The extinct Lycaena dispar dispar.
Feb 16, 2015 12:56:19 GMT
deliasfanatic, mygos, and 4 more like this
Post by nomad on Feb 16, 2015 12:56:19 GMT
One of my special interests ( as some will know here) has been the study of the extinct British Large Copper Butterfly - Lycaena dispar dispar ( Haworth 1803). L. dispar was found in the wet fenlands of Eastern England. Many specimens in the mid- 18th century were obtained by the London dealers from larvae and pupae collected by the local people. Only a very small number of collectors were able to visit the fens to capture the insect themselves. Today, specimens of L. dispar dispar with good provenace, can sell for very high prices and those that have them, rightly cherish them. Very few genuine British specimens are seen for sale today. All the specimens shown in this thread were photographed at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History.
Specimens of Lycaena dispar dispar. Ex coll George Baker ( 1830-1913. Ex coll F.E. Lowe. Ex coll H. Rowland-Brown. Specimens of British ' dispar ' are rarely seen in this condition. These very fine examples were probably bred.
It is now accepted that the Large Copper - Lycaena dispar was discovered in 1749 by Dr John Green at Dozern's Bank at West Pinchbeck near Spalding in Lincolnshire. The latter record has only come to light in recent years and at that time, only a few local collectors may have been aware of Dr Green's discovery. There seems to be some conflicting opinions of where and when the final Large Copper specimen was captured in England. James Charles Dale and others thought that the last L. dispar were taken in 1847 or 1848 in Holme Fen in Huntingdonshire by a Mr Stretton. There is however, a record of a specimen taken by Mr Wagstaff at Bottisham Fen in Cambridgeshire during 1851 ( S.H Miller & S.B. J Skertchly - The Fenland Past and Present 1878 ) . In 1980, A.G. Irwin found two specimens in a cabinet due for auction in Norfolk that were labelled Ranworth 1860 and Woodbastwick 1864. The Large Copper had been previously recorded from Ranworth. James Tutt wrote that Mr W. Winter in the Entomologist's Weekly Intellinger for 1858 recorded that L. dispar has again turned up here at Ranworth Broad on June 19th of that year . In Norfolk, outside of the Broads, Bardolph Fen was a noted locality, being taken here by Adrian Haworth in 1827. I have also seen further specimens from Bardolph Fen that were collected in 1839 & 1841. The butterfly was found further south at Benacre Fen in Suffolk by Laetitia Jermyn during 1827. From the data that I have viewed on another specimen from Benacre it was apparently still flying there in 1837.
Many of our oldest historical specimens of the extinct British L.dispar lack any data, some only have the names of the famous entomologists who owned them. The three male specimens ( left) are ex collection Frederick William Hope ( 1797-1862). The three females (right) are ex coll Rev F.M. Spilsbury ( 1826-1878).
There are also two specimens in the British collections at Oxford from an unusual Suffolk locality, that were presented by the well known lepidopterist Henry Rowland-Brown in 1922. These have the data taken before 1840, Woodbridge Suffolk. Rowland-Brown was keen to add this extinct species to his collection and noticed when visiting a Mr Hilsham Jones during 1899, a case of faded butterflies hanging on a wall in his house. To his great surprise there were three specimens of L. dispar in the case. One a female L. dispar, had along with all the others butterflies turned whitish due to light exposure, but the two other Large Copper males placed in the corner of the case were in shade and were in quite good condition. These two male L. dispar specimens were given by the owner to a very happy Rowland-Brown. Mr Hilsham Jones related that the butterflies in the case were all caught in Suffolk by his father and the dispar were taken at Woodbridge in the 1830s. Rowland-Brown mentions that there was the old locality Benacre Fen lying around 15 miles to the north, so perhaps they did indeed come from there.
L. dispar specimens from Woodbridge in Suffolk. These are the two male specimens that H. Rowland-Brown saw in a case of butterflies hanging on the wall in the home of Mr Hilsham Jones during 1899 .
If the Norfolk Large Coppers found by Irwin in the Cabinet of the auction room have the correct data and there is no reason to suppose they do not, then Woodbastwick in Norfolk has now been mentioned by some as the last known British locality . However, the Large Copper may have survived until the following year in one of its well known localities . Recently, I visited the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to study the British collections. As I was examining the British Swallowtail cabinet drawers, I found there was a male specimen with the data June - Yaxley 1865, E. Collins. During 1848 a large drainage dyke was cut across the Great Fen to drain Whittlesea Mere and the adjacent marshes. This drain lowered the water table in this area. In 1851 Appold's pump was installed to complete the drainage. Up to the time when the fens were drained, the Larva, pupae and adults of the Large Copper butterfly were being heavy collected by the local Fen people to sell to the London insect dealers, who often came here. The Swallowtail specimen taken at Yaxley Fen lying to the west of Whittlesea Mere in 1865 shows that even at that date, there was it seems, some suitable remaining habitat for that species. I have recently re-read the account of the Large Copper in that very fascinating book ' The Aurelian Legacy ' by Michael Salmon (2000). Salmon noted that he had two female specimens of L. dispar that were taken in Holme Fen in 1860 and one of these is figured together with other specimens of this species on the colour plate facing page 282. The two female specimens in Salmon's collection are very interesting, because they appear to have been taken twelve years after it was supposed to have become extinct at Holme Fen. Being very interested in the former distribution of this magnificent species, I had a close look at the data labels of the other specimen of the Large Copper that were figured on the plate from M. Salmon's own historic butterfly collection. When I came to the first male dispar, third row left, and saw the accompanying data, I was amazed. The data label clearly says H.H. Colin Yaxley 1865. Exactly the same year that the Swallowtail in the Oxford museum was taken at Yaxley Fen. If both the data labels have the correct date ,the last L. dispar specimen may have not been captured in Norfolk, but in a fragment of remaining fen in the historic county of Huntingdonshire in 1865. The Large Copper was first found at Yaxley Fen in 1819 by Thomas Speechley, an old boatman. Although the Great Fen was drained in 1851, in the winter the area still filled with water for a number of successive years. More than a decade later the area had to be regularly pumped until the fields contained not marshland but the weight of the golden harvest as the great James Charles Dale so aptly put it.
Early Lycaena dispar specimen taken before 1820.
I have being reading about the current Great Fen project, to restore large areas of arable land to marshland over a 50 year period. Hopefully one of the top priorities, of those involved, will be putting the Large Copper butterfly back where it belongs. There have been a number of attemps to reintroduce the Large Copper to Britain with Dutch ssp batavus and ssp rutilus from Germany, but all failed at some point, because the chosen habitat was to small. If the restoration project creates enough suitable habitat to substain the Dutch subspecies batavus, the Large Copper could once more delight us by the sheer brilliance of those glorious wings in its historic homeland.
The site of Yaxley Fen today, with a drainage lode = dyke.
Specimens of Lycaena dispar dispar. Ex coll George Baker ( 1830-1913. Ex coll F.E. Lowe. Ex coll H. Rowland-Brown. Specimens of British ' dispar ' are rarely seen in this condition. These very fine examples were probably bred.
It is now accepted that the Large Copper - Lycaena dispar was discovered in 1749 by Dr John Green at Dozern's Bank at West Pinchbeck near Spalding in Lincolnshire. The latter record has only come to light in recent years and at that time, only a few local collectors may have been aware of Dr Green's discovery. There seems to be some conflicting opinions of where and when the final Large Copper specimen was captured in England. James Charles Dale and others thought that the last L. dispar were taken in 1847 or 1848 in Holme Fen in Huntingdonshire by a Mr Stretton. There is however, a record of a specimen taken by Mr Wagstaff at Bottisham Fen in Cambridgeshire during 1851 ( S.H Miller & S.B. J Skertchly - The Fenland Past and Present 1878 ) . In 1980, A.G. Irwin found two specimens in a cabinet due for auction in Norfolk that were labelled Ranworth 1860 and Woodbastwick 1864. The Large Copper had been previously recorded from Ranworth. James Tutt wrote that Mr W. Winter in the Entomologist's Weekly Intellinger for 1858 recorded that L. dispar has again turned up here at Ranworth Broad on June 19th of that year . In Norfolk, outside of the Broads, Bardolph Fen was a noted locality, being taken here by Adrian Haworth in 1827. I have also seen further specimens from Bardolph Fen that were collected in 1839 & 1841. The butterfly was found further south at Benacre Fen in Suffolk by Laetitia Jermyn during 1827. From the data that I have viewed on another specimen from Benacre it was apparently still flying there in 1837.
Many of our oldest historical specimens of the extinct British L.dispar lack any data, some only have the names of the famous entomologists who owned them. The three male specimens ( left) are ex collection Frederick William Hope ( 1797-1862). The three females (right) are ex coll Rev F.M. Spilsbury ( 1826-1878).
There are also two specimens in the British collections at Oxford from an unusual Suffolk locality, that were presented by the well known lepidopterist Henry Rowland-Brown in 1922. These have the data taken before 1840, Woodbridge Suffolk. Rowland-Brown was keen to add this extinct species to his collection and noticed when visiting a Mr Hilsham Jones during 1899, a case of faded butterflies hanging on a wall in his house. To his great surprise there were three specimens of L. dispar in the case. One a female L. dispar, had along with all the others butterflies turned whitish due to light exposure, but the two other Large Copper males placed in the corner of the case were in shade and were in quite good condition. These two male L. dispar specimens were given by the owner to a very happy Rowland-Brown. Mr Hilsham Jones related that the butterflies in the case were all caught in Suffolk by his father and the dispar were taken at Woodbridge in the 1830s. Rowland-Brown mentions that there was the old locality Benacre Fen lying around 15 miles to the north, so perhaps they did indeed come from there.
L. dispar specimens from Woodbridge in Suffolk. These are the two male specimens that H. Rowland-Brown saw in a case of butterflies hanging on the wall in the home of Mr Hilsham Jones during 1899 .
If the Norfolk Large Coppers found by Irwin in the Cabinet of the auction room have the correct data and there is no reason to suppose they do not, then Woodbastwick in Norfolk has now been mentioned by some as the last known British locality . However, the Large Copper may have survived until the following year in one of its well known localities . Recently, I visited the Oxford University Museum of Natural History to study the British collections. As I was examining the British Swallowtail cabinet drawers, I found there was a male specimen with the data June - Yaxley 1865, E. Collins. During 1848 a large drainage dyke was cut across the Great Fen to drain Whittlesea Mere and the adjacent marshes. This drain lowered the water table in this area. In 1851 Appold's pump was installed to complete the drainage. Up to the time when the fens were drained, the Larva, pupae and adults of the Large Copper butterfly were being heavy collected by the local Fen people to sell to the London insect dealers, who often came here. The Swallowtail specimen taken at Yaxley Fen lying to the west of Whittlesea Mere in 1865 shows that even at that date, there was it seems, some suitable remaining habitat for that species. I have recently re-read the account of the Large Copper in that very fascinating book ' The Aurelian Legacy ' by Michael Salmon (2000). Salmon noted that he had two female specimens of L. dispar that were taken in Holme Fen in 1860 and one of these is figured together with other specimens of this species on the colour plate facing page 282. The two female specimens in Salmon's collection are very interesting, because they appear to have been taken twelve years after it was supposed to have become extinct at Holme Fen. Being very interested in the former distribution of this magnificent species, I had a close look at the data labels of the other specimen of the Large Copper that were figured on the plate from M. Salmon's own historic butterfly collection. When I came to the first male dispar, third row left, and saw the accompanying data, I was amazed. The data label clearly says H.H. Colin Yaxley 1865. Exactly the same year that the Swallowtail in the Oxford museum was taken at Yaxley Fen. If both the data labels have the correct date ,the last L. dispar specimen may have not been captured in Norfolk, but in a fragment of remaining fen in the historic county of Huntingdonshire in 1865. The Large Copper was first found at Yaxley Fen in 1819 by Thomas Speechley, an old boatman. Although the Great Fen was drained in 1851, in the winter the area still filled with water for a number of successive years. More than a decade later the area had to be regularly pumped until the fields contained not marshland but the weight of the golden harvest as the great James Charles Dale so aptly put it.
Early Lycaena dispar specimen taken before 1820.
I have being reading about the current Great Fen project, to restore large areas of arable land to marshland over a 50 year period. Hopefully one of the top priorities, of those involved, will be putting the Large Copper butterfly back where it belongs. There have been a number of attemps to reintroduce the Large Copper to Britain with Dutch ssp batavus and ssp rutilus from Germany, but all failed at some point, because the chosen habitat was to small. If the restoration project creates enough suitable habitat to substain the Dutch subspecies batavus, the Large Copper could once more delight us by the sheer brilliance of those glorious wings in its historic homeland.
The site of Yaxley Fen today, with a drainage lode = dyke.