The Extinct Lepidoptera Rarities of Aller Hill, Somerset.
Dec 20, 2015 9:37:55 GMT
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Post by nomad on Dec 20, 2015 9:37:55 GMT
The Extinct Lepidoptera rarities of Aller Hill, Somerset. Part one.
Introduction.
Aller Hill is a low limestone wooded ridge with a few small discrete areas of limestone grassland. The Aller Hill ridge rises above the pastures of the Somerset Levels which was once a huge area of marshland. In a hollow beneath the hills, there are the stone and red brick cottages of the village of Aller. Up to the middle of the 19th century, the steep south-western facing slopes of herb rich grasslands of Aller Hill, held a unique assemblage of rare lepidoptera species. The grasslands are still botanically rich today, containing several scarce plant species.
Between 1834 and 1845, James Charles Dale, the well known entomologist, paid several visits to the Langport area to collect insects. Dale stayed as a guest of the Quekett family in the small market town of Langport. The rich populations of lepidoptera at Aller Hill, were originally discovered by John Quekett in 1833. Dale visited this locality mainly to catch two rare species, Maculinea arion and an unusual and striking day-flying moth he knew as the Idaea dealbata which today is known as Slona lineata. These two rare species have never been recorded together from any other known locality in Britain . Flying with them in this Somerset locality was a limestone population of Plebejus argus. The geographical race of Plebejus argus from the Aller Hills, was notable in that it had females with blue scaling on their uppersides and males with very pale undersides. A little over a decade later in June 1844, after a collecting trip to Aller Hill, Dale recorded in his diaries that the very localized populations of M. arion and S. lineata had disappeared. The Aller limestone race of P. argus also became extinct at some point in the 19th century and it was last recorded there by J. C. Dale in 1845.
During his visits to Aller hill, J. C. Dale found that the woods and grasslands of the small stretch of limestone were rich in different insects orders. James Dale first visited Aller Hill to collect insects with John Quekett in 1834 . During this period he also corresponded and may have collected with the other Langport collectors, Edward Paul and his brother William. The best source of information that we have on the species that were collected at Aller Hill, are from J.C. Dale's diaries and letters that are held at the Oxford University Museum Entomology library. Dale's diaries are a treasure trove of information, a record of the distribution of British insects in the middle part of the 19th century. The letters that John Quekett wrote to J.C. Dale during this period, are also a valuable source of information.
Aller Hill, July 2015.
J.C. Dale, John Quekett and the Paul brothers are known to have taken a long series of both Maculinea arion and Siona lineata from Aller Hill. Dales small series of specimens of M. arion and S. lineata from that locality are in his collection at Oxford. James Dale usually only included a small series of rare species from their different localities in his collection. Entomologists such as Dale and the Langport collectors were eager to obtain as many examples of M. arion and S. lineata as they were able to capture. Their duplicate specimens of those prized species were invaluable in exchange for other rarities with other entomologists . J. C. Dale had a very wide circle of entomological friends that he exchanged insects with. At that period both M. arion and S. lineata were known from just a couple of localities and were much sought after by other collectors.
In a letter dated November 7th 1836 that John Quekett wrote from Langport to J.C. Dale , he said " In answer to yours of the 1st of no-number I beg to say that I will be very happy to exchange some specimens of arion and dealbata for Colias electra from B. Morris and others you may be pleased to send. As I have no box intermediate between a pocket collecting box and a large storebox, I shall be very much obliged if you could send down one of yours and I shall return to you with my insects. I can send 12 or 14 specimens of arion and 10 specimens of dealbata for you to distribute to yourself, Morris, Ghant, Burney. Henderson." .
Quekett also mentioned in the same letter that in exchange for his insects specimens of Maculinea arion and I. dealbata ( S. lineata), he would like specimens of P. machaon, L. dispar and the hairstreak S. w-album. Colias electra was an early Aurelian name for Colias croceus . Beverley Robinson Morris was a doctor, naturalist and artist. He was the brother of one of the leading entomologists of the day, the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris who had wrote ' The Natural History of British Butterflies, which was published in 1853. Through Dale, John Quekett also exchanged insects with F.O. Morris.
Idaea dealbata ( Siona lineata ) at Aller Hill.
The aptly named ' Black Veined Moth' Siona lineata ' Dale's Idaea dealbata', is today a protected species in Britain and is confined to a couple of sites on the North Downs of Kent. S. lineata has been recorded in a few other herb rich sites on calcareous hills in Southern England but where it has long been extinct. Even Newman in his ' Natural History of British Moths' which first appeared in 1869 noted that it was only found on a few chalk downs in the county of Kent.
In a letter dated 18th June 1836, John Quekett wrote to Dale about Maculinea arion and Siona lineata's (I. dealbata) capture on Aller Hill. " arion has again made its appearance and Paul and myself have succeeded in taking 12 specimens between us, but perhaps you will be more astonished when I tell you that Idaea dealbata is more abundant than arion, I have since Thursday taken 18 specimens and Paul 12 and there is every chance of taking more. I hope these new captures will be the means of bringing you to Langport" .
In his diary entry for the 27th June 1843, J.C. Dale records his last captures of I. dealbata = Siona lineata in its Aller locality and in his diary dated June 20th 1844, Dale wrote that he had seen "no arion or dealbata " while he was collecting on the Aller Hills.
Specimens of Siona lineata captured by J.C. Dale at Aller Hill, Langport. Dale collection Oxford.
Next, Part two: A Notable and Forgotten Extinct Plebejus argus race that occurred on Aller Hill, Somerset.
Introduction.
Aller Hill is a low limestone wooded ridge with a few small discrete areas of limestone grassland. The Aller Hill ridge rises above the pastures of the Somerset Levels which was once a huge area of marshland. In a hollow beneath the hills, there are the stone and red brick cottages of the village of Aller. Up to the middle of the 19th century, the steep south-western facing slopes of herb rich grasslands of Aller Hill, held a unique assemblage of rare lepidoptera species. The grasslands are still botanically rich today, containing several scarce plant species.
Between 1834 and 1845, James Charles Dale, the well known entomologist, paid several visits to the Langport area to collect insects. Dale stayed as a guest of the Quekett family in the small market town of Langport. The rich populations of lepidoptera at Aller Hill, were originally discovered by John Quekett in 1833. Dale visited this locality mainly to catch two rare species, Maculinea arion and an unusual and striking day-flying moth he knew as the Idaea dealbata which today is known as Slona lineata. These two rare species have never been recorded together from any other known locality in Britain . Flying with them in this Somerset locality was a limestone population of Plebejus argus. The geographical race of Plebejus argus from the Aller Hills, was notable in that it had females with blue scaling on their uppersides and males with very pale undersides. A little over a decade later in June 1844, after a collecting trip to Aller Hill, Dale recorded in his diaries that the very localized populations of M. arion and S. lineata had disappeared. The Aller limestone race of P. argus also became extinct at some point in the 19th century and it was last recorded there by J. C. Dale in 1845.
During his visits to Aller hill, J. C. Dale found that the woods and grasslands of the small stretch of limestone were rich in different insects orders. James Dale first visited Aller Hill to collect insects with John Quekett in 1834 . During this period he also corresponded and may have collected with the other Langport collectors, Edward Paul and his brother William. The best source of information that we have on the species that were collected at Aller Hill, are from J.C. Dale's diaries and letters that are held at the Oxford University Museum Entomology library. Dale's diaries are a treasure trove of information, a record of the distribution of British insects in the middle part of the 19th century. The letters that John Quekett wrote to J.C. Dale during this period, are also a valuable source of information.
Aller Hill, July 2015.
J.C. Dale, John Quekett and the Paul brothers are known to have taken a long series of both Maculinea arion and Siona lineata from Aller Hill. Dales small series of specimens of M. arion and S. lineata from that locality are in his collection at Oxford. James Dale usually only included a small series of rare species from their different localities in his collection. Entomologists such as Dale and the Langport collectors were eager to obtain as many examples of M. arion and S. lineata as they were able to capture. Their duplicate specimens of those prized species were invaluable in exchange for other rarities with other entomologists . J. C. Dale had a very wide circle of entomological friends that he exchanged insects with. At that period both M. arion and S. lineata were known from just a couple of localities and were much sought after by other collectors.
In a letter dated November 7th 1836 that John Quekett wrote from Langport to J.C. Dale , he said " In answer to yours of the 1st of no-number I beg to say that I will be very happy to exchange some specimens of arion and dealbata for Colias electra from B. Morris and others you may be pleased to send. As I have no box intermediate between a pocket collecting box and a large storebox, I shall be very much obliged if you could send down one of yours and I shall return to you with my insects. I can send 12 or 14 specimens of arion and 10 specimens of dealbata for you to distribute to yourself, Morris, Ghant, Burney. Henderson." .
Quekett also mentioned in the same letter that in exchange for his insects specimens of Maculinea arion and I. dealbata ( S. lineata), he would like specimens of P. machaon, L. dispar and the hairstreak S. w-album. Colias electra was an early Aurelian name for Colias croceus . Beverley Robinson Morris was a doctor, naturalist and artist. He was the brother of one of the leading entomologists of the day, the Reverend Francis Orpen Morris who had wrote ' The Natural History of British Butterflies, which was published in 1853. Through Dale, John Quekett also exchanged insects with F.O. Morris.
Idaea dealbata ( Siona lineata ) at Aller Hill.
The aptly named ' Black Veined Moth' Siona lineata ' Dale's Idaea dealbata', is today a protected species in Britain and is confined to a couple of sites on the North Downs of Kent. S. lineata has been recorded in a few other herb rich sites on calcareous hills in Southern England but where it has long been extinct. Even Newman in his ' Natural History of British Moths' which first appeared in 1869 noted that it was only found on a few chalk downs in the county of Kent.
In a letter dated 18th June 1836, John Quekett wrote to Dale about Maculinea arion and Siona lineata's (I. dealbata) capture on Aller Hill. " arion has again made its appearance and Paul and myself have succeeded in taking 12 specimens between us, but perhaps you will be more astonished when I tell you that Idaea dealbata is more abundant than arion, I have since Thursday taken 18 specimens and Paul 12 and there is every chance of taking more. I hope these new captures will be the means of bringing you to Langport" .
In his diary entry for the 27th June 1843, J.C. Dale records his last captures of I. dealbata = Siona lineata in its Aller locality and in his diary dated June 20th 1844, Dale wrote that he had seen "no arion or dealbata " while he was collecting on the Aller Hills.
Specimens of Siona lineata captured by J.C. Dale at Aller Hill, Langport. Dale collection Oxford.
Next, Part two: A Notable and Forgotten Extinct Plebejus argus race that occurred on Aller Hill, Somerset.