The British specimens of Callimorpha dominula ab nigra
Jul 12, 2018 11:05:45 GMT
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The British specimens of Callimorpha dominula ab nigra Spurler-Hofman 1910.
Callimorpha dominula is a striking day-flying moth of the Arctiinae family. This article charts the history of the British specimens of the extremely rare melanic aberration of this species, ab nigra Spurler-Hofman 1910.
In the summer of 1872, the naturalist and natural history agent Samuel Stevens (1817-1899) of London found a larva of C. dorminula at St Margaret's Bay near Dover in Kent. The moth that emerged from the pupa was an extreme melanic specimen (Figure 2). Stevens exhibited the specimen at the Entomological Society of London in November 1872.
Stevens specimen of C. dominula ab. nigra was figured with a note in The Entomologist (1873) by the editor, Edward Newman (Fig 3). He stated that there was a similar melanic specimen in the collection of Doubleday (Fig 4). Henry Doubleday (1808–1875) was the author of first Catalogue of British Butterflies and Moths, A Synonymic List of the British Lepidoptera (1847–1850).
The Samuel Stevens' collection comprising a hundred thousand specimens of Lepidoptera, the result of 60 years collecting and breeding, was sold after his death in 1900 by his nephew Henry Stevens, the proprietor of Steven's auction house at 38 King's Street, Covent Garden in London. His specimen of C. dominula ab. nigra sold for five pounds ten shillings (South 1900). Roughly the equivalent of 600 pounds today. It was bought at the sale by Charles William Dale.
James Walker (1909) in his review of the Dale collection housed in the Hope Department of Entomology at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, writes of Steven's specimen of ab nigra " A magnificent melanic aberration in which the usual orange and cream-coloured spots of the forewings are slightly enlarged, and entirely replaced by an intense shade of the deeper madder brown, showing up darker than the ground colour, which is slightly more bluish tone than usual. Hindwings and body deep glossy black; underside immaculate black, slightly glossed with green towards the edges of the wings." Walker also recorded the specimen was a male.
Figure 1. Typical specimen of Callimorpha dorminula. Bristol Museum Coll.
Figure 2. Callimorpha dorminula ab. nigra. Dover, Kent, Ex coll S. Stevens, Dale Collection. OUMNH.
Figure 3. C. dominula ab. nigra. St Margaret's Bay near Dover, Kent, S. Stevens. Edward Newman, The Entomologist, Vol 6, 1873.
Henry Doubleday's specimen of C. dominula ab. nigra was figured by Pierre Millière in his Icongraphic, vol 3, pl 116, fig 4 (1869). Millière wrote "This accidental variety of the dominula is of English origin, it belongs to the rich cabinet of H. Doubleday who has kindly communicated it to me. I do not think it was obtained ex larva, nevertheless the subject is a good state of conservation."
Figure 4. Callimorpha dominula ab. nigra. Henry Doubleday. Copyright BMNH.
Figure 5. Specimen of Callimorpha dominula ab. nigra. Ex coll Dr Battershell Gill. Bought at the Vendue sale at the J.C. Stevens auction rooms by Charles Oberthur. The data label has a reference to Pierre Millière and his Iconographie. Copyright BMNH.
Robert Adkin (1920) gave an account of the sale of the Sydney Webb collection at the Stevens auction rooms in the Entomologist. Chalmers-Hunt (1976) considered the Sydney Webb (1837-1919) collection one of the finest of British Lepidoptera that was ever put up for auction. It had a magnificent series of aberrations that had been described and figured in literature. Webb's collection also included that of Frederick Bond (1811-1889), one of Britain's most distinguished field collectors. Among Bond's extensive collection were a number of Lepidoptera that he had added to the British list. South (1920) mentioned, that in the Webb collection, there were two specimens of C. dominula ab. nigra, "one a bit of a rag (Fig 6) and one good example " that was captured at Walmer, Kent by Mr. S. Smith" (Fig 7). Both of these specimens were bought by the wealthy tobacco magnet, Robert Adkin who later left his magnificent collection to the British Museum of Natural History. The specimen taken by Smith at Walmer was figured by Charles Barrett in The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, vol 2, pl 70, fig e (1895).
Figure 6. Callimorpha dominula ab. nigra. Ex coll Dr Battershell Gill, Ex coll F. Bond, Ex coll S. Webb, Ex coll R. Adkin. Copyright BMNH.
Figure 7. Callimorpha dominula ab. nigra. Walmer, near Deal, Kent. S. Smith 1884. Ex coll Webb, Ex coll R. Adkin. Copyright BMNH .
Figure 8. Charles Barrett :The Lepidoptera of the British Islands 1895 , vol 2, plate 70, figure e : C. dominula ab. nigra captured by Mr. S. Smith at Walmer near Deal in Kent.
Cockayne (1928) stated that all the known specimens of C. dominula ab. nigra originated in Kent. Those that have labels indicate that all the specimens of C. dorminula ab. nigra came from the once extensive colony west of Deal, on the undercliff between Walmer and the village of St Margarets Cliffe.
Chalmers-Hunt. (1962-1968) records the colony of C. dominula between Walmer and St Margarets Cliffe declined through the disappearance of habitat because of cliffs falls, sea encroachment and at the last remaining site at Kingsdown by the extension of a rifle range. Before the area at Kingsdown was to be bulldozed in 1959 to extend the rifle range, Leonard Hugh Newman, the Bexley butterfly farmer came down in the spring with many breeding cages and collected hundreds of caterpillars. At least 350 of these were liberated on a private estate in Lincoln to attempt to establish a colony there, but they all soon disappeared. Chalmers-Hunt stated that he deplored Newmans's actions of removing all the larvae of C. dominula from Kingsdown. He observed that a section of undercliff beyond the breakwater have survived after the building of the new rifle range and that in 1964 after the removal of the larvae by Newman in an unfortunate attempt to establish them elsewhere, he could only find some twenty larvae and asked collectors not to take any from this small colony. In spite of this, the population was now too small to survive and none were found at Kingsdown after 1964.
Figure 9. The undercliff at St Margarets Bay before 1892. The habitat of C. dominula where on rare occasions ab nigra appeared.
Acknowledgements. James Hogan at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History for permission to access the Dale collection and to Geoff Martin of the British Museum of Natural History for his time and help in accessing specimens from their collections.
* The images from the British Museum of Natural History BMNH were used in this article by permission after a signed copyright declaration to the trustees. The images from Oxford University Museum of Natural History OUMNH and Bristol Museum taken by me, remain their copyright.
References.
Adkin R. (1920). Notes and Observations: Sydney Webb Sale.The Entomologist, vol 53, p. 65.
Barrett. C. G. (1895) The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, vol 2.
Chalmers-Hunt J.M. (1976) Natural History Auctions 1700-1972.
Chalmers-Hunt. J.M. (1962-1968) Butterflies and moths of Kent, vol 2.
Cockayne E.A. (1928) Variation in Callimorpha dominula. The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation, vol 40, pp. 153-160.
Millière P. (1869) Iconographie et description de chenilles et lépidopteres inédits Vol 3, p. 83 plate 116.
Newman E. (1873) Variety of Callimorpha dominula. Newman's Entomologist, vol 6, pp. 321-322.
Newman L. H. (1969) Living with Butterflies. London.
South R. (1900) Notes and Observations. The Stevens Collection. The Entomologist, vol 33, p. 178.
Walker J. J. (1909) Some Notes on the Lepidoptera of the Dale Collection of British Insects, now in the Oxford University Museum.The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, vol 45, p. 107.
Callimorpha dominula is a striking day-flying moth of the Arctiinae family. This article charts the history of the British specimens of the extremely rare melanic aberration of this species, ab nigra Spurler-Hofman 1910.
In the summer of 1872, the naturalist and natural history agent Samuel Stevens (1817-1899) of London found a larva of C. dorminula at St Margaret's Bay near Dover in Kent. The moth that emerged from the pupa was an extreme melanic specimen (Figure 2). Stevens exhibited the specimen at the Entomological Society of London in November 1872.
Stevens specimen of C. dominula ab. nigra was figured with a note in The Entomologist (1873) by the editor, Edward Newman (Fig 3). He stated that there was a similar melanic specimen in the collection of Doubleday (Fig 4). Henry Doubleday (1808–1875) was the author of first Catalogue of British Butterflies and Moths, A Synonymic List of the British Lepidoptera (1847–1850).
The Samuel Stevens' collection comprising a hundred thousand specimens of Lepidoptera, the result of 60 years collecting and breeding, was sold after his death in 1900 by his nephew Henry Stevens, the proprietor of Steven's auction house at 38 King's Street, Covent Garden in London. His specimen of C. dominula ab. nigra sold for five pounds ten shillings (South 1900). Roughly the equivalent of 600 pounds today. It was bought at the sale by Charles William Dale.
James Walker (1909) in his review of the Dale collection housed in the Hope Department of Entomology at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History, writes of Steven's specimen of ab nigra " A magnificent melanic aberration in which the usual orange and cream-coloured spots of the forewings are slightly enlarged, and entirely replaced by an intense shade of the deeper madder brown, showing up darker than the ground colour, which is slightly more bluish tone than usual. Hindwings and body deep glossy black; underside immaculate black, slightly glossed with green towards the edges of the wings." Walker also recorded the specimen was a male.
Figure 1. Typical specimen of Callimorpha dorminula. Bristol Museum Coll.
Figure 2. Callimorpha dorminula ab. nigra. Dover, Kent, Ex coll S. Stevens, Dale Collection. OUMNH.
Figure 3. C. dominula ab. nigra. St Margaret's Bay near Dover, Kent, S. Stevens. Edward Newman, The Entomologist, Vol 6, 1873.
Henry Doubleday's specimen of C. dominula ab. nigra was figured by Pierre Millière in his Icongraphic, vol 3, pl 116, fig 4 (1869). Millière wrote "This accidental variety of the dominula is of English origin, it belongs to the rich cabinet of H. Doubleday who has kindly communicated it to me. I do not think it was obtained ex larva, nevertheless the subject is a good state of conservation."
Figure 4. Callimorpha dominula ab. nigra. Henry Doubleday. Copyright BMNH.
Figure 5. Specimen of Callimorpha dominula ab. nigra. Ex coll Dr Battershell Gill. Bought at the Vendue sale at the J.C. Stevens auction rooms by Charles Oberthur. The data label has a reference to Pierre Millière and his Iconographie. Copyright BMNH.
Robert Adkin (1920) gave an account of the sale of the Sydney Webb collection at the Stevens auction rooms in the Entomologist. Chalmers-Hunt (1976) considered the Sydney Webb (1837-1919) collection one of the finest of British Lepidoptera that was ever put up for auction. It had a magnificent series of aberrations that had been described and figured in literature. Webb's collection also included that of Frederick Bond (1811-1889), one of Britain's most distinguished field collectors. Among Bond's extensive collection were a number of Lepidoptera that he had added to the British list. South (1920) mentioned, that in the Webb collection, there were two specimens of C. dominula ab. nigra, "one a bit of a rag (Fig 6) and one good example " that was captured at Walmer, Kent by Mr. S. Smith" (Fig 7). Both of these specimens were bought by the wealthy tobacco magnet, Robert Adkin who later left his magnificent collection to the British Museum of Natural History. The specimen taken by Smith at Walmer was figured by Charles Barrett in The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, vol 2, pl 70, fig e (1895).
Figure 6. Callimorpha dominula ab. nigra. Ex coll Dr Battershell Gill, Ex coll F. Bond, Ex coll S. Webb, Ex coll R. Adkin. Copyright BMNH.
Figure 7. Callimorpha dominula ab. nigra. Walmer, near Deal, Kent. S. Smith 1884. Ex coll Webb, Ex coll R. Adkin. Copyright BMNH .
Figure 8. Charles Barrett :The Lepidoptera of the British Islands 1895 , vol 2, plate 70, figure e : C. dominula ab. nigra captured by Mr. S. Smith at Walmer near Deal in Kent.
Cockayne (1928) stated that all the known specimens of C. dominula ab. nigra originated in Kent. Those that have labels indicate that all the specimens of C. dorminula ab. nigra came from the once extensive colony west of Deal, on the undercliff between Walmer and the village of St Margarets Cliffe.
Chalmers-Hunt. (1962-1968) records the colony of C. dominula between Walmer and St Margarets Cliffe declined through the disappearance of habitat because of cliffs falls, sea encroachment and at the last remaining site at Kingsdown by the extension of a rifle range. Before the area at Kingsdown was to be bulldozed in 1959 to extend the rifle range, Leonard Hugh Newman, the Bexley butterfly farmer came down in the spring with many breeding cages and collected hundreds of caterpillars. At least 350 of these were liberated on a private estate in Lincoln to attempt to establish a colony there, but they all soon disappeared. Chalmers-Hunt stated that he deplored Newmans's actions of removing all the larvae of C. dominula from Kingsdown. He observed that a section of undercliff beyond the breakwater have survived after the building of the new rifle range and that in 1964 after the removal of the larvae by Newman in an unfortunate attempt to establish them elsewhere, he could only find some twenty larvae and asked collectors not to take any from this small colony. In spite of this, the population was now too small to survive and none were found at Kingsdown after 1964.
Figure 9. The undercliff at St Margarets Bay before 1892. The habitat of C. dominula where on rare occasions ab nigra appeared.
Acknowledgements. James Hogan at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History for permission to access the Dale collection and to Geoff Martin of the British Museum of Natural History for his time and help in accessing specimens from their collections.
* The images from the British Museum of Natural History BMNH were used in this article by permission after a signed copyright declaration to the trustees. The images from Oxford University Museum of Natural History OUMNH and Bristol Museum taken by me, remain their copyright.
References.
Adkin R. (1920). Notes and Observations: Sydney Webb Sale.The Entomologist, vol 53, p. 65.
Barrett. C. G. (1895) The Lepidoptera of the British Islands, vol 2.
Chalmers-Hunt J.M. (1976) Natural History Auctions 1700-1972.
Chalmers-Hunt. J.M. (1962-1968) Butterflies and moths of Kent, vol 2.
Cockayne E.A. (1928) Variation in Callimorpha dominula. The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation, vol 40, pp. 153-160.
Millière P. (1869) Iconographie et description de chenilles et lépidopteres inédits Vol 3, p. 83 plate 116.
Newman E. (1873) Variety of Callimorpha dominula. Newman's Entomologist, vol 6, pp. 321-322.
Newman L. H. (1969) Living with Butterflies. London.
South R. (1900) Notes and Observations. The Stevens Collection. The Entomologist, vol 33, p. 178.
Walker J. J. (1909) Some Notes on the Lepidoptera of the Dale Collection of British Insects, now in the Oxford University Museum.The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine, vol 45, p. 107.