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Post by nomad on Nov 14, 2015 10:32:52 GMT
In the 19th century such was the demand for British insects that increasingly to obtain their sought after rarities, many turned to dealers to obtain them. A good living could be had by supplying home grown collectors cabinets. Some British dealers during this period operated in a murky world where unreputable characters imported continental butterflies and moths and then sold them as British. They used all the means available to them. One good ruse was sending your new captures of rare insects to an eminent lepidopterist who then recorded them in one of the entomological journals. Some dealers even resorted to having their man ready at a location, where a distinguished collector was hurrying down from London after he had received a telegram that a rare butterfly was occurring in a secluded Kent Valley. As he arrived the butterflies were released close by to be taken by the collector himself, who then returned to his home in a joyous state ready to sing his informant's praises. Then your fraudulent British stock could be sold time and time again to thankful customers. Edward George Meek London Natural History dealer and father of A.S. Meek. Copyright London Natural History Society. The Professional collector Albert Stewart Meek discovered many well known and beautiful butterflies. Until a few years ago few had even recognized A.S Meek's great achievements in Natural History discovery. Even Michael Parsons, an authority on New Guinea butterflies called him Alfred Meek throughout his book on the butterflies of that country. Meek explored the jungles of New Guinea where he faced savage natives and illness and he was a world away from the 19th century charlatans and home grown British collectors who thought that exotics -tropical butterflies and even collecting European species were beyond the pale. A.S. Meek had become a professional collector to make a living and he had the backing of perhaps the greatest museum lepidopterist of them all Lord Walter Rothschild. Meek was successful collector because he was brave, industrious and well suited for the many hardships that he had to endure and he also had advantage, he was bought up by his father who made his living a a dealer of lepidoptera in London and young Albert, the future collector- explorer was well trained in setting, preserving and collecting insects. Albert's father Edward George Meek (1844-1931) was a successful London Natural History Dealer. Edward Meek was born in Bethnal Green in the East End of London in 1844 and was the son of a silk weaver and was one of a large family who lived at Old Ford Road in the London borough of Bow. By the time Edward has reached sixteen his father had died and he was working as a shop boy. When he was twenty he married Kezia Reynolds and on his marriage certificate, Edward was described as a Naturalist of Ford Road. Edwards siblings all went into the textile industry, but this was not for Edward who at No 4 Old Ford Road was already advertising his large list of British lepidoptera in Newman's Entomologist. Meek's descriptions of his finds showed a real passion for the natural world and a great knowledge of his subject. This passion for collecting certainly' seemed to rub off on the young Alfred. By 1881 Meek had moved to the prestigious address of 56 Brompton Road in Central London with his wife and seven children. Meek traded there as a naturalist until 1891. In 1891 he moved to Brockenhurst in the New Forest and then retired to Lymington in 1901. Edward Henry Meek his son took over the Natural History business at 56 Brompton Road where he traded until 1911. Maria Roberts who wrote an article on E.G. Meek in London Natural history Society Newsletter (2009) said "even though Meek began with humble beginnings achieved scientific expertise and commercial success and was well liked by his peers. " Why then did the author P.B.M. Allan in his book Talking of Moths (1943) put Meek in the same company as those known fraudulent dealers such as the Kentish Buccaneers, king of who was that rogue George Parry of Canterbury Kent. References. Meek, A.S., 1913 A Naturalist in Cannibal Land.
Edington, J., 2008 Lepidopterists through the lens: portraits from the first fifty years of the London Natural History Society 87: 123-132. Allan, P.B.M., 1943 Talking of Moths.Parsons, M., 1998 The Butterflies of Papua New Guinea: Their Systematics and Biology.Roberts, M., 2009 Edward George Meek 1854-1938. London Natural history Society Newsletter.
Next E.G. Meek. A Honest dealer or Charlatan.
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Post by Adam Cotton on Nov 14, 2015 14:37:46 GMT
Peter,
Thank you very much for the first instalment of a study of yet another historical figure in entomology. I am sure that everyone who reads the ICF really appreciates the time and effort put into your superb narrative.
Adam.
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Post by nomad on Nov 14, 2015 16:18:01 GMT
Thank you Adam, it reads better now the spelling typos have been ironed out.
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Post by nomad on Nov 15, 2015 8:48:03 GMT
E. G. Meek A Honest Dealer or Charlatan. During the middle of 19th century Britain to supply the demand of hundreds or perhaps several thousand committed insect collectors, many Natural History dealers were in business. Competition was fierce and if you wanted to stay ahead of your competitors in selling British specimens you would have to have had very good things to tempt the collectors to part with their money. Added to this, the best dealers would have a wide range of the most up to date entomological field and study equipment. Demand for British rarities that included rare migrants was very high and the demand for them far out stripped those that could be supplied. To meet the collectors needs, certain dealers turned to the continent where specimens that were great rarities in Britain were common, these could be obtained cheaply and then be palmed off to eager collectors as genuine British examples for a much higher price. To fuel the market some of the more well known dealers such as George Parry of Canterbury were known to have stated that they discovered species new to Britain that in reality were collected on the continent. Did E.G. Meek with a wife and a large family to support, who sold a large amount of genuine British specimens decide that he was losing out and then invest in certain continentals to add to his lists that he advertised in the journal the Entomologist. There was some risk attached to selling fraudulent British specimens, if you were exposed your reputation would suffer. Edward George Meek. Lythria purpuraria in Essex. Firstly before I examine some of the evidence mentioned by Allan concerning Meek's moth discoveries, I decided to have a look at advertisements that he placed in the Entomologist. One advert that Meek placed in that journal for 1870, when he was still living at the East End's Old Ford Road must call for close scrutiny. Among the British species that Meek listed was the pretty day-flying moth Lythria purpuraria from the Geometridae family, a common species on the continent of Europe but unknown in Britain. Today L purpuraria is listed as a doubtful British moth with no verified records. Meek exhibited specimens of L. purpuraria on 4 August 1870 at the Hagglestone Entomological society that were caught by his friend Mr David T. Button of Gravesend in Essex. During this period Button captured and exhibited a wondrous array of dubious new moths or rare migrants. P.B.M Allan (1943) stated that both Meek and Button were importing rare specimens from the continent to sell as British examples. Richard South (1908) in his well known and long running popular The Moths of the British Isles wrote " there does not appear to be any very convincing records of the capture of L . purpuraria in the British Isles ". In the Dale collection at Oxford University Museum of Natural History there were two specimens of L. purpuraria. The male specimen is labelled Ross collection (C.W. Dale) and a female specimen has the label E.G. Meek 1870, said to have been taken by Mr Button at Gravesend. Male specimen of L. purpuraria. Ex Ross collection. Dale collection, OUMNH. L. purpuraria female. Ex E. G. Meek, D.T. Button 1870, Gravesend, Essex. Dale collection, OUMNH. The advert that Meek placed in the Entomologist (1870) with L. purpuraria advertised for sale as British with other good things. The Kentish buccaneer dealer George Parry's advert is underneath and there is an advertisement for Edward Newman's Illustrated Natural History of British Butterflies.
References. Allan, P.B.M., 1943 Talking of Moths.Meek, E.G., 1870-1871 Hagglestone Entomology Society. Entomologist 5: 205. South, R., 1908 The Moths of the British Isles Volume 2. Next. E.G. Meek's Remarkable Moth discovery at Howth in Ireland.
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Post by wollastoni on Nov 15, 2015 15:40:33 GMT
Thank you Peter, it is another great article. First time I heard about Albert's father.
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Post by exoticimports on Nov 16, 2015 13:07:35 GMT
Yes, thank you for such a wonderful effort!
Chuck
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Post by nomad on Nov 24, 2018 11:41:43 GMT
I have reviewed the articles in this thread, rewritten them, the one below extensively. All the appropriate references have been included. E.G. Meek and his improbables.In the Entomologist (1866) E.G. Meek added a note which he claimed to have victimized, he writes " A few months ago I added a fine male of Sesia scoliaeformis, as I first thought it, to my collection, but having sometimes doubts as to its genuineness I placed it under a lens, and then could see grains of colour on the anal tuft: this induced me to wash the insect in Camphine, when the colour instantly removed, a fine male of scoliaeformis was changed into a large culiciformis with the red belt scraped off. The most difficult part to colour is the antennae : of these it had two, one of scoliaeformis and the other culiciformis. Since I detected this imposition I have seen two similar ones in other collections". Allan (1943) noted Meek's assertion " the most difficult part to colour is the antennae" and made the comment " how did he know this and why the allegation that he had seen two in other collections". Allan supposed that Meek himself had coloured the specimens and his fraud being discovered, wrote at once to the Entomologist by claiming to be a victim. Synanthedon scoliaeformis is a rare British Moth while Synanthedon culiciformis is a local species but quite widespread. A note by E.G. Meek was published in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (1869-70) regarding the capture of the noctuids Dianthoecia Compta and Dianthoecia barrettii at Howth near Dublin, Ireland. D. Compta is currently placed in the genus Hadena and D. barrettii Doubleday, 1864 is now regarded as a subspecies of Hadena luteago Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775. Meek visited Howth in June 1869 accompanied by Mr. Smith and here they met the London collector T.J. Carrington, who later became the editor of the Entomologist. Carrington joined Meek and Smith on their nightly collecting trips to the sea cliffs, in the Entomologist (1869) he writes " Nights were devoted to the Silene flowers from dusk to dawn. Mr Meek will send you an account of his usual good luck, So I will not refer to his capture." On the same page as Meek's note regarding his capture of the new British (Irish) species D. Compta, C. S. Gregson gave an account of a visit the previous year to Howth, where he secured a number of H. luteago barrettii, later taking it in a new locality on the Isle of Man at Port Jack, Onchan. In June 1870 Meek accompanied by the collector John Warrington returned to Howth, stating in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine that year he had again collected D. Compta together with H. luteago barrettii and Dianthoecia conspersa, the latter a Synonym of Hadena confusa Hufnagel, 1766. Meek and Warrington also visited the Isle of Man, where Meek claimed to have captured among aspen three specimens of Gluphisia Crenata of the Notodontidae family. Previously, only three specimens of G. Crenata had been taken in Britain. Henry Doubleday (1808–1875) added G. crenata to the British list when he took a female specimen in Ongar Park Wood, Epping Forest, Essex in June 1839 and he captured another female there in June 1840. The Reverend Joseph Greene stated he had reared a specimen of G. crenata from a larva that he had found on a poplar tree in 1854. Meek also collected on the Isle of Man the noctuid moths Polia nigrocincta Treitschke, 1825 a synonym of Polymixis Xanthomista Hübner,1819 that Gregson (1869) described as subspecies statices and Hadena caesia mananii Gregson, 1866 which was then placed in the genus Dianthoecia. In the Dale collection at the Oxford University Museum of Nature History there are two specimens of H. compta from Howth, which are probably Ex E.G. Meek. Meek in a letter dated 15 July 1869 to James Charles Dale writes " I only caught 4 specimens of D.compta for a months work I only have one unsold at £4. Please reply be return of post or it may be sold" (£4 in 1869 = £432 today). In a letter dated 13 September 1869 Meek informed Dale regarding his specimens of D.barrettii ( D.Hadena luteago barrettii) "I have not sold them for less than £2 and £2.50s each. It is a very long and expensive journey to Howth, nearly 800 miles to catch a moth I shall not sell for less." Dale bought a pair for £3. Hadena compta. Howth, Ireland. Dale collection, OUMNH. Hadena luteago barrettii. Howth, Ireland. Dale collection, OUMNH. Hadena caesia mananii. Isle of Man. Dale collection, OUMNH. Charles Stuart Gregson (1817-1899) a Liverpool shipyard painter was an old school Lancashire collector, a passionate entomologist, who was known for argumentative personality. Gregson knew Howth and the Isle of Man well. He was regarded as something as an expert on the Lepidoptera of the Isle of Man, and decided to challenge the validity of Meek's captures of H. compta at Howth. There began a serious of exchanges between the two men in the Entomologist between September and December 1873. In the Entomologist (1873) Gregson wrote " I wish somebody, who has the opportunity, would place one of the so called British (Irish) Dianthoecia compta in a relaxing box for a night, and see if it returned to its continental flat set, or fell to an unset moth, and let us know the result". I once took a wasted specimen of D. conspersa (variety) at Penmaenbach in Wales. It has been said to be a compta repeatedly, but it laid nine eggs which produced what I knew were conspersa larva ; so this settled the question, ... and having kept a good collector at Howth, in Ireland, above two months at a time, and have repeatedly worked the district myself without anything like it (during the months May, June, and July) except varieties of conspersa, I think it possible that the true compta has never yet been taken there, and that the specimens, if British, are only varieties of conspersa". Meek (1873) replied to Gregson comments " Mr. Gregson asks (Entom. vi. 518) if this species is British (Irish). I am somewhat surprised that he, above all, should ask that question. Surely he must know whether his own captures are British or not, and I would advise him to test his own specimen in a damp box, I mean the one he showed me when I called upon him in Liverpool, and which he told me he took on the Big Hill of Howth. He also assured me he took a wasted compta in Wales some years ago. I muss confess I am puzzled to know how a moth can prove itself to be another species, after a lapse of several years, by laying nine eggs. However, as regards my own six specimens I must refer him to his very intimate friend Mr John Warrington, late of Tranmere Hall, Cheshire, who not only saw me capture compta (not a var of conspersa) but captured one himself".
Gregson now really warming to his subject replied in the Entomologist (1874) " In reply to Mr Meek's singularly inaccurate and illogical paper, permit me to answer him categorically. First, then I never asked if D. Compta was British. I wished that some one would place so-called British (Irish?) specimens (?) in and relaxing-box etc, and never showed him a Dianthoecia compta, or said I took one on the Big Hill of Howth, in Wales, or elsewhere ; he and others called my Penmaenbach var of conspersa, compta ; not I; and I am quite sure no amount of placing it in a damp box will ever make it compta. I think your readers perfectly understand what he pretends puzzles him, hence I need not pursue that phantom, but proceed to show that Mr Warrington cannot help much. He (Mr. Warrington) says, in reply to my question : " I have seen the remarks about compta and conspersa in the Entomologist. I recollect picking out conspersa in your collection as most like the one I took in Ireland, named compta ; but as I said before, I do not know compta so well as to distinguish the difference, so I took Mr. Meek's word for it : it was the latter end of July when I took it." But he says nothing of having seen Mr Meek take one. In his reply Gregson also gave his account of meeting Meek on the Isle of Man " Mr Meek wrote me several letters (now before me) from the Manx Arms, Onchan, Isle of Man, in June 1871 (*1870), asking me to come and show him how to find the larvae of Polia nigrocincta (*P. Xanthomista), he had failed to find it in its very best time, (first two weeks in June), and said he had taken a new Bombyx. When, I got there Mr Warrington had sold him several nigrocincta larva at three shillings each. I met him on the rocks and took eighteen larvae that night, and I think he took about the same number, as we worked closely together. Afterwards he showed me three of his new Bombyx on the sets, asking me what they were. I said, "Gluphisia crenata, certain". Next day he observed " Well, you see they are bred here and on the sets, but I should have liked you to have seen them alive." I remarked, " I did not doubt their being bred here; the question is, were they fed here?" Now, as I do not know a single plant of their reputed food growing near Onchan, I think I may be fairly excused if I refuse to go searching for it there." But to return to D. compta. Now we know how many specimens from Howth, I think I am more justified than ever in asking that the so called (Irish) compta, which have so freely been moving about amongst buying collectors of Lepidoptera, should be tested. Polia nigrocincta is also being offered for sale, and being sold freely. Now, as Mr. Meek has had all the Manx (*Isle of Man) specimens of this species which have been sold, with one or two exceptions, up to this year, so the numerous specimens being sold cannot be, and, so far as those of them which have been submitted to me for identification go, are not Manx or like Manx specimens ; they are the common suffused German form of this species ; not the variety called statices, in consequence of its differing so very materially in colour and intensity of markings from any form of the continental P. nicrocincta I have yet obtained or seen". * My italics. Meek's reply to Gregson came shortly " Where is Mr Warrington? I shall feel greatly obliged if he will come forward and state the fact that he captured compta with me at Howth. On referring to my diary I find the following : June 21st, six barrettii, one compta ; June 23rd, one compta, seven barrettii, June 25th one compta taken by Warrington and thirteen barrettii by myself. Although, I stayed till early July I did not find anymore compta that season. I shall be very pleased to join any London gentleman entomologist next season for a trip to Howth, and no doubt we can settle the matter of Dianthoecia for ever. I may add that compta occurs on the cliff at the bottom of Sir Edward Burrows ground, and the paths are beautifully ornamented with fuschsias, sweet- Williams and nasturtiums, also huge patches of sea pink and Silene maritima, collected from various parts of the coast ; every particle of the latter was destroyed by a well-known entomologist about six years ago, much to Sir Edward's annoyance." With Meek's letter the editor of the Entomologist Edward Newman decided to call a halt to these exchanges but not before one of Britain's leading entomologists had his say on the subject. Henry Doubleday in the Entomologist (1873) gave his opinions on the British H. compta " I must say in reply that I have never seen a British specimen ; examples probably existed in some of the old cabinets, as the dealers of that time were not more scrupulous than some of those of the present day, and many continentals and also American species were sold as British." Doubleday recalled that Richard Weaver bred a number of specimens of D. conspersa from Howth that strongly resembled compta, and not seeing Meek's specimens could not say to which species they belonged. He had been sent two reputed specimens of compta by the Reverend Henry Burney for examination, which he found to be almost certainly continental specimens, the species being easily obtained from France, being common in the gardens of Paris where the larva fed upon Dianthus and was not aware of any species of that genus growing at Howth. Doubleday added " I unhesitatingly say that I believe a very large number of the specimens of daplidice, lathonia, Leucophaea, albipuncta, nigrocincta, purpuraria and many others, which exist in collections of professedly British Lepidoptera, are in reality continental : they can be purchased at from threepence to sixpence each; and so long as collectors will give as many pounds for them as they cost pence, I am afraid there is no probability of a stop being put to these disreputable proceedings. It is now almost impossible to say what insects are British, as living pupae of various species are regularly obtained from France and Germany ; and the fact of an insect exhibited alive is no proof of British origin, living butterflies and moths can be easily obtained from the Continent by post. All interest in collections of Lepidoptera as British is destroyed by the introduction of these continental specimens."
The Meek and Gregson quarrel in the Entomologist was reproduced by Allan (1943) in the book Talking of Moths, who added his own witty remarks. Allan was in no doubt that Meek and D.T. Button among others were importing certain Continental example of moths and selling them as British captures, writing " Now I must turn for a moment to Mr. E. G. Meek; for I don't want you to think that I have traduced him and cast aspirations on every rarity that bears his label, or which emanated from him, without made diligent enquiry into the facts of the case. And I am afraid it is no use blinking to the fact that this industrious collector was in the habit of exhibiting or sending to exhibition at one or another of the several entomological societies which existed in the seventies and eighties of the last century not only certain excessively rare immigrants which that he or his friend David T. Button of Gravesend had captured in this country but a series of Continental moths which he had recently added to the British Fauna. And you will agree with me when I say that a man who makes use of a learned society to impact authenticity to insects either imported or bred from foreign ova, larvae or pupae is deserving of severe stricture indeed".
James Tutt (1896) reviewed the British moths then placed in the genus Dianthoecia, under the heading Disbelief in the Authenticity of British D. compta he gave details of the paper read by Charles Golding Barrett at the South London Entomological Society " Mr Barrett stated that the right of D. Compta to be considered British rested on three facts (1) it was a reputed British species. (2) The presence of two specimens in the Dublin Museum, said to have been captured by Mr Tardy in Ireland. (3) The reputed capture of specimens by Mr. Meek at Howth. With regard to the species being among the reputed British species., Mr Barrett pointed out that the compta of the old authors was undoubtedly our conspersa. As to Mr Tardy's specimens, he considered that there was no proof either for or against, except the fact that the specimens were in existence, and that other reputed captures by Mr Tardy led him to think some mistake might have been made. He had no hesitation in refusing the Howth specimens a British origin, and he read a letter from the late Mr. H. Doubleday to himself, written at the time of the reputed captures that " one of the so called Howth specimens had been sent him, that it was undoubtedly a re-set specimen, the pin had been gummed, and that on being put into a damp box it returned quickly to the original Continental setting. He also added that the food plant did not grow wild at Howth, nor, in fact, in Ireland. He also referred to the fact that Mr Gregson, whom Mr Meek stated to have likewise captured a compta at Howth, immediately denied the suggestion, and stated that the insect he did capture was a var of D. Conspersa, and he did not believe that D. compta occurred at all in Howth."
On March 9 & 10 1896 the British Lepidoptera collection of C.E. Fry came up for sale at Steven's Auction Rooms in London. A person who declined to give his real name reviewed the rarities sold at the sale as John Bull from London, in the Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation (1896). Fry had a number of Meek specimens in his collection, a D. compta from Meek supposedly taken in 1869 or 1870 at Howth produced 5s, the reviewer writing " This is interesting in the face of the recent discussion and Mr C. G. Barrett's statement at the South London Entomological Society." A Hadena peregrina taken at Lewes in 1868 by Miss M. Meek, ex Curzon collection sold for 12s, the reviewer adding " I believe there are two known British specimens, which Mr Bond had. If this specimen of H. peregrina was really considered British, it should have produced £5 at least. If not, why did it fetch 12s." A note dated September 1868 by Martha Meek appeared in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (1868-70) which stated " A noctua, which proves to be H.Peregrina was taken on the downs at the back of my house, by one of my school children." Martha was certainly a relation of E.G. Meek who sent her note together with one of his own to the EMM regarding the capture of Crambus rorellus at Folkestone which was published underneath. Crambus rorellus; Zeller, 1847 is a Synonym of Chrysocrambus linetella Fabricius, 1781 of the Crambidae family, is regarded as a very rare vagrant to Britain being known from two records from the 19th century and one in East Sussex in 1997 (UK Moths online website). Meek stated that he had caught a specimen of C. rorellus ( C. linetella) at Folkestone in May 1868. In a letter to James Charles Dale dated 2 December 1868 Meek said he had sold the Lewis H. Peregrina specimen for £4 (£424.00 in today's money). H. Peregrina Treitschke, 1825 is a synonym of Lacanobia blenna Hübner, 1824, a noctuid that is native along the shores of western and southern France, eastwards along the Mediterranean coast, and inland on the steppes of the extreme south-east of Europe. In the Dale collection three are three specimens of L. blenna, labelled as H.Peregrina, Walker (1909) gave details these "A male bears a label " taken at Freshwater, Isle of Wight 188" with the additional label " from the Rev H. Burney coll, Rogers ; another male Freshwater H. Rogers and a female has no data." The Burney collection when sold at auction contained many dubious examples of British species, among them five specimens of L. blenna that were not recorded in the journals. (Allan, 1943). There are thought to be three authentic British examples of L. blenna that were recorded from Freshwater on the Isle of Wight, the first taken in 1858 by Frederick Bond, one in 1859 captured by Robert Mclachlan in the same spot and one in 1876. (Allan, 1943). Interestingly Waring and Townsend (2017) include Miss Meek's record of L. blenna from Lewes that was sold by E.G. Meek to the collector Roper-Curzon and unfortunately it is impossible to tell if the record of was genuine but certainly it must be regarded as one of Meek's improbables. At the sale of the Philip Brookes Mason collection at Stevens in 1905, one of Meek's Isle of Man's G. crenata failed to raise a bid at its first offering, and was put into a box of others that made a round hundred, which sold for 20s. Lacanobia blenna labelled taken at Freshwater I.O.W. 1888, Ex Rev Burney collection". Dale collection, OUMNH. Chrysocrambus linetella. Folkestone, 1868. E.G. Meek (sold to J.C. Dale for 10 shillings, letter from Meek dated 21 September 1868) Dale collection, OUMNH. The Reverend Joseph Greene is best known for several editions of his popular book The Insect Hunter's Companion that was first published in 1880, which incidentally Meek placed a full place advert in. As a reply to the John Bull article regarding British rarities, Greene in the Entomological Record and Journal of Variation (1896) writes " My experience goes back to a period when the dealers as such were almost unknown. When it began (the business) it spreads by leaps and bounds, and speedily produced such men as Parry, Button et id genus omne. I crossed the Channel (in 1869) in the same steamer as a dealer, who triumphantly showed me D. compta on the setting boards. I observed a discreet silence. Very shortly afterwards it was proved beyond dispute that he had brought foreign pupae with him to London so as to emerge at Howth. But the most-bared faced fraud of all was attempt to palm off three specimens of Gluphisia crenata as having been taken at Howth. Now the food of G. crenata is strictly poplar. The island of Howth is the last place in the world to take G. crenata. I know Howth as well as I know my own house, and can state safely affirm that there has never been a poplar tree in it, at any rate not up to the time the fraud was attempted." Greene was obviously referring to Meek as the dealer he claimed to have met on the cross channel ferry, although he got into a bit of a muddle with Meek's capture of G. crenata, these the dealer claimed to have been taken at Onchan in the Isle of Man not at Howth. According to Allan (1937) Greene who popularized winter pupae digging was prone to some exaggeration as to the numbers as actually collected. Meek's advert in the first edition of The Insect Hunter's Companion (1880). Among the entomological equipment being offered for sale are his and hers umbrella nets and Meek's new Black entomological pin that came highly recommended. As moths take no notice of international boundaries, H. compta decided to colonize Britain without any help from professional entomologists, and in 1948 it was reported to be breeding in the Dover area in Kent, it then rapidly spread as far north as Lincolnshire, although is now regarded as a common species, it is still absent from south-west England, most of Wales and perhaps most noticeably from Ireland. Did Meek's reputation suffer because of his supposed improbables thought to be continental specimens. He also sold many bona-fide British specimens, he certainly seems to have run a successful business, retiring first to Brockenhurst in the New Forest and then later to Lymington. After he retired to Lymington he seemed to fade into entomological history, his name cropped up now and again in the journals but his pen remained forever silent. Did he lose his interest in entomology? What is certain that is he initially acted for an agent for his son Alfred Stewart Meek's early collections from Australia, setting up an agreement with Walter Rothschild to purchase them. Perhaps E.G. Meek's greatest legacy was providing us with Alfred Stewart Meek, surely among the most adventurous insect hunters of all time, bringing forth to the world fabulous discoveries from the jungles of New Guinea and its Islands. References. Allan, P.B.M., 1937 A Moth Hunter's Gossip. Watkins and Doncaster, London. Allan, P.B.M., 1948 Talking of Moths. E.W. Classey. Anon. (John Bull) 1895-1896. Reflections and queries on the value of Rare British Lepidoptera. The Entomologist's Journal and Record of Variation 7: 317. Carrington, T.J., 1869-70 Notes on the Lepidoptera at Howth and Wicklow. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 6: 66. Doubleday, H., 1873 Dianthoecia Compta. The Entomologist 6: 563-564. Greene, J., 1896. On the value of rare British Lepidoptera. The Entomologist's Record and Journal of Variation 8: 33-34. Gregson, C.S., 1869-70 Note on the Occurrence of Dianthoecia barrettii The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 6: 66. Gregson, C.S., 1873 In the matter of Compta and Conspersa. The Entomologist 6: 518. Gregson, C.S., 1874 D. conspersa and D. compta. Entomologist 7: 17-19. South, R., 1905. Mason collection. The Entomologist 38: 136. Meek E.G. 1866-1867 . Painted Insects. Entomologist 3 : 45. Meek, E.G., 1868 Crambus rorellus at Folkestone. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 5: 150. Meek, E. G., 1869-70 Dianthoecia Compta and D. barrettii at Howth. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 6: 66 Meek, E. G., 1870 Captures of Lepidoptera in 1870. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 7: 87. Meek, E. G., 1873 Dianthoecia Compta. Entomologist 6: 546-547. Meek, E .G., 1874 Dianthoecia Compta. Entomologist 7: 19-20. Meek, M., 1868 Hadena peregrina at Lewes. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine Folkestone 5: 150 Tutt, J., 1896 The Genus Dianthoecia. The Entomologist's record and journal of variation 8: 8-9. UK Moths Website. Chrysocrambus linetella. Psammotis pulveralis Accessed November, 2018). Walker, J.J, 1909. Some Notes on the Lepidoptera of the Dale collection of British Insects now in the Oxford University Museum. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 45: 180. Waring, P., Townsend, M. Lewington, R., 2017 Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland Third Edition. Bloomsbury Wildlife Guides. Next The Shetlands to Folkestone. Collecting in the 19th century.
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Post by nomad on Dec 3, 2018 16:30:17 GMT
Collecting Moths From Folkestone to the Shetland Islands.
After examining Edward George Meek's improbable moth captures, it would complete his activities as a field collector by a review of what must considered his more bona-fide captures among the British moths. Meek and his collectors visited most parts of the British Isles. He was without doubt a very experienced field collector and a knowledgeable entomologist. Meek knew his botany, as many home grown lepidopterist did, essential when looking for the larva foodplants. Meek's account of his travels in search of moths reveals the considerable amount of interest in them by the many 19th century collectors and there dedication to their field of study. Only the comparatively wealthy could afford the time and money to travel, even with the coming of the railways, to get a comprehensive collection of British moths which number nearly 2500 species would involve visiting many localities and habitats, they and many of the less fortunate collectors would turn to dealers such as Meek to supply some of their needs. Meek hired collectors such as John Warrington to collect in Scotland and Harry McArthur who visited the Shetland Islands and Hebrides. Meek also visited Scotland including the remote island of Unst in the Shetlands, the northern most of the inhabited islands of the British Isles. Meek's own published notes on the moths that he captured in the Entomological journals often contain brief details, while others are full of enthusiasm and gave some vivid portraits of his collecting expeditions. He was a regular contributor to the two popular journals The Entomologist and The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. He was a member of The Haggerstone Entomological Society, and was a fellow of the Entomological Society of London between 1865 & 1882. Meek used the nomenclature in his journal articles that would have been in current use at the time, with much further study by entomologists, many of the specific names used by Meek are now regarded as junior synonyms. Where I have given Meek's own accounts of his captures, I felt it was necessary where there was a use of synonym to give the current scientific names in use today, these have been marked with an asterisk, which indicates that the correct name will be given following the paragraph. One of the great difficulties of 19th century European taxonomists who often worked independently was accessing private and museum collections, thus for most species of moths, many have a number of synonyms attached to them that were used by various authors at different times, what does emerge is that this caused considerable confusion. Meek was hired by John Henry Leech to collect with him during 1885 in Morocco, the Canary Isles and Madeira. Meek's first note by his own hand dated 2 June 1864, regarding Captures of Lepidoptera was published in The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (1864). Meek then of 5 King Street, Old Ford Road, London reported that two specimens of Eupithecia Fraxinata had appeared in his breeding cages from larvae that were beaten from ash trees the previous August and eight specimens had appeared of Cymatophora fluctuosa that he had beaten from birch in the previous autumn in Darenth and West Wickham Woods in Kent. Both localities were much visited by the London entomologists. The Geometer moth E. Fraxinata Crewe, 1863 was once regarded as a separate species but now is placed as a form of Eupithecia innotata Hufnagel, 1767. C. fluctuosa which is now placed in the genus Tetheella is a rather uncommon moth of the Drepanidae family that is found in mature woodland. Meek was on friendly terms with the medical Doctor Henry Guard Knaggs (1832- 1908), one of best of the Victorian entomologists. Knaggs was a co- founder of the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine and wrote a celebrated book the Lepidopterist's Guide (1869). In an article by Knaggs in the Entomologist's Annual (1866) regarding the new and rare species of Lepidoptera captured in Britain that year, Meeks name is frequently seen. Meek was working well known localities such as Darenth Wood, Kent. In March he went to Tilgate Forest, Sussex to look for the Beautiful Endromis versicolora, taking one male. At Epping Forest, Essex in June he went to look for a then popular group of the moths of the Tortricidae family that were known as the Buttons, taking three species, perhaps the best being Strophedra weirana, a local species of beech-woods. He also found at Epping Forest the Tortricid moth Cydia leguminana that was once reported from a number of localities in Cambridgeshire and Essex but it has not been seen in Britain since 1890 and is considered extinct. The Folkestone area on the coast of Kent had long been a happy hunting ground for generations of 19th century collectors. The series of under cliffs known as the Warren held a number of sought after choice moths, among them the striking Pryopteron chrysidiformis of the Sesiidae family. During his three week stay at Folkestone Meek captured a small series of P. chrysidiformis in June. Today P. chrysidiformis is a protected British species, classified as endangered, being found only in Britain at the Warren. Meek also collected at the Warren the noctuid he refers to as Tapinostola bondii Knaggs, 1861, this is now regarded as a subspecies of Chortodes morrisii Dale, 1837. C. morrisii bondii has not been seen at its only known locality at Folkestone since the 1970s and is considered to be extinct. In late July 1866 Meek went to Devon in south-west England, where at Barnstaple in August he captured Phalonidia curvistrigana Stainton, 1859, in new British locality; he writes in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (1866) " of this handsome Tortrix I captured two specimens, one by beating, from mixed herbage in the day time, the other flying along a lane at dusk." The larva of the rare P. curvistrigana feed within flowers of Goldenrod Solidago virgaurea. At Barnstaple Meek caught a Tortrix moth that Knaggs (EMM,1867) described as Dichrorampha flavidorsana, a species new to science. It turned out that Meek was not the first to collect this species in Britain, C.G. Barrett had sent Knaggs a batch of undetermined moths from Hastlemere, Surrey two years earlier that had included D. flavidorsana. At that time Knaggs had mistaken it for a closely allied species. Chortodes morrisii bondii. An extinct endemic subspecies. Bristol Museum Collection. Meek was certainly a successful collector of the smaller moths known as the Microlepidoptera, if you were a dealer, such was the market in the Victorian Britain these could also bring in good prices. In 1866 he captured a Tortrix moth at Darenth Wood that puzzled him, taking several the following year in June in the same locality he took then to Knaggs, who sent a specimen to Otto Staudinger of Dresden, who then submitted them to Maximilian Ferdinand Wocke, he determined the moth as Grapholitha ravulana Herrich-Schaffer, 1851, a synoymn of Epiblema costipunctana Haworth, 1811 which Knaggs thought to be new to Britain. It later transpired that Meek's moth was in fact Pammene obscurana which Stephens had named in 1834, a scarce species of heaths where birch the foodplant grows. Knaggs in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (November 1867) writes of a new discovery he described as Coccyx vernana of the Tortrix family " The Argus-eyed Mr E.G. Meek, whose perseverance as a collector of Lepidoptera entitles him to the success with which his efforts have frequently crowned, has again been fortunate in bringing to light another new species, which in the present note it is my purpose to describe under the specific name vernana." Meek and Knagg's C. vernana may have been new to Britain but it was not new to science being a synonym of Pammene albuginana Guenée, 1845. In a note dated 30 July 1869 Meek writes of the discovery of the early stages of the clearwing moth Bembecia ichneumoniformis of the Sesiidae family that was published in the EMM (1869) " During a three weeks stay in the Isle of Wight, I was fortunate enough to secure a fine series of this local species, after which I set to discover, if possible, its pupa, by splitting open stems and grupping up roots of all plants, in the neighbourhood in which my captures were made that were capable of containing such a larva, but without success. Finding myself thus foiled, I watched females in the hope of detecting them in the act of ovi-positing, but in this again, I failed, for their colours being inconspicuous they were soon lost to sight. The third chance was to search for the ova (with the appearance of which I was already acquainted thanks to my fair captives) and a few hours' search resulted in my finding a deposited on the narrow leaved plantain ; in this case, there was, however, no trace of the larva having fed ; and its occurrence on that plant must have been accidental, for afterwards I found several eggs on the underside of the leaves of Lotus corniculatus and also the larvae and pupae in the roots of the same. I have forwarded the larvae to Mr Bucker to figure and he will send a description of it to the Magazine". Buckler's description of the larva and pupa of B. ichneumoniformis was published beneath Meek's note in the EMM (1869). In the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (1869) in a letter dated 4 October 1869 Meek stated that during his stay in the Isle of Wight he had taken a female specimen of Lemiodes pulveralis, a species that was new to Britain, and that it had also been taken at Folkestone, one by himself and two by his brother. Edward Newman in a note in the Entomologist (1868-69) entitled " Lemiodes pulveralis again" seemed to rather skeptical of Meek's capture, he wrote " Mr Meek reports in the Entomologist Monthly Magazine for November, the capture of four specimens of this obscure insect, one in the Isle of Wight and three at Folkestone : it will be recollected that the late Mr Stephens records it in Illustrations of British Entomology as having being taken at Darenth Wood and Maldon, but he subsequently learned that this was an error, which he himself corrected : these more recent specimens should be examined and verified by Mr Doubleday before the name can be admitted into out lists." Answering Newman, Meek writes in the Entomologist (1870-71) " In reply to the Editors' remarks in the November number of the Entomologist, concerning this species, I beg to inform its readers that the first specimen (taken by myself in the Isle of Wight) was seen by my kind friend Mr. Doubleday, who at once recognized it as being something new to British list, but his time being so much occupied he forgot to forward me its name. The specimens taken at Folkestone (two females and one male) were seen alive by my esteemed friend Dr Knaggs, who on his return to town forwarded me its name. I think this species may be fairly be admitted into our British lists, after being scrutinized by the following distinguished entomologists ; Mr. Henry Doubleday, Dr H.G. Knaggs, Rev H. Burney, Mr. Bond". Meek confident that L. pulveralis would now be admitted to the British list exhibited three specimens at the The Haggerstone Entomological Society on 8 December 1869. H.G. Knaggs (1870) in the Entomologist's Annual recorded that L. pulveralis was added to the British fauna by the " indefatigable Mr Meek". T. Cooke's note dated July 1870 published in Entomologist's Monthly Magazine reported that he was in possession of 7 specimens of L. pulveralis taken at Folkestone by Edward's brother Joseph Meek. Dr Knaggs recorded the reappearance of this rarity at Folkestone but did not mention the names of the collectors, stating that in "1874, and the following year about a dozen occurred there amongst rank herbage ; and in 1876 it was taken in some plenty" (Weston, 1877). South (1890) wrote of L. pulveralis "that it was now in most collections but it had become scarce if not extinct at the original locality the Warren, Folkestone." L. pulveralis Hübner, 1796 of the Crambidae family is now placed in the genus Psammotis. The only names in connection with the collecting of P. pulveralis at Folkestone Warren seem to Meek and Knaggs, although the latter does not report that he actually caught it there, other collectors may have, but did not decide to publish finds because it had already been noted it had been caught at Folkestone. It is possible that at Folkestone Warren there was a transitory population of P. pulveralis at least up to 1876. The UK Moth website giving its British status as "A rare migrant species that has in the past become a transitory resident, although not since 1869. Nowadays it is just a very occasional visitor, usually to south or south-eastern coastal localities." Psammotis pulveralis. Folkestone. Dale Collection, OUMNH. In 1871 Meek hired the collector John Warrington to collect for six months at Rannoch, Perthshire, a well known locality where a number of Scottish specialties could be found. Among the insects that he sent to Meek in April was a Geometer moth that was identified by Knaggs as Nyssia lapponaria, a species new to the British Isles. The specimen was exhibited by Meek at Entomological Society of London in May. It was purchased by the collector Roper Curzon and later became the possession of Philip Harper, when he died it was bought at the sale of his collection in March 1884 by Clarence Fly for £14 (£1596 in today's money), then an unprecedented sum for a single British Moth. The high price may have been because it was the only known British specimen. South in the Entomologist (1895) reported that W.M. Christy bred some specimens of N. lapponaria from larvae taken the previous year. N. lapponaria Boisduval, 1840 is now placed in the genus Lycia. In Britain it is restricted to the damp moorland habitats of Central Scotland and the population here is regarded as the endemic subspecies scotica Harrison, 1916. Lycia lapponaria scotica male. Dale coll. OUMNH. In the Entomologist (1874) Edward Bagnall Poulton, who later became a well known evolutionary biologist reported that at Folkestone in June he had taken a specimen of the scarce noctuid Dianthoecia (Hadena) albimacula flying over its foodplant the catchfly Silene nutans. Poulton reported that two other collectors saw him capture the moth, one of them a Mr. Purday a resident of Folkestone who had previously captured two specimens that had been purchased by Meek, who reported in the Entomologist (1874) that he had found several larvae of H. albimacula and that the foodplant was found in many places in Kent. Today H. albimacula has declined and is restricted to 7 localities on the coast of southern England and is listed as a Red Data Book species. In 1875 Meek visited Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, he writes " Phoxopteryx paludana, it is with much pleasure I record the capture of this lovely species. During the past month August I paid a visit to the fens of Cambridgeshire and succeeded in taking a fine series, It is extremely local, and I could only get to the locality by the help of a leaping-pole, and even then I was knee-deep in slush and sedge, owing probably to the excessive rains. I also met with *Nonagria Hellmanni, Tortrix dumetana, *Euchromia purpurana, *Catoptria expallidana, *Hyria auroraria and several other species, including Papilio machaon, in the larva and imago state. I am sorry to say my companion was not used to leaping, and managed to slide down the pole into about four feet of water and mud, which compelled us to return to headquarters five miles from anywhere, and no hurry." The pretty Tortrix moth P. paludana Barrett, 1871 (Tortricidae) is now placed in the genus Ancylis, it is a local and scarce species in Britain, occurring in a few wetland localities in East Anglia. * Nonagria Hellmanni Eversmann, 1843 is synonym Photedes fluxa Hübner, 1809 (Noctuidae). * Euchromia purpurana Haworth, 1811 is a synonym of Celypha rufana Scopoli, 1763 (Tortricidae). * Catoptria expallidana Haworth 1811 is a synonym of Cnephasia longana Haworth, 1811 (Tortricidae). * Hyria auroraria Curtis 1834 is a synonym of the beautiful Idaea muricata Hufnagel, 1767 (Geometridae). Idaea muricata f. auroraria. Bristol Museum Collections. References. Buckler, W., 1869. Note on the earlier stages of Sesia ichneumoniformis. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 6: 90. Cooke, T., 1870 Capture of Lemiodes Pulveralis. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 7: 86. Knaggs, H.G., 1866 Notes on new and rare British Lepidoptera. Entomologist's Annual p. 159. Knaggs, H. G., 1866 Description of a New Species of Tortricina. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 3: 176-177. Knaggs, H.G., 1867. Occurrence of a Tortrix (Grapholitha ravulana, H.S. new to Britain)The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 4: 61. Knaggs, H.G., 1867 Description of a New Coccyx (Lepidoptera Tortricina) Coccyx Vernana The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 3: 122-123. Knaggs H.G. 1870 Lepidoptera: Notes on new and rare British Lepidoptera in 1869. Entomologist's Annual. p. 276. Knaggs, H.G., 1871. A New Geometer Nyssia lapponaria. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 8 : 282.
Meek, E.G,. 1864 Captures of Lepidoptera. Eupithecia Fraxinata and Cymatophora fluctuosa The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 1: 50. Meek, E.G., 1866 Trochilium chrysidiforme at Folkestone.The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 3: 69. Meek, E.G., 1866 Occurrence of Eupaecillia curvistrigana near Barnstaple. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 3: 116.
Meek, E.G., 1866. Capture of Stigomonota leguminana (deflexana) in Epping Forest. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 3: 163. Meek E.G., 1866. Note on Dicrorampha flavidorsana, Knaggs The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 3: 186. Meek, E.G., 1869 Discovery of the larva of Sesia ichneumoniformis. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 6: 89-90. Meek E. G., 1869 Occurrence of Lemiodes Pulveralis, Hb, a genus and species of Lepidoptera new to Britain. Entomologist's Monthly Magazine. 6: 141. Meek E.G., 1870-1871 Lemiodes Pulveralis. Entomologist. 5: 31. Meek, E. G., 1874 Larvae of Dianthoecia Albimacula Entomologist. 7: 177. Newman, E., 1868-1869 Lemiodes Pulveralis again. Entomologist. 4: 364. Poulton, E.B., 1874 Dianthoecia Albimacula and Acronycta Leporina. Entomologist. 7:177. Meek E.G., 1875, Phoxopteryx paludana etc. Entomologist 8. 231. South, R., 1895 Nyssia Lapponaria in Scotland. Entomologist 28: 163. South, R., (1890) Additions to the British List of Deltoids, Pyralides and Crambi, since 1859. The Entomologist 23: 276. Weston, W. P., 1877 New and rare Micro-Lepoidopters observed during the years 1874, 1875, 1876 Entomologist 10: 92. Waring, P., Townsend, M. Lewington, R., 2017 Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland Third Edition. Bloomsbury Wildlife Guides. Next. Collecting Moths from Folkestone to the Shetlands Part Two.
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Post by nomad on Dec 4, 2018 13:02:29 GMT
Collecting Moths from Folkestone to the Shetlands Part Two.
Edward George Meek visited the Rannoch area in the highlands of Scotland in 1876. On the 26 July near the summit of the cone shaped mountain of Schiehallion, he records that he found a female specimen of Pachnobia hyperborea ovi positing on Crowberry Empetrum nigrum. Upon boxing her she laid eggs freely, the young larvae hatched about three weeks later and he fed them up on crowberry and bilberry, by November they were nearly full grown, he writes in the EMM, 1876 " I quite agree with Dr Staudinger that the larvae hibernate twice as the top of the mountain where I caught my female is now covered in snow and will remain so until next May. I have never caught a specimen at less elevation than 3000 feet, in fact the highest points at which the food-plant exists, and every specimen is hard earned ; what with the dense fog and extreme cold it is almost unbearable to stay upon the mountains all night, but once up you must stay there till morning or risk a broken neck in the descent. They do not appear to come for sugar, but fly wildly about in front of the thick fog or mist, which makes it necessary to wring out your net every few minutes". The noctuid P. hyperborea Zetterstedt 1839 is a junior Synonym of Xestia alpicola Zetterstedt, 1839. Xestia alpicola. Rannoch, Perthshire. Dale coll, OUMNH. In the Entomologist (1878) Meek writes " While collecting during the last week in July 1877, on the banks of the River Bure, Norfolk, I found Sericoris Doubledayana not infrequently, This species may easily be overlooked, as it flies gently amongst marsh-fern (Lasdtrea theypteris), bog- myrtle (Myrica gale) and reeds, in the late afternoon sunshine. It is necessary to separate the stems and actually look for the moths, so little do they rise above the under-growth. They were in beautiful condition at this date." Now placed in the genus Celypha this species was always regarded as scarce and local and only recorded from the banks of the River Bure near Horning and at Ranworth Broad in Norfolk, and in the Cambridgeshire Fens. C. Doubledayana was discovered as new to science by Charles G. Barrett in 1869, and described by him in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine (1872). Meek seems to have been the last collector to capture this species in Norfolk and the reasons for its disappearance there are not known, it is now considered to be extinct in Britain. Meek reported in a letter in the Entomologist dated 2 August 1878 that " During a short stay in the Norfolk fens last month I secured a fine series of *Eupoecilia geyeriana : they fly just before dusk, and are very active on the wing. I also took four examples of *Gelechia palustrella : these came to my light-house, which I carry in the boat, at about one o'clock in the morning" Meek appears to have been using the Eddystone Lighthouse, a kind of aquarium that had three sides of glass and one of metal that usually had between two to four powerful paraffin lamps within, it is of interest that he was using one in a boat as the professional Wicken Fen collectors usually had theirs on a stout five foot pole. *Eupoecilia geyeriana Herrich-Schaffer, 1847 is a synonym of Gynnidomorpha vectisana Humphreys & Westwood, 1845 (Tortricidae). * Gelechia palustrella Douglas 1850 = Monochroa palustrellus Douglas, 1850 (Gelechiidae). In a note dated 3 May 1878 published in the Entomologist, Meek writes of the capture of Egira conspicillaris " While strolling along the road from Dartford to Darenth, on the 27th of last month, I found two specimens of this rare species, one on a post, the other on a fence, close to the Gore Farm. I have searched for this insect sixteen or seventeen years, but I never saw it alive before. Imagine my surprise at finding two in less than twenty minutes." Dartford certainly seems to have been a locality for this species because beneath Meek's note there appeared one by Edward R. Sheppard that he had also taken the moth at Dartford that April. E. conspicillaris was last seen in Kent in 1881 (Chalmers-Hunt, 1961). Today it is confined counties bordering the River Seven in west of England. Egira conspicillaris. Kent. Dale coll, OUMNH. Meek was without doubt an expert on the British Heterocera. F.O. Standish, the son of the late London dealer Benjamin Standish, had sent him from Cheltenham a series of a Eupoecilia under the name of Argyrolepia schreibersiana and when he saw them, he instantly recognized them as something new. Meek not having anything similar in his European collection of Tortrices, sent some examples to the German entomologist Otto Staudinger. As chance would have it, two days later Staudinger was visiting London and called on Meek and viewed the Standish specimens. On his return to Dresden he consulted his collection and pronounced them to be Eupoecilia gilvicomana Zeller, 1847 a species new to Britain. E. gilvicomana which is now placed in the genus Phalonidia, is a rare and local species in Britain that is confined to the south. J. Jenner Weir wrote in the Entomologist (1880) of the moths collected by Harry McArthur in the Shetland Islands. " Mr Meek deserves the best thanks of entomologists for his spirited enterprise of sending a collector to these islands, who was there for nearly four months, from the end of April until towards the end of August. I had the opportunity, through the courtesy of Mr Meek, of inspecting the collection made, and I never saw any contribution to our knowledge of insular entomology so interesting, and, I think I may add, more instructive." Meek's collector Harry McArthur had found that many of Shetland's moth fauna were represented by dark forms, some of these had previously been named, others would be later. Several are now regarded as distinct subspecies. Perhaps the most well know of these is Hepialus humuli thulensis Newman 1865 of the Hepialidae family, which is also found in the Faroe islands. McArthur collected the endemic Shetland species, the Geometers Melanippe montanata shetlandica Weir, 1880, Camptogramma bilineata atlantica Staudinger, 1892, Xanthorhoe fluctuata thules Prout 1914 and Camptogramma bilineata atlantica Staudinger, 1892. The following year Meek sent McArthur to the Island of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides for thirteen weeks, the collecting was rather poor due to the often wet weather, however there were some interesting forms, among them the Geometer Alcis repandata sodorensium Weir, 1881, an endemic subspecies. Melanippe montanata shetlandica Weir, 1880 (bottom) and a typical specimen (top). Bristol Museum Collections. . Camptogramma bilineata atlantica Staudinger, 1892. OUMNH coll. In the Entomologist (1881) Meek writes of a special day and the delights of An Afternoon in Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire, " I am glad to be able to put on record one of the most successful afternoons as regards collecting I ever made. On June 26th I strolled into the fen about three o'clock, and shortly saw such a sight as would have made glad the heart of the most morose entomologist. In less than two hours I boxed nearly two hundred specimens of really good insects. Phoxopteryx paludana was common, as was *Eupoecilia notulana, both in very fine condition. The extremely rare and beautiful Cosmopteryx orichalcella was flitting over fescue grass : of this I got a nice series. C. lienigiella was also taken. Bucculatrix frangulella was abundant round bushes of buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus). *Penthina carbonana was not uncommon. *Anesychia funerella was abundant amongst the comfrey (Symphytum officinale). *Chauliodus illigerella was flying at dusk with Coleophora anatipennella, as also was *C. troglodytella. Gelechia inornatella was scarce, with *G. rufescentella, and five specimens of *G. lathyri fell to my net. Lobophora sexalata was frequent. *Herminia cribralis and *Parapornyx strateolatis were in great abundance. When, I had a short interval of rest from using the net. I found the larva of *Gelechia morosa, from which I have since reared several specimens. Larvae of Peronia hastiana were common, and from amonst them *Phoxopteryx subarcuana have appeared. I think, from my incomplete sketch I have given your readers, they will agree with me that such an afternoon rarely falls to the lot of the entomologist."
Most of Meek's captures that he recorded in his article An Afternoon in Wicken Fen are of the smaller moths, the Microlepidoptera. * Eupoecilia notulana Zeller, 1847 is a synonym of Phalonidia manniana Fischer von Röslerstamm, 1839 (Tortricidae).* Penthina carbonana Doubleday, 1859 is a synonym of Endothenia ustulana Haworth, 1811 (Tortricidae). * Anesychia funerella Fabricius, 1787 is a synonym of Ethmia quadrillella Goeze, 1783 (Ethmiidae). * Chauliodus illigerella Hubner 1810 is a synonym of Epermenia falciformis Haworth, 1812 (Epermeniidae). * Coleophora troglodytella Duponchel 1843 is a synonym of Coleophora follicularis Vallot, 1802 (Coleophoridae). * Gelechia rufescentella Doubleday 1859 is a synonym of Helcystogramma rufescens Haworth, 1828 (Gelechiidae). * Gelechia lathyri Stainton, 1865 is a synonym of Athrips tetrapunctella Thunberg, 1794 (Gelechiidae). * Herminia cribralis Hubner 1796 is a synonym of Macrochilo cribrumalis Hubner 1793 (Erebidae). * Parapornyx strateolatis is a misspelling of Parapoynx stratiotata Linnaeus, 1758 (Crambidae). * Gelechia morosa Mühlig, 1864 is a synonym of Monochroa conspersella Herrich-Schäffer, 1854 (Gelechiidae). * Phoxopteryx subarcuana Douglas, 1847 is a synonym of Ancylis geminana Donovan, 1806 (Tortricidae). Some of the other species that were recorded by Meek in his account of Wicken Fen are now placed in a different genus. The beautiful Micro moth Cosmopteryx orichalcella of the Cosmopterigidae family. Wicken fen. OUMNH collections. Meek writes in the Entomologist (1882) of a visit to the Essex salt-marshes. " During a recent expedition to the salt-marshes, at the mouth of the River Thames, I found the larvae of the local plume-moth, Agdistes Bennetii, at rest in the daytime upon the leaf-stalks of sea lavender (Statice limonium). Finding these larvae in the daylight is about as trying a matter for one's patience as I know, for they get close down towards the roots of the plant, and are just the colour of the leaf-stalk. At night they would probably be much easier to obtain. I had the pleasure of sending three specimens to Mr South who had, I understand, obtained drawings of the larvae previously, and has now got those of the pupae, for his plates of the plumes, and so completed the life-history of that species."
In 1884 Meek accompanied by the London solicitor Charles Adolphus Briggs (1849-1916) made the long journey north to visit the Island of Unst in the Shetland Islands for a week's collecting. They arrived at Baltasound Unst on the 9 July, where they met their fellow collector Edwin Roper Curzon, who having arrived previously and had secured them lodgings under a Mrs Hunter's hospitable Roof. Not daunted by his three days travelling Meek scarcely allowed his two companions to swallow a hasty tea before rushing off under Curzon's guidance in quest of Hepialus humuli thulensis, which they soon found but were rather worn. They took males of the Geometer Melanippe montanata shetlandica on the wing and found females sitting about on the heather. The Geometer Xanthorhoe decoloraria was frequent, the Shetland race being later described as subspecies hethlanica Prout 1901. As the Island was tree-less the collectors sugared the fence posts up on moorland, attracting a number of noctuids, among their collections was Diarsia mendica, described later as subspecies thulei Staudinger, 1891. They were disappointed not to find one Shetland's special noctuids, Apamea exulis marmorata Zetterstedt, 1839, which also occurs in Iceland, Norway and Sweden. They spent a night at the Sea Campion flowers Silene uniflora, growing above the cliffs, but only two moths were taken , the best of which was Hadena confusa, occurring on Shetland as the dark form obliterae Robson. The weather was often damp with thick mists that bought out a plague of biting midges, however, Briggs enjoyed the expedition, he writes " The midsummer sunset and sunrise and it is difficult to say where the one ends and the other begins - seen from Hermes Ness, the most northerly point of the Kingdom, is a sight to be remembered ; while throughout the night hours, during the whole of which there is light enough to read by, the melancholy wail of Richardson's Skua and the harsh grunt of the great skua, enraged at the unwonted disturbance of their sanctuary - makes up an experience never to be forgotten." Harry McArthur had visited Unst the previous year, 1883, staying there between May and September and had taken many good things, including a series of A. exulis marmorata, although at this time he was not in the employ of Meek but of the English collector Clarence E. Fry. Hepialus humuli thulensis male. Bristol Museum collections. Apamea exulis marmorata OUMNH collections. Hadena confusa f. obliterae. Shetland top, bottom typical form. Bristol Museum collections. Meek visited to Suffolk to search for the Breckland moth specialties that occurred there in the open sandy fields, he writes in the Entomologist (1884) " I had the pleasure of collecting in the neighbourhood of Tuddenham, in the early part of August, and was very pleased with the results of three day's works : *Acidalia rubricata, abundant in one field, scarce elsewhere; *Agrophila sulphuralis, eight specimens only. Spilodes sticticalis, eight or nine. Pterophorus laetus, over forty in fine condition, nearly all in one evening, just before dark. *Catoptria citraria, abundant; *Anticlea sinuata, three larvae on Galium verum, and the larva of *Heliothis dipsacea on low plants. I returned to town on the third day with over 250 insects on my setting boards. What a contrast to my trip to the Isle of Unst, where I often had to work sixteen or eighteen hours for six to eight moths". * Acidalia rubricata Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775 is a synonym Scopula rubiginata Hufnagel, 1767 (Geometridae).* Agrophila sulphuralis Linnaeus, 1767 is synonym of Emmelia trabealis Scopoli, 1763 (Noctuidae) . E. trabealis is now extinct in Britain. * Catoptria citraria Hubner 1796 is a synonym of Aspitates ochrearia Rossi, 1794 (Geometridae). * Anticlea sinuata Denis & Schiffermuller is a synonym of Catarhoe cuculata Hufnagel, 1767 (Geometridae). * Heliothis dipsacea Linnaeus, 1767 is a synonym of Heliothis viriplaca Hufnagel, 1766 (Noctuidae). Emmelia trabealis. OUMNH collections. During 1886 Meek visited North Wales, he collected a quantity of the yellow flowering Touch-me-not Impatiens noli-tangere and was surprised to find a larva of the scarce Eustroma reticulata, the first record of this Geometer moth from North Wales, there have been a few others records from this area but not for many years and it now seems to be confined to one or two localities in the Lake District of Cumbria, where the foodplant grows. C. A. Briggs recorded in the Entomologist (1888) that while Meek was collecting in the New Forest that year, he found a new colony of Zygaena meliloti , it having died out in its former locality there. Z. meliloti Esper, 1789 is a Synonym of Zygaena viciae Denis & Schiffermuller, 1775. C.A. Briggs in the Young Naturalist (1888) named the New Forest burnet var ytenensis which later was recognized as a distinct subspecies that unfortunately became extinct by 1927. Meek writes in the Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 6 September 1888 of the usually scarce immigrant Hawk moth Hyles gallii "The larvae of this species were very plentiful this season at Deal. I found fifty one morning in about a couple of hours on a bank not more than a hundred yards long. They do not conceal themselves during the daytime like C. porcellus, which were also very common."Eustroma reticulata. Bristol Museum Collections. Zygaena viciae ytenensis. OUMNH collections. Hyles gallii. Deal 1888. E. G. Meek. OUMNH collections. In 1891 Meek aged around forty-seven retired to Fairmead, Brockenhurst in the New Forest, Hampshire. His London Natural History business at 56 Brompton Road, London was now being run by his son Edward Henry Meek. The collector Sydney Webb of Dover who was well known for his magnificent collection of Lepidoptera, had for many years wished to go to the New Forest to search for varieties of moth of the Tortricinae family Peronea cristana, known by British entomologists as the Buttons because of their resemblance to colourful clothes buttons. P. cristana Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775 now placed in the genus Acleris, has a large range of named forms, many of which were found in the New Forest. Webb had received an invitation from Meek to join him hunting this species in the New Forest and with fine weather, he, Meek and his son were successful in taking many forms. Webb writes in the Entomologist (1891) " Master Willy Meek worked like a Trojan, and secured almost as many specimens as his father. I was not so fortunate, nor was the fourth member of our party. There is a charm about buttoning that can only be appreciated by the variety collector, and each specimen missed is regretted more than would be otherwise be the case, for it is of course impossible to tell what variety the beating stick may next disturb among the bushes ; but it is hard work, as the stiffness of my arms testified next morning. Mr Meek tells me it has always been a day-dream of his, to retire from business to some good centre for collecting, where he could enjoy his favourite pursuit, and have a crust of bread and cheese to give an old friend or passing brother collector. Certainly he treated me very much more handsomely, and upon my leaving presented me with all the specimens taken during my stay ".
Meek's last published note in a journal appears to be in the Entomologist (1893), he reported the capture in September of six specimens of the immigrant hawk-moth Agrius convolvuli, hovering over the blossoms of Nicotiana affinis in his garden. The following year Meek moved to Woodside Lawn, Lymington and as Meek's pen fall silent, his story among the British moths is at an end. References. Barrett, C. G., 1872 Description of a new species of Sericoris from Britain. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 8: 246-247. Briggs, C.A., 1884 A Week's Collecting in Unst. Entomologist 17: 197-201. Briggs, C.A., 1888 T he New Forest Zygaena meliloti Young Naturalist 8 : 82-83. Chalmers-Hunt, J. M., 1961. The Butterflies and Moths of Kent Volume 2.
Meek, E.G., 1876. Larva and food-plant of Pachnobia Hyperborea (alpina, Westw) Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 13: 164-165. Meek, E.G., 1878 Notes, Captures, etc. Sericoris Doubledayana. Entomologist 11: 93. Meek, E.G., 1878 Notes, Captures, etc . Eupoecilia geyeriana and Gelechia palustrella 11: 212. Meek, E.G., 1879 Eupoecilia gilvicomana, Zell. ; A Tortrix New to Britain. Entomologist 12:263-264. Meek, E.G., 1881 Collecting in the Hebrides. Entomologist 14: 184.
Meek, E.G, 1884 Collecting in Suffolk. Entomologist: 17 :278.
Meek, E.G., 1886-1888 Cidaria reticulata in North Wales. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 23: 110-111. Meek, E. G. 1888-1889 Note on Deilephila galii. The Entomologist's Monthly Magazine 25: 111. Meek, E.G., 1893 Captures and Field Reports. Sphinx convolvuli in Hants 26: 18 Jenner, Weir J., 1880 The Macrolepidoptera of the Shetland Islands. Entomologist 13: 249-251. 289-291. Jenner, Weir J., 1881 Notes on the Lepidoptera of the Hebrides. Entomologist 14: 218-223. Webb, S., 1891 Notes, Captures, etc. A Day among the Buttons. The Entomologist 27: 271.
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Post by exoticimports on Dec 6, 2018 17:07:12 GMT
And in 1889 Meek left for the Pacific, arriving into New Guinea and exclaimed "What have I wasted my life for chasing stupid ugly bugs in the British Isles? OMG!"
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Post by Adam Cotton on Dec 6, 2018 18:08:08 GMT
And in 1889 Meek left for the Pacific, arriving into New Guinea and exclaimed "What have I wasted my life for chasing stupid ugly bugs in the British Isles? OMG!" Of course that was Edward's son, Albert. Adam.
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Post by nomad on Dec 6, 2018 19:48:45 GMT
Albert was no doubt a very adventurous and very brave and sensible chap to spend his life among the New Guinea cannibals hunting for new species of wondrous butterflies and getting paid very well for it, as he had Walter Rothschild and Oliver Erichson Janson to buy them. He was able to retire to Bondi Beach far away from those cold English winters and sit perhaps in his garden dreaming of those misty mountains and his chimaeras of his youth. Now I have always wanted to know more of the great Albert and finally for those aficionados like me, I will be able to, when John Tennent publishes his book on his life, hopefully that will appear in 2019. I hope that Chuck did not suppose that Edward (which this series of articles is about), Albert's father set off for New Guinea, no no no, he was sitting in his English garden waiting for the sun and dreaming of the many beautiful moths that he spent a happy life hunting (and getting very well paid for it), for in Blighty there is just as beauty in its many varied habitats as in the most extensive of those New Guinea rain-forests. Albert like papa Edward was never interested in forming a grand collection, they were professionals and both excellent at what they did, when it is your bread and butter it pays too. There are still many that are interested in moths although few British collectors here now collect them (that is because there are so few British collectors today), mostly they record and photograph them. Those grand old school collectors found them fascinating and I am pleased they did.
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Post by trehopr1 on Dec 7, 2018 5:00:11 GMT
I'm sure if Edward succumbed to the temptations of selling improbable captures or strays he claimed to have found (or other collectors working for him); then it probably had a lot to do with simple need and the competitive nature of his business at the time. Eaking out an existence with a large family in tow in Victorian England surely had to be monumental. Temptation is a terrible and ever present part of human nature.
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Post by nomad on Dec 7, 2018 9:24:01 GMT
Edward had a very large family to support. There was no national health service in those days. He was the main bread winner and the only one, he rose from very humble beginnings, he was no doubt a very clever businessman and very knowledgeable entomologist, the like of which you rarely see here today. When you have to compete in a shady world of the George Parrys (who was just a dealer and added nothing to our knowledge of British Lepidoptera) it is easy to throw stones in glass houses. If he sold a few continentals as British and was found out, then that is the world we live in, I am not condoning it, but it part of his story so I included it, however, he added an enormous amount of knowledge to our Lepidoptera. He helped a lot of entomologists, not just for money, he was genuinely well liked by many, read the last account. It easy to dismiss moths, but take a look at them, for sure there are dull ones, but so are there butterflies, there are certainly many beautiful ones. Look at all those British endemics and all those interesting dark forms occurring on Shetland, there is certainly a lot to be learnt from them.
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