William Raddon's Razzia with Hyles euphorbiae.
Jan 18, 2018 13:58:09 GMT
deliasfanatic, skandinavisk, and 1 more like this
Post by nomad on Jan 18, 2018 13:58:09 GMT
William Raddon's Razzia with Hyles euphorbiae.
Philip Bertram Allan writes of the 19th century engraver, William Raddon that his "name deserves to be remembered for all time as the perpetrator of the biggest entomological hoax ever bought off in this country". Allan in Talking of Moths (1943) gives a witty entertaining account of how William Raddon announced he had discovered the larvae of a hitherto unknown British species, the Spruge Hawk Moth, Hyles euphorbiae on the coastal sand dunes of North Devon but in fact was breeding specimens to sell from his own breeding cages, almost certainly from ova or larvae he had obtained from France.
Allan wrote " The ball was set rolling by Moses Harris who figured in his Aurelian a specimen of the moth he reared from a French pupa. The beauty of this insect was sufficient to make collectors desire it. William Raddon was an engraver of some repute, and he followed up Harris work by engraving a beautiful series of plates, depicting the insect in all its early stages for the Entomological Magazine. These engravings attracted considerable attention among collectors and Raddon seems to have conceived the idea of discovering Deilephila euphorbiae in England ". This statement by Allan is not actually correct; Raddon's fine plates of euphorbiae did not appear in the Entomological Magazine until 1834, long after H. euphorbiae had found their way into British entomological cabinets from Raddon's Devonshire breeding cages.
Allan (1943) stated " so at Barnstaple the Spurge Hawkmoth appeared, and soon Adrian Haworth was announcing Devonshire as the locality for D. euphorbiae". Haworth in his Lepidoptera Britannica (1803) referred to euphorbiae as the Scarce Elephant Hawk Moth and wrote "Devonia larva in Euphorbia". The first H. euphorbiae did not appear from Raddon's breeding cages until 1806, three years after Lepidoptera Britannica was published. It was Haworth who set the stage for William Raddon's fait accompli.
William Raddon at the time of his H. euphorbiae hoax (fraud) was residing at the village of Instow, situated west of Barnstape in North Devon. There appears to be nothing known about William Raddon's personal life but he was active as an engraver in London between 1817 and 1858. Specimens of H. euphorbiae bred by Raddon mainly appeared between 1806 and 1815 before his success as an engraver and his motive for introducing them as British specimens was for financial gain. Allan mentioned Raddon was a dealer, although he also presented specimens of H. euphorbiae to the foremost entomologists of the day, who without question gratefully accepted them as genuine British examples.
John Curtis in his finely illustrated work, British Entomology, vol 5 (1824-1840) gave details of Raddon's remarkable discovery. He writes " Deilephila euphorbiae is eminently beautiful both in its larvae and imago states ; although it had been met with by earlier collectors I am indebted to the assiduity and liberality of my friend Mr Raddon for being able to give its history as well as figures of the larva and the plant upon which it feeds". Raddon had previously presented Curtis with a specimen of euphorbiae.
Curtis recorded that Raddon had made the discovery during a long residence in Devonshire, on the vast sand hills at Appledore and Braunton Burrows where the foodplant Euphorbia paralias was abundant and caterpillars when not full grown were very hard to find especially as hoards of marine birds fed upon them. The caterpillars were full grown about September then they descended into the sand to pupae, emerging the following June. The large expanse of sand dunes were exposed to frequent winter storms and much sand was removed and a large number of the pupae must be destroyed. You can sense from Raddon's account to Curtis that he was already covering his tracks and taking pains to explain why other entomologists visiting Braunton Burrows might not be able to find H. euphorbiae.
Figure 1. H. euphorbiae. (1824-1840) John Curtis, British Entomology, vol 5, pl 3.
James Francis Stephens in his Illustrations of British Entomology, vol 1, (1829) continued in his praise for William Raddon. He wrote, " Although this beautiful insect has been known to inhabit England for a very long period, the present race of entomologists are indebted to the exertions of my friend Mr Raddon for the major proportion of the specimens of which adorn their cabinets".
Moses Harris in his Aurelian (1776) who figured an adult from a French pupa, gave H. euphorbiae the English name of the Spotted Elephant. Harris also figured a caterpillar that he had identified as Deilephila euphorbiae which he had found in a marsh at Crayford in Kent. John Obadiah Westwood who revised the Auelian and published a new edition in 1840, pointed out that the larva Moses Harris had found and figured, was not that of H. euphorbiae but that of the closely allied, Hyles gallii. In the new edition of the Aurelian, Westwood gave details of Raddon's discovery of the moth in Devon and mentioned William Raddon was not now only the "celebrated entomologist but was also the celebrated engraver".
William Raddon decided not to rest on his entomological laurels, after his supposed discovery of the rare moth, he later decided to present for publication to the Entomologist's Magazine (1834) two beautiful hand painted colour plates (Fig 2 & 3) depicting the adult and early stages of H. euphorbiae which were accompanied by his breeding notes. Edward Newman the editor of the journal asked Raddon for more detailed information on the localities where he had found the H. euphorbiae. Raddon's reply to Newman's letter was printed in the following number of the entomological magazine. He wrote
" Sir, when I presented the plates of Deilephila euphorbiae, you expressed a wish for some particular's as to its localities, although these have already been given by Curtis and Mr Stephens. In the Autumn of the year 1806, I first visited North Devon ; and at the village of Instow, opposite of Appledon, the first caterpillar was bought to me by a fisherman. I forward it to the late Professor Fuseli, keeper of the Royal Acadamy who considered it to be Sphinx kaechlini, indeed it is very like that insect, as figured by his brother, both in the larva and chrysalis state, See Plate 4 Fusely's archives. The larva died without changing. I know not if it be considered foreign to my subject, if I state, that the late Mr F. was an enthusiastic entomologist, and had a fine drawings and books on Natural History and I recollect his once chiding me for apathy, and concluded by saying "when I was your age I often went at two and three o'clock in the morning, into the cornfields and woods to collect for my brother, and many of the insects figured by him were from my drawings " and to show you that it was not lost in the decline of his life, I will mention that on the conclusion of his last lecture, when descending from the rostrum, Mr Cooper kindly offered his assistance, he said " thank you, oh is it you Cooper, well, where is Raddon has he taken Atropos. He was then upwards of eighty".
Figures 2 & 3. Hyles euphorbiae by William Raddon. Entomological Magazine 1834.
Raddon's mentor was the influential Swiss and famous artist Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) who had settled in London and his brother was the entomologist John Kaper Fuseli (1743-1786) who lived in his native Switzerland. Raddon's choice of words "I know not if it be considered foreign to my subject", does seem a little like a tongue in cheek remark. He went on.
" About the same time I gave Mr Leach a number of chrysalises ; but I learn that not one produced the perfect insect. I have neither taken, nor been able to procure, a single insect, in any state since 1819, until this year a single chrysalis, which was captured on the 3rd of October. The person who sent me this, says " the valley in which you desired me to search is completely filled up by the sand and the whole surface is quite altered by the winds. Captain Blomer, who resided for some years near the locality, and visited it often, was not able to capture one and Mr Cooke, an able and very zealous entomologist of that vicinity, says in a letter dated August last "it is now ten years since I took the larvae, and although I have regulary been in the habit of visiting the locality every year several times, I have never been fortunate to take it since ".
Raddon continues in a fervent manner almost convinced by his own deception " That you may imagine how plentiful that they were in the year 1814, I would not then capture any that were not full fed, and after one's day's pursuit, I had forgotten to take any food, and was in the boat on my return home, when I begged the boatman to put me back it was near dusk, I jumped ashore, and hastily cut an arm full of spruge, and at night put it into water. The next morning ongoing to feed the larvae I had bought home, I found the food was covered with, I should suppose (I did not count them) not less than a hundred minute larvae about a day or two old. I have thus given you my rough notes on this insect. If you think them worth an insertion in your valuable magazine they are at your service ; and I remain yours most truly. W. Raddon. Trafalgar Square, Queens Elms".
The village of Instow where Raddon was staying was separated from the dunes of Braunton Burrows by the wide tidal River Torridge. Raddon's H. euphorbiae larvae would need a constant fresh supply of Sea Spurge and in his fanciful account he would have his readers believe that he was ferried daily across the river in all weathers to collect the foodplant. Adjoining the village where he stayed there are Instow Dunes and the Sea Spruge (Euphorbia paralias) grows there in abundance and was the supply for Raddon's breeding cages.
Allan (1943) said that Raddon was a "bungler" when it came to rearing H. euphorbiae. Charles Barrett in his The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, Vol 2 (1895) wrote "The vast majority appear to have died in the larva or pupae state and comparatively few were reared. These few form the majority of the British specimens in collections".
Later Edward Newman seem to have misgivings regarding Raddon bona fides. In a short article in the Zoologist (1858), where he noted that a specimen of H. euphorbiae said to be in the collection of a Mr Baker that was taken at Bridgewater in Somerset was an erroneous statement. He finished his note by "I fear that this beautiful insect must now be struck off the British list, since it appears to have been extinct ever since the late Mr Raddon's razzia among the spruge at Braunton Burrows".
In his account of Raddon, Allan (1943) noted " Barrett was disillusioned the year after his second volume was published, he attended a meeting of the South London Entomological Society on December 10th, 1896, when it was conclusively proved, by reference to Doubleday and others that Mr Raddon's bona fides was not be relied upon. South may not had been present at that meeting ; at all events he adopted as authoritative, for the book, which he based almost entirely upon Barrett work, the story which Barrett had told".
The two volumes of Richard South's Moths of the British Isles were first published in 1908 with many later revised editions. South's handy field guides became standard reference works for generations of collectors spanning over seventy years. Later editions of South's work were revised by H. M. Edelsten & D. S. Fletcher and in those later books you could still read South's account that he had borrowed from Barrett of how William Raddon discovered H. euphorbiae in North Devon. South had visited Braunton Burrows to search for the moth during 1880 but during his visit he saw nothing but rabbits.
The Observer's book of Larger Moths was a very popular pocket guide that first appeared in 1952 with a revised edition in 1974 that was reprinted until 1978. The author Richard Ford informed his readers that as regards H. euphorbiae, " The most famous locality is Braunton Burrows , and there is no doubt the moth breeds there from time to time, although the early records lacked authenticity".
Reading South and Ford's book as a boy, I often wondered as perhaps many others did at that time, if you visited Braunton Burrows and carefully searched the dunes of Devon would it be possible to rediscover H. euphorbiae. I never went there, as my parents always made for the Dorset coast for their annual holiday.
Hyles euphorbiae was not struck off the British list, it is regarded as a very rare immigrant to our shores but sightings have been more frequent since the 19th century. During September 1887, Charles Barrett had noticed an influx of the large immigrant moth, Agrius convolvuli (Convolvulus Hawk-moth) and those large moths had been visiting the verbena flowers in his garden. One evening, Barrett went out into his garden at King's Lynn on the coast of Norfolk, when he noticed a smaller hawk moth. He recalled " It was flying very quietly and gently, at early dusk about a large bed of verbena, leisurely sipping as it hovered from blossom after blossom and I captured it with the greatest of ease". Fate had taken a hand, to his amazement when Barrett examined his net there was a perfect example of H. euphorbiae.
The most recent records of H. euphorbiae are of one at Landguard Bird Observatory, Suffolk on July 13, 2016 and one at light at Portsmouth, Hants, July 2, 2015.
Below. Specimens of Hyles euphorbiae. Ex William Raddon. Dale coll. OUMNH.
Below. Possible genuine 19th century British Examples of Hyles euphorbiae.
Female found in the Isle of Man sitting on dead seaweed, July 15, 1868 by Charles S. Dewhurst. Dale coll. OUMNH.
Below. In the collection of Mr Harrison bought from the late Peter Bouchard who had it from a coast guard man, then in the collection of Mr Bockholes bought by Mr Hodgekinson.
Below. Two specimens labelled Birkenhead (Liverpool). OUMNH To take two specimens in the same location would be an extraordinarily event?
Below. Given to H.G. Knaggs by Mr Fraser about 1844 unset, reset 1859. Mr Bond (Frederick) considers it to be a British specimen. J.A. Clark Sale.
The images in this article were taken by me and remain the copyright of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. OUMNH.
References.
Allan P.B.M. (1943) Talking of Moths.
Barrett. C. G. (1895) The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, vol 2.
Curtis J (1823-1840) British Entomology : being illustrations and descriptions of the genera of insects found in Great Britain and Ireland, vol, 5.
Harris M. (1840) The Aurelian. Edited by Westwood J.O.
Haworth A. H. (1803). Lepidoptera Britannica;: sistens digestionem novam insectorum Lepidopterorum quæ in Magna.
Newman E. Deilephila euphorbiae not taken at Bridgewater. The Zoologist : A Monthly Journal of Natural History, vol 16. p 6066.
Raddon W. (1834) Notes on Deilephila euphorbiae with two plates. Entomological Magazine, vol 2, pp 370-373.
Raddon W. (1834) Notes on Deilephila euphorbiae ; Letter to Edward Newman. Entomological Magazine, vol 2. pp 535-536.
Stephens J. F. (1828). Illustrations of British Entomology; or, A synopsis of Indigenous insects, vol 1.
Philip Bertram Allan writes of the 19th century engraver, William Raddon that his "name deserves to be remembered for all time as the perpetrator of the biggest entomological hoax ever bought off in this country". Allan in Talking of Moths (1943) gives a witty entertaining account of how William Raddon announced he had discovered the larvae of a hitherto unknown British species, the Spruge Hawk Moth, Hyles euphorbiae on the coastal sand dunes of North Devon but in fact was breeding specimens to sell from his own breeding cages, almost certainly from ova or larvae he had obtained from France.
Allan wrote " The ball was set rolling by Moses Harris who figured in his Aurelian a specimen of the moth he reared from a French pupa. The beauty of this insect was sufficient to make collectors desire it. William Raddon was an engraver of some repute, and he followed up Harris work by engraving a beautiful series of plates, depicting the insect in all its early stages for the Entomological Magazine. These engravings attracted considerable attention among collectors and Raddon seems to have conceived the idea of discovering Deilephila euphorbiae in England ". This statement by Allan is not actually correct; Raddon's fine plates of euphorbiae did not appear in the Entomological Magazine until 1834, long after H. euphorbiae had found their way into British entomological cabinets from Raddon's Devonshire breeding cages.
Allan (1943) stated " so at Barnstaple the Spurge Hawkmoth appeared, and soon Adrian Haworth was announcing Devonshire as the locality for D. euphorbiae". Haworth in his Lepidoptera Britannica (1803) referred to euphorbiae as the Scarce Elephant Hawk Moth and wrote "Devonia larva in Euphorbia". The first H. euphorbiae did not appear from Raddon's breeding cages until 1806, three years after Lepidoptera Britannica was published. It was Haworth who set the stage for William Raddon's fait accompli.
William Raddon at the time of his H. euphorbiae hoax (fraud) was residing at the village of Instow, situated west of Barnstape in North Devon. There appears to be nothing known about William Raddon's personal life but he was active as an engraver in London between 1817 and 1858. Specimens of H. euphorbiae bred by Raddon mainly appeared between 1806 and 1815 before his success as an engraver and his motive for introducing them as British specimens was for financial gain. Allan mentioned Raddon was a dealer, although he also presented specimens of H. euphorbiae to the foremost entomologists of the day, who without question gratefully accepted them as genuine British examples.
John Curtis in his finely illustrated work, British Entomology, vol 5 (1824-1840) gave details of Raddon's remarkable discovery. He writes " Deilephila euphorbiae is eminently beautiful both in its larvae and imago states ; although it had been met with by earlier collectors I am indebted to the assiduity and liberality of my friend Mr Raddon for being able to give its history as well as figures of the larva and the plant upon which it feeds". Raddon had previously presented Curtis with a specimen of euphorbiae.
Curtis recorded that Raddon had made the discovery during a long residence in Devonshire, on the vast sand hills at Appledore and Braunton Burrows where the foodplant Euphorbia paralias was abundant and caterpillars when not full grown were very hard to find especially as hoards of marine birds fed upon them. The caterpillars were full grown about September then they descended into the sand to pupae, emerging the following June. The large expanse of sand dunes were exposed to frequent winter storms and much sand was removed and a large number of the pupae must be destroyed. You can sense from Raddon's account to Curtis that he was already covering his tracks and taking pains to explain why other entomologists visiting Braunton Burrows might not be able to find H. euphorbiae.
Figure 1. H. euphorbiae. (1824-1840) John Curtis, British Entomology, vol 5, pl 3.
James Francis Stephens in his Illustrations of British Entomology, vol 1, (1829) continued in his praise for William Raddon. He wrote, " Although this beautiful insect has been known to inhabit England for a very long period, the present race of entomologists are indebted to the exertions of my friend Mr Raddon for the major proportion of the specimens of which adorn their cabinets".
Moses Harris in his Aurelian (1776) who figured an adult from a French pupa, gave H. euphorbiae the English name of the Spotted Elephant. Harris also figured a caterpillar that he had identified as Deilephila euphorbiae which he had found in a marsh at Crayford in Kent. John Obadiah Westwood who revised the Auelian and published a new edition in 1840, pointed out that the larva Moses Harris had found and figured, was not that of H. euphorbiae but that of the closely allied, Hyles gallii. In the new edition of the Aurelian, Westwood gave details of Raddon's discovery of the moth in Devon and mentioned William Raddon was not now only the "celebrated entomologist but was also the celebrated engraver".
William Raddon decided not to rest on his entomological laurels, after his supposed discovery of the rare moth, he later decided to present for publication to the Entomologist's Magazine (1834) two beautiful hand painted colour plates (Fig 2 & 3) depicting the adult and early stages of H. euphorbiae which were accompanied by his breeding notes. Edward Newman the editor of the journal asked Raddon for more detailed information on the localities where he had found the H. euphorbiae. Raddon's reply to Newman's letter was printed in the following number of the entomological magazine. He wrote
" Sir, when I presented the plates of Deilephila euphorbiae, you expressed a wish for some particular's as to its localities, although these have already been given by Curtis and Mr Stephens. In the Autumn of the year 1806, I first visited North Devon ; and at the village of Instow, opposite of Appledon, the first caterpillar was bought to me by a fisherman. I forward it to the late Professor Fuseli, keeper of the Royal Acadamy who considered it to be Sphinx kaechlini, indeed it is very like that insect, as figured by his brother, both in the larva and chrysalis state, See Plate 4 Fusely's archives. The larva died without changing. I know not if it be considered foreign to my subject, if I state, that the late Mr F. was an enthusiastic entomologist, and had a fine drawings and books on Natural History and I recollect his once chiding me for apathy, and concluded by saying "when I was your age I often went at two and three o'clock in the morning, into the cornfields and woods to collect for my brother, and many of the insects figured by him were from my drawings " and to show you that it was not lost in the decline of his life, I will mention that on the conclusion of his last lecture, when descending from the rostrum, Mr Cooper kindly offered his assistance, he said " thank you, oh is it you Cooper, well, where is Raddon has he taken Atropos. He was then upwards of eighty".
Figures 2 & 3. Hyles euphorbiae by William Raddon. Entomological Magazine 1834.
Raddon's mentor was the influential Swiss and famous artist Henry Fuseli (1741-1825) who had settled in London and his brother was the entomologist John Kaper Fuseli (1743-1786) who lived in his native Switzerland. Raddon's choice of words "I know not if it be considered foreign to my subject", does seem a little like a tongue in cheek remark. He went on.
" About the same time I gave Mr Leach a number of chrysalises ; but I learn that not one produced the perfect insect. I have neither taken, nor been able to procure, a single insect, in any state since 1819, until this year a single chrysalis, which was captured on the 3rd of October. The person who sent me this, says " the valley in which you desired me to search is completely filled up by the sand and the whole surface is quite altered by the winds. Captain Blomer, who resided for some years near the locality, and visited it often, was not able to capture one and Mr Cooke, an able and very zealous entomologist of that vicinity, says in a letter dated August last "it is now ten years since I took the larvae, and although I have regulary been in the habit of visiting the locality every year several times, I have never been fortunate to take it since ".
Raddon continues in a fervent manner almost convinced by his own deception " That you may imagine how plentiful that they were in the year 1814, I would not then capture any that were not full fed, and after one's day's pursuit, I had forgotten to take any food, and was in the boat on my return home, when I begged the boatman to put me back it was near dusk, I jumped ashore, and hastily cut an arm full of spruge, and at night put it into water. The next morning ongoing to feed the larvae I had bought home, I found the food was covered with, I should suppose (I did not count them) not less than a hundred minute larvae about a day or two old. I have thus given you my rough notes on this insect. If you think them worth an insertion in your valuable magazine they are at your service ; and I remain yours most truly. W. Raddon. Trafalgar Square, Queens Elms".
The village of Instow where Raddon was staying was separated from the dunes of Braunton Burrows by the wide tidal River Torridge. Raddon's H. euphorbiae larvae would need a constant fresh supply of Sea Spurge and in his fanciful account he would have his readers believe that he was ferried daily across the river in all weathers to collect the foodplant. Adjoining the village where he stayed there are Instow Dunes and the Sea Spruge (Euphorbia paralias) grows there in abundance and was the supply for Raddon's breeding cages.
Allan (1943) said that Raddon was a "bungler" when it came to rearing H. euphorbiae. Charles Barrett in his The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, Vol 2 (1895) wrote "The vast majority appear to have died in the larva or pupae state and comparatively few were reared. These few form the majority of the British specimens in collections".
Later Edward Newman seem to have misgivings regarding Raddon bona fides. In a short article in the Zoologist (1858), where he noted that a specimen of H. euphorbiae said to be in the collection of a Mr Baker that was taken at Bridgewater in Somerset was an erroneous statement. He finished his note by "I fear that this beautiful insect must now be struck off the British list, since it appears to have been extinct ever since the late Mr Raddon's razzia among the spruge at Braunton Burrows".
In his account of Raddon, Allan (1943) noted " Barrett was disillusioned the year after his second volume was published, he attended a meeting of the South London Entomological Society on December 10th, 1896, when it was conclusively proved, by reference to Doubleday and others that Mr Raddon's bona fides was not be relied upon. South may not had been present at that meeting ; at all events he adopted as authoritative, for the book, which he based almost entirely upon Barrett work, the story which Barrett had told".
The two volumes of Richard South's Moths of the British Isles were first published in 1908 with many later revised editions. South's handy field guides became standard reference works for generations of collectors spanning over seventy years. Later editions of South's work were revised by H. M. Edelsten & D. S. Fletcher and in those later books you could still read South's account that he had borrowed from Barrett of how William Raddon discovered H. euphorbiae in North Devon. South had visited Braunton Burrows to search for the moth during 1880 but during his visit he saw nothing but rabbits.
The Observer's book of Larger Moths was a very popular pocket guide that first appeared in 1952 with a revised edition in 1974 that was reprinted until 1978. The author Richard Ford informed his readers that as regards H. euphorbiae, " The most famous locality is Braunton Burrows , and there is no doubt the moth breeds there from time to time, although the early records lacked authenticity".
Reading South and Ford's book as a boy, I often wondered as perhaps many others did at that time, if you visited Braunton Burrows and carefully searched the dunes of Devon would it be possible to rediscover H. euphorbiae. I never went there, as my parents always made for the Dorset coast for their annual holiday.
Hyles euphorbiae was not struck off the British list, it is regarded as a very rare immigrant to our shores but sightings have been more frequent since the 19th century. During September 1887, Charles Barrett had noticed an influx of the large immigrant moth, Agrius convolvuli (Convolvulus Hawk-moth) and those large moths had been visiting the verbena flowers in his garden. One evening, Barrett went out into his garden at King's Lynn on the coast of Norfolk, when he noticed a smaller hawk moth. He recalled " It was flying very quietly and gently, at early dusk about a large bed of verbena, leisurely sipping as it hovered from blossom after blossom and I captured it with the greatest of ease". Fate had taken a hand, to his amazement when Barrett examined his net there was a perfect example of H. euphorbiae.
The most recent records of H. euphorbiae are of one at Landguard Bird Observatory, Suffolk on July 13, 2016 and one at light at Portsmouth, Hants, July 2, 2015.
Below. Specimens of Hyles euphorbiae. Ex William Raddon. Dale coll. OUMNH.
Below. Possible genuine 19th century British Examples of Hyles euphorbiae.
Female found in the Isle of Man sitting on dead seaweed, July 15, 1868 by Charles S. Dewhurst. Dale coll. OUMNH.
Below. In the collection of Mr Harrison bought from the late Peter Bouchard who had it from a coast guard man, then in the collection of Mr Bockholes bought by Mr Hodgekinson.
Below. Two specimens labelled Birkenhead (Liverpool). OUMNH To take two specimens in the same location would be an extraordinarily event?
Below. Given to H.G. Knaggs by Mr Fraser about 1844 unset, reset 1859. Mr Bond (Frederick) considers it to be a British specimen. J.A. Clark Sale.
The images in this article were taken by me and remain the copyright of the Oxford University Museum of Natural History. OUMNH.
References.
Allan P.B.M. (1943) Talking of Moths.
Barrett. C. G. (1895) The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, vol 2.
Curtis J (1823-1840) British Entomology : being illustrations and descriptions of the genera of insects found in Great Britain and Ireland, vol, 5.
Harris M. (1840) The Aurelian. Edited by Westwood J.O.
Haworth A. H. (1803). Lepidoptera Britannica;: sistens digestionem novam insectorum Lepidopterorum quæ in Magna.
Newman E. Deilephila euphorbiae not taken at Bridgewater. The Zoologist : A Monthly Journal of Natural History, vol 16. p 6066.
Raddon W. (1834) Notes on Deilephila euphorbiae with two plates. Entomological Magazine, vol 2, pp 370-373.
Raddon W. (1834) Notes on Deilephila euphorbiae ; Letter to Edward Newman. Entomological Magazine, vol 2. pp 535-536.
Stephens J. F. (1828). Illustrations of British Entomology; or, A synopsis of Indigenous insects, vol 1.
They flew out of his boxes and no doubt they will became genuine British examples with faked data.
