and can fly at amazing speed especially if another male flies into its space, otherwise they are fond of basking but generally difficult to approach.

This butterfly has never been a native in Britain but was quite successfully introduced in 1906 to the Wye Valley, that is until one collector A.B. Farn , who believed that this was not a good idea, took it upon himself to exterminate the colony on purpose. He did not approve of introduced Foreign butterflies flying here.

Recently however, in 2014, a colony of A. levana was found on the coast of Dorset in England. Only in Britain, could this event start, what should have been made into a good T.V. comedy. At first the butterfly chaps in the know advised caution, because this was not migratory species. However, in the general excitement this seems to have been forgotten especially by the butterfly-birders and many accepted this was a native colony, even by some of the experts, indeed a female had flown across from France and laid her eggs and started a colony.

The butterfly people in know, decided because of collectors, who might want a British Map butterfly and too many photographers trampling the nettles, to kept this location a secret, if you were in the club you were told, if not there was silence. Beautiful photographs appeared of these second brood British Maps. Even experienced collectors were fooled, some indeed turned up.

In the end, the bubble burst, someone who remained anonymous came forward and said he started the colony but because unofficial releases are against the law in the U.K, he did not supply his name. There seemed to be not a single mention of this species in 2015. All those who claimed, those Swanage Maps as British are not unsurprisingly now quiet on the matter. The great British Map butterfly sitcom was over. How that naughty man who released those butterflies must have laughed and laughed.


Native A. levana in the Weerribben in Holland.

[Paul K]

I remember chasing Araschnia levana in my hometown city Wroclaw in Poland at one of the waist land in suburbs when I was a still a boy.
I was always so excited to see this small but beautiful butterfly every year in large numbers. Unfortunately I have not met there the fall season form which is somewhat between rusty spring and black summer form. I guess northern population must to have rarely 3 generations of this species.
The waistland now has been converted to some academy buildings and I guess the A. levana lost its habitat and is no longer there. Very sad . I haven't been there since 1990 so most likely many places I have collected in the wild don't exist anymore.
Luckly I still have few specimens in my collection from those old good days of my childhood.

Paul

[nomad]

There is a postscript to this story, three Maps of the spring form levana were seen in May at Swanage, a little way from the 2014 colony. The site was severely cut back by the farmer, so much for protecting the habitat. With only three Maps emerging, no more sightings were made in 2015.

[wollastoni]

Many UK "butterfliers" don't know nothing about butterfly population evolutions, migrations and so on.
Too bad their passion don't make them study entomology moth thoroughly.

Arashnia levana is not known from many areas of Brittany (NW France).
During my scientific butterfly counting in a wood of Brittany, I have once discovered an Araschnia levana colony of about 10 specimens. Then I have never seen it again.
UK "butterfliers" would of course say it is because of bloody collectors but there are no insect collectors there... and no French collectors are really looking for A. levana which is common in the rest of the countries.

Truth is that some species are expanding with some "pioneer" members and if those are not numerous enough (hundreds of specimens), the species cannot settle for long due to a high parasitic and predation pressure.

On a UK butterflier forum, they are saying collectors have wiped out some "UK Lampides boeticus colonies". Well there are no such "colonies" in UK, neither in N. France, and the Lampides boeticus must have just finished their long trip to UK exausted or have migrated South in prevision of UK winter... this is science, but it is easier to say "I have seen someone with a net".

[nomad]

I remember the Lampides boeticus saga well. These butterflies are a great rarity in the U.K but turned up in some numbers along the southern coast of Kent in the August of 2013. They were not in such numbers that you could find them freely, they had to be searched for and I did not go. As for British butterfly collectors, a few turned up in a well known locality, but in the U.K. one site they visited was  SSSI and on National Trust Ground, so they were not really permitted to collect there. As for the demise of the colony, it is well known by entomologists who study such things, although these blue butterflies could produce one generation, this butterfly cannot survive where it cannot be continually brooded and needs a warmer climate than chilly old Britain.

Butterfly photographers flocked to Kent to photograph Lampides boeticus and got worked up by a few collectors and  those that thought they were responsible for their demise were those that had traveled miles to get their images and did not see any of the rare blues. The photographers were mainly afraid that if someone nabbed their target butterfly, they would not get their images. But as was expected, although the butterflies lasted till October, the winter killed them all off anyway!!

As for entomologists and photographers, they can be two different things. Some nature photographers will snap anything without caring to know more about the subject. To a degree the older entomologist-collectors were far more knowledgeable than today's photographer butterfliers. However, Britain has still some of the very best scientific minds in entomology, even though most  that study British butterflies now study their ecology. You must remember that British butterflies are the most well studied on earth and if you do not believe me, dig out a copy of ' The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland by Jeremy Thomas with the art of Richard Lewington. 

I study British insects but do not now collect them because they are or their habitat  is  protected in some way. I now prefer to photograph British butterflies and cannot see much point in collecting just the ordinary non aberrant British butterflies  , there are millions of them in good museums for scientific study.  That's not to say I would pass over on any historic specimens I see for sale. I do prefer to collect those awesome beautiful Delias, about which we know so very little. I have a collection of birdwings but there are so few of them, I needed a bigger challenge.

[wollastoni]

And you couldn't find a bigger challenge than Delias!

BTW if you want an historic Delias, go and see Jens early in Juvisy...

[Paul K]

Peter,
If you need a bigger challenge I think you should look into a microlepidoptra. I am pretty sure you still can collect and study many of them in GB.
I have small collection of those from Poland and they are really great looking moths.
Now i don't think I will be able to mount them as my hands get a bit shaky, but maybe I should get few here in Thailand and see what I can do with them.
Butterflies are all well known and discovered already.
Well they might be a few left somewhere in deep rain forest in PNG and surrounding islands but there are hundreds of new species waiting to be discovered but not a butterfly.
All the best to you to find your challenge.

Paul

[nomad]

Thanks Paul. Well, I still starting my Delias challenge but as I will now never probably reach Papua or its islands   I shall certainly not get them all. Some of those extreme Delias rarities command very high prices even more than most Ornithoptera!!

I do like to look at Microlepidoptera and when I see them, I do take pictures of those tiny insects but I fear my setting of those minute things would be beyond my skills. 

[Deleted]

For the exact reasons you describe Peter I will not cooperate with any authority on the location of rare or scarce butterfly colonies that they know nothing about and there are several, the stampede to "claim" them would be sickening to me, as would the stampede of the click click brigade trampling over the caterpillars food plant causing the small colonies to die out, I do still collect locally and nationally with restraint, luckily mostly on private land that they have no access to.