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Post by nomad on Apr 26, 2015 6:55:28 GMT
The Butterfly Adventures of I.R.P. Heslop. This is not a complete biography of the English entomologist Ian Heslop. This has been done perfectly by Matthew Oates in his excellent article, ' Extreme Butterfly Collecting' that was published the British Wildlife Magazine in 2005 . Only brief biography details of Heslop are given here. I prefer to look at his butterfly adventures and special butterfly captures . I.R.P Heslop is perhaps most well known for being the lead author of the classic monograph ' Notes and views of the Purple Emperor' (1964) and also his New Label List of British Macrolepidoptera ( 1961). The latter being published by Watkins & Doncaster the natural history suppliers in 1961. Ian Robert Penicuick ( 1904-1970) was born in Bristol in the West Country of England and attended Clifton college in that city. He then went up to Cambridge University. He joined the African Colonial Service in 1929 as a District Commissioner in the Owerri Province of Nigeria. Here he became a big game hunter. He is remembered by Zoologists because he discovered the now extinct subspecies of Pigmy Hippopotamus Hexaprotodon liberiensis heslopi. Heslop presented several Skulls of the Nigerian Pigmy Hippopatamus to the BMNH. During his holidays, Heslop made bi-annual visits to Britain, often timed with the appearance of his ' obsession ' the Purple Emperor Apatura iris. In 1952 Heslop left Africa for the last time and returned to his home at Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset on the west coast of England. With a young family to bring up, Heslop took up teaching posts in private schools as a classics master. Heslop chose his schools wisely. His schools usually had to be in good Purple Emperor Apatura iris territory or in a Large Blue Maculinea arion locality, which was his second favourite butterfly. Heslop spent many days in the field becoming an expert lepidopterist. Although Heslop remained an avid collector all his life, he realized that certain butterfly habitats needed protecting. Heslop was instrumental in setting up two important English nature reserves, the Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's Blackmoor's copse where there was a good population of his favourite butterfly, the Purple Emperor and Sharpwick Heath, a marshland area in Somerset. Sharpwick Heath is now a National Nature Reserve. Heslop's life long entomological journey started at a tender age . He collected an unprecedented 67 species of British butterflies and it would have been 68, but he failed to seek out the Black-veined White Aporia crataegi before this species became extinct in Britain, an error he regretted most of his collecting life. All of the specimens in his British collection were taken by his own hand. Heslop was not only a collector of British Butterflies, during his 25 years in Nigeria in West Africa he did collect specimens. Some of Heslop African specimens are shown in this article. However, considering he was in darkest Africa for a quarter of century his collections from that continent are rather small. There are two reasons for this. Firstly in Africa, his quarry was of the much larger kind and captured not with the net but shot with the rifle. Secondly, Heslop never lost the love of his native butterflies and preferred to spend his vacations in search of the British butterflies. He also collected British moths but to a much lesser extent. Heslop also purchased some Asian and South American butterflies from L.H. Newman, the famous Kentish butterfly farmer. Some of the specimens in his African, World and British moth collections seemed to have been neglected at some point, possibly in Heslop's later life during a period of illness before his death. Papilio antimachus taken by Heslop. Old Oyo,Oyo Province, Nigeria 12 May 1950. Although his African butterfly collection is not extensive, Heslop did manage to take a male Papilio antimachus. The males of P. antimachus are common in collections, because of native collectors, but few westerners have had the thrill of capturing this grand butterfly. This feat even alluded the great Danish butterfly collector Torben Larsen, who spent much time in West Africa. Heslop's collections including his magnificent collection of British butterflies was given as a bequest to the Bristol City Museum during 1970 by his wife. Heslop's British butterfly collection is in perfect condition and is very comprehensive. Although the collection is not especially rich in aberrations, there are still some unique rarities . Heslop never actively sought out aberrations, although those saw, he certainly took to add to his collection. Few of the extreme specimen aberrations in large British collections were caught by the actual collector, they were purchased at the Auction Rooms. If a collector relied on his own efforts his collection would be comparatively poor in these varieties. As Heslop would only add specimens to his British collection that he took himself, his collection is a monumental effort. Although Although Heslop added data, such as the date of capture to his specimens, only the county was given to keep his localities confidential. Further information on the localities where Heslop captured his specimens, can be found in his private diaries, that were also later presented to the Bristol museum. Below an interesting box of African butterflies, taken by Heslop. This cabinet drawer also contains specimens sent to him by a certain Theophilus John from Freetown, Sierra Leona during the 1930s.. This box includes a specimen of the Magnificent Forester Euphaedra francina, a rare butterfly from the rainforest of West Africa. Far right hand column, fourth down and marked with a black dot. Next Heslop's early butterfly adventures.
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Post by nomad on Apr 26, 2015 7:34:02 GMT
It can be seen from the Heslop's box of West African butterflies, from their condition, that they were taken on the wing or perhaps at bate. Being a novice at African butterflies, perhaps a collector of them, can point to any other uncommon things in the Heslop cabinet drawer .
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 26, 2015 13:54:43 GMT
Brilliant article, thank you Peter!
I have learnt a lot of things about this entomologist I didn't know well.
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Post by trehopr1 on Apr 26, 2015 17:46:52 GMT
Fascinating read Nomad. Sounds like Mr.Heslop led quite an adventurous life. I would say a very fulfilling and admirable one as well. Fortunate man....
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Post by stevewoodhall on Apr 27, 2015 13:50:13 GMT
I well remember trying for what felt like hours to catch a Euphaedra francina up at Taï Forest with Steve Collins and Haydon Warren-Gash. It kept settling and taking off whenever I got inside its threat radius, which felt like 2m. And no bait on the ground! Eventually it flew off round a bush and there was a triumphant 'YES'! Steve C had caught her on the wing. Ah well, at least I beat him to the first Euphaedra sarcoptera styx later on that trip... and as a beginner in West Africa of course Murphys Law ensured I kept catching all the really rare stuff. Most of which I had no idea was rare - and I donated most of them to Steve and Haydon because they meant more to them than me. Didn't stop Steve giving me the nickname 'Mr Jameson' (of a B****) on that trip!
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Post by wollastoni on Apr 27, 2015 13:55:51 GMT
Welcome to the Forum, Steve ! This "Euphaedra battle" with Steve Collins must have been very fun !
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Post by nomad on Apr 28, 2015 19:26:31 GMT
Heslop's early collecting days.An interest in butterflies often starts with a treasured moment early in our life. When Ian Heslop was seven, he spent several weeks in bed with a bad case of the mumps. To ease his boredom, he was bought some Small white Pieris rapae caterpillars . He watched the caterpillars mature and then pupate, later as they emerged they flew around his room before they were released through his window. During this period of convalescence, he was bought a pale yellow butterfly that was found at rest in a nearby clover field, which he later found out, must have been a specimen of the Pale Clouded Yellow Colias hyale, a rare migrant to Britain. On the 20th March 1913 when he was nine, Ian Heslop set out to capture his first butterfly, a specimen of the Small White Pieris rapae which had brightened his sick room three years before. That day he managed to take this butterfly with his shrimp net on the Bristol downs close to his home at Clifton. He recalled that he was not to see another Pieris rapae at such an early date during the next forty years. The following year on May day 1914, Heslop chased and captured a further three species of butterflies on the Bristol Downs. These were Pieris brassicae ( Large White), Pieris napi ( Green-veined White) and Polyommatus icarus ( Common Blue). Like most young collectors, starting out on their butterfly adventure, it did not matter to young Heslop that these were common butterfly species. It was the sheer delight of experiencing these new butterflies in the field. Figure 1 - The Bristol Downs ( Clifton & Durdham) where Heslop collected his first butterflies are much changed today, consisting mainly of grass lawns. That year, the dark clouds of war engulfed Europe and it was decided by his mother that although young Heslop was only ten, he would when he was old enough, follow his father into the Royal Engineers, which he never did. So his mother put a stop to his galavanting about the local downs with his old shrimp net and his new hobby would be drawing and learning about machines. This ban on collecting was lifted in 1915. One day a neighbour saw him chasing butterflies and said she would report him to the R.S.P.C.A and took away his most prized possession, his shrimp net. Heslop said that he never forget the gloating exultation on her face. Heslop was forced to take drastic measures and tried to knock specimens down with a stick. A friend had shown him a splendid series of Vanessa cardui he had captured and he really wanted this beautiful butterfly for his collection. During May 1915, he was taken to visit his uncle, who was the vicar of Edington in Wiltshire but he was not allowed to take new net. However, his uncle lent the young heslop his big black net and on the downs above he took his first Painted Lady Vanessa cardui and he was so excited he said to his parents that in 50 years hence he would return on the very day and celebrate the event. No doubt, his parents took this for boyish enthusiasm, but return he did to Edington 50 years later on the very day and as he stood on those downs he looked back through a lifetime of butterfly collecting. Young Heslop's entomological equipment was then very primitive, he had only cardboard to set his butterflies, he used needlework pins on his specimens and he had to make a new net himself to catch them with. On a holiday to Bournemouth on the south coast of England in the late summer of 1915, Heslop took his first Graylings Hipparchia semele. For his birthday, Ian was given his first butterfly book, W.S. Coleman's popular British Butterflies. There was also Heslop's first breeding cage and some bought pupae of Papilio machaon which emerged in May 1916. Ian Heslop amazingly ,did not keep his bred Swallowtails. He only wanted self caught specimens within his British collection, which was maintained throughout his entire life. During his early collecting days he thought that the Purple Emperor Apatura iris might be the denizen of almost any oaks and he was always during this period continually scanning those that occurred along the field edges and along the country lanes. Figure 2 - Specimens of Hipparchia semele aberration sabinae. Collected by Heslop in 1919 on Brean Down near Weston-super Mare on the coast of Somerset. Although this new aberration has been labelled as types, infrasubspecific names are not recognized by the ICZN code. However, such labels are often placed by British Museums on type aberration specimens. These labels can be of a great help to those studying named aberrations of different species. Ian's collecting has some far been very restricted, but this changed when he was given his first bicycle. A strange encounter which terrified young Heslop while collecting in 1917 finally changed his fathers attitude to his hobby; from one of allowance to interest and support. Heslop was collecting near his home, when he was accosted by an old man. This man asked Ian to show him his captures. Being polite, Ian handed over his killing bottle, which had layer of Laurel leaves which he always used for his butterflies demise. The old man took a specimen from the bottle and proceeded to rub the scales off the wings of the butterfly, saying he liked the pleasure, the velvet like scales gave him. Alarmed and horrified, Heslop snatched back his bottle and run home to tell his father who set off a once in pursuit of the scoundrel, who had by that time disappeared. A result of Heslop's upset was that his father took young heslop to Gunn's of Bristol where he bought him his first white entomological pins to add to his first proper saddle back setting board ( sloping in the old style) bought with his new pocket money allowance. Figure 3 - Ian Heslop's first butterfly book by William Stephen Coleman ( 1829-1904) ' British Butterflies' first published in 1860, was the most successful children's butterfly book of the Victorian era and there were many reprints and revised editions which were on sale for fifty years. At Leigh Woods, which are opposite the Bristol Downs on the west side of the Avon Gorge, Heslop missed his first rarity, a Brown Hairstreak, Thecla betulae, the only one he ever saw there. It certainly is not found in that locality today. A year later in 1918 on the 5-6th July, Heslop captured his first specimens of the local hairstreak Satyrium w-album, also in Leigh Woods. S. w-album it is still present in that area in small numbers. Reaching further afield with his bicycle , one of his favourite places was the steep sided Brockley Combe to the south of Bristol, which was then full of mature Oaks. Only July morning, a large dark butterfly sailed around the top of the trees, flashing its purple wings in the sunlight. Ian Heslop had encountered his first Apatura iris, that brief sighting would one day lead to Heslop becoming the leading authority on this species. One day his fellow entomologists would refer to him in affection as the Purple Emperor. Figure 4 - A favourite collecting locality of young Heslops was Leigh Woods in the Avon Gorge. Leigh Woods are on the right, photographed from the Bristol Downs. Figure 5 - Although Heslop had seen his first Colias Hyale when he was seven in 1910, it would be another 23 years before he himself captured several specimens of this rare migrant in Kent during 1933. Heslop was lucky to have taken a good number of specimens of this rare immigrant to Britain between 1933 and 1960 and these are shown here. A number of specimens of C. Hyale were taken by Heslop during 1945, which probably is the best recorded year in Britain, as regards very rare migrants. C. Hyale is very rarely recorded in Britain today and now considered one of our rarest migrants. I have never been lucky enough to have seen one in the U.K and probably never will. Next. Heslop's life long Passion: The Purple Emperor.
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Post by stevewoodhall on Apr 29, 2015 16:35:45 GMT
What a small world it is. Stephen Henning, author of The Charaxinae Butterflies of Africa, now lives near Edington and when I was in England last year we went up on the Downs there, and got loads of photos of Adonis Blues! Never knew about this connection. Here's a pic of Polyommatus bellargus taken that day.
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Post by nomad on Apr 29, 2015 16:39:41 GMT
Nice to see there are still butterflies on the downs near Edington and none better to see than Polyommatus ( Lysandra) bellargus
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Post by nomad on May 2, 2015 13:33:06 GMT
Heslop's Purple Emperor days. The Purple Emperor Apatura iris was always the most prized of the British Butterflies by collectors. Rarely in the 19th century did the males of A. Iris seem to descend from his lofty haunts. Only occasionally was this arboreal butterfly tempted by the bait of carrion placed on woodland paths by collectors. In a few instances in that period, A. iris did visit carrion baits in numbers. Usually it was a very happy collector who managed to return home with a specimen of A. iris. In the mid-19th century A. iris could be common in suitable woodland but then after this period, numbers of this butterfly declined steeply through habitat change. For instance, A. iris was once frequent in the New Forest in Hampshire in southern England, where many a collector went in successful search of it. The butterflies foodplant, the ' Broad-leaved Sallow ' Salix caprea, disappeared under the new management of the New Forest and A. iris quickly became extinct there. I.R.P Heslop became fascinated by this Purple Emperor at a youthful age and his passion for this butterfly would become a lifelong study. He saw his first A. iris in 1918 in Somerset but it was not until 1935 that Heslop captured a specimen in the dense wooded Weald at Petworth in Sussex. That particular day, when Heslop succeeded in sweeping a male Emperor off an oak, he was in the company of his friend the Baron Charles de Worms. The Baron who was related to the Rothschild family, was one of the few entomologists to become closely acquainted with Ian Heslop. Heslop resurrected the Victorian technique of using a high net. Heslop's high net was 38 feet in length, linked by several ferrule bamboo poles. To weld the high net, great strength was needed and Heslop became a master of its use, taking a 100 Purple Emperor specimens with it. Figure 1 - Heslop with his High Net, Wiltshire 1955. Figure 2 - four of Heslop's bred specimens of A. iris from Sussex and Wiltshire. Heslop's magnificent butterfly collection is in the Bristol museum. His series of the Purple Emperor A. iris are quite flawless and are exquisitely set. Heslop was not only lucky in taking a good series of iris, he discovered two new aberrations and he also caught the very rare ab iole. Heslop's favourite haunts in search of the Emperor was the Sussex weald and especially the heavily wooded area of South Wiltshire. He searched his own county of Somerset to rediscover the Purple Emperor there, which he did in Brockley Combe . Here at Brockley where Heslop had his first view of this butterfly, it had been taken by 19th century collectors. Such was Heslop's enthusiasum for his quarry, he once discovered a sap run on an oak and up went a killing jar strapped to a pole. He captured several specimens with this strange contraption and one was an aberration. In 1953 he had a tractor load of manure dumped in a Wiltshire Wood. He experimented with a variety of baits, including deer skins, a dead snake, treacle, Amyl Acetate, rotting bananas. All worked to some extent. In his collection there are two cabinet drawers of his study of his breeding of A. iris. In these drawers there are a number of empty pupae cases, drawings ,notes, a photograph and even caterpillar frass. Figure 3 - A cabinet drawer of Heslop's bred specimens of Apatuta iris. ab maximinus. Heslop had noted on several occasions enormous male Purple Emperors in a Wiltshire woodland. On the 22nd July 1960, in this lesser known area of Wiltshire, he saw a huge male but even with his high net he could not capture it. He searched for this specimen a few days later on the 25th, and saw it in the same place, but again in several strokes of his long net he could not secure it. Later in the day, his prize descended to an oak spray 12 feet from the ground and then unexpectedly landed at his feet and the butterfly was soon safely in his net. It was indeed a huge male, as large as the biggest A. iris female. Heslop wrote that he was satisfied that it was a distinct genetical aberration and named it after the outsized Roman Emperor of that name. Figure 4 - ab maximinus. A iris ab sorbioduni. The 25th July 1960, in the same Wiltshire wood, was certainly a red letter day for Heslop. His luck was phenomenal, shortly after securing the ab maximinus he took an A. iris aberration where the male upper was ab iole but with an unique underside that even had a slight bluish colour, a superb ab nov which he named ab sorbioduni. Figure 5 - ab sorbioduni. Figure 6. A. iris ab sorbioduni was a normal sized male, here it is shown with the huge male ab maximinus. ab iole. Staying up all night on July 21st in 1969, to watch the moon landing, the next day Heslop was strolling in a Wiltshire wood when he saw a strange Purple Emperor flying at knee height along a woodland track and he captured it in one stroke. The specimen was a pristine ab iole, a very rare and treasured butterfly. This was Heslop's fitting 'Swansong ' . He was to see his last Purple Emperor a week later. Figure 7 - Ab iole Notes and views of the Purple Emperor. A quick summary of this splendid monograph can be found in the following link. collector-secret.proboards.com/thread/434/notes-purple-emperor-heslop-stockley Matthew Oates who is now Britain's most foremost Purple Emperor specialist, had this to say about Heslops and his co authors book ' Notes and views of the Purple Emperor' " It is a masterpiece in obsession, a meditation on an all-prevading passion, and a literary monument to the history of butterfly-collecting. As with all great books, new features of interest are discovered at every period. In fact, the mysteriousness of the butterfly that so fascinated Heslop remains gloriously intact ; unexplained it is unconquered by the book" Oates of the English Natural Trust , one of Britain's top butterfly conservationists and experts, also wrote " as an ecologist, Heslop was incapacitated by his desire to net just about every specimen he saw". Oates recognizes that Heslop was fundamental in setting up the first reserve for this butterfly to save its woodland from the axe. Many pure oak woods were once again felled in the 1960s. To Oates, Heslop was like himself, the perfect British eccentric and although he does not share Heslop's collecting values. To Oates, Heslop remains an acknowledged expert and peer. Oates finishes his article ' Extreme Butterfly Collecting (2005), a biography of I. R. P. Heslop by the following sentence " We shall not see his like again and and the world may be therefore a poorer place ". Figure 8. Coloured figure by Heslop of a photograph of Richard South's black and white drawing from ' Butterflies of the British Isles' ( 1906). Figures 9. Breeding study.
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Post by nomad on May 2, 2015 13:43:24 GMT
A notable capture. Heslop must have been very pleased to have taken Papilio zalmoxis. He captured this specimen at Okitipupa in Ondo Province, Nigeria during September 1951.
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Post by trehopr1 on May 2, 2015 18:17:53 GMT
A truely remarkable man who led an admirable life.... What a mentor he could have made for someone ! As always, another well researched literary masterpiece by our forum's own Nomad. Bravo to you sir, and a sincere thankyou for all your hard work.
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Post by nomad on May 2, 2015 18:53:40 GMT
Thank you for your kind comments trehopr 1. I am pleased that you enjoyed the article. Heslop was indeed one of the last of the great collectors to weld a net here in blighty.
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Post by Paul K on May 2, 2015 23:37:15 GMT
This is a very high net ! I use once half of that long and to maneuver the net to catch the butterfly up high was so not easy.
Paul
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Post by nomad on May 3, 2015 9:52:28 GMT
It is interesting to note that Heslop found that carrion baits did not seem to lure the male A iris down from its tree tops as it did in the middle of the 19th century when William Sturgess of Kettering spoke of the Emperor season as though it was a battle campaign. At a gamekeeper gibbett of dead stoats and weasels etc, Sturgess took 80 specimens in July 1857. The great Edward Newman, mentions that this use of carrion bait was very a unsportsmanlike behaviour by collectors and said he did not commend it. By the 1920s it was noted that A. iris was no longer attracted to carrion bait. Was it because there were lesser numbers of the butterfly and fewer numbers of active field entomologists or did the emperors taste change. Rarely do 19th or early 20th century entomologists also mention grounded males, a word used often by today's butterfly photographers where the butterfly regularly comes down to ingest at gravel tracks and other damp spots in certain woods. However, the famous collector, the William Bree, often met with the Emperor in damp wooded ruts in Ashton and Barnwell Wolds in Northants, in the Middle of the 19th century. Today, with the rise of dog owners and walkers the mess that they leave behind from their animals will attract this butterfly, but it does not make a very good photograph, so I wish they would pick it up. Horse dung is also an attraction. The nearest emperor wood to me is the ancient Savernake Forest, where it was remarked upon by 19th century collectors that this large woodland was far too open to support a population of this insect. Even Heslop in the 1950s failed to find it there. As I have remarked upon before, the changes in the forest through a cessation of coppicing and the planting of plantations was detrimental to many butterfly species which disappeared but seems to have suited the emperor. If today's forestry Commission and the contractors they employ, leave the foodplant, the Sallows alone, the butterfly may survive there. Although predation of the tiny over-wintering larvae has found to be very high by Oates in this forest, by roving bands of small birds, especially those of the tit family. A. Iris ingesting at Fermyn Woods Northants on damp woodland rides and on my boot. Polygonia c-album visiting dung at Fermyn Woods Northants. Vaness atalanta visiting Fox dung in Savernake Forest Wilts.
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