An Extinct Burnet Moth's Story by the Entomologists.
Jan 22, 2016 8:35:29 GMT
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Post by nomad on Jan 22, 2016 8:35:29 GMT
An Extinct Burnet Moth's Story by the Entomologists.
The extinct endemic New Forest Burnet Moth, Zygaena viciae ytenensis (Briggs 1888) was found along rides and in open clearings in the Lyndhurst and Brokenhurst area of the New Forest of Southern England. To the old Aurelians this was Zygaena meliloti of Esper (1793).
The first mention of this species as a British native was in the Entomologist's Journal of 1872, when three London Collectors captured it in the New Forest in late June-July 1871 . W.H. Tugwell of Greenwich wrote " When I was looking over some specimens that had been captured by Mr J. Gulliver, and specially noticed a few very small burnet moths that I did not know and found they had been taken some two weeks before, that would have been the last week in June. A few days after I took this species in cop, and then felt certain that it was a stranger to our list, and proves to be Z. Meliloti.
J.P. Barrett, the honorable secretary of the South London Entomological Society, noted that a Mr Boden of 127 Tooley Street exhibited two specimens of Z. meliloti that he captured with others during the present season (1872) and he wrote that " I find that I have two examples amongst my series of trifolii. I captured them on the 29th June 1871, when searching for A. caliginosa in its particular locality, Stubby Copse, and at the time considered them merely diminutive specimens of trifolii ”.
E. Harper also wrote in the Entomologist that " During a visit to the New Forest early in July, I took what I at first thought might be a diminutive specimen of Z. trifolii but on the next day, taking two others exactly the same as the one the day preceding, I thought they might possibly be something new. I have taken nine and through a friend submitted them to Mr Doubleday of Epping for his Judgment on them, he, without hesitation pronounced them to be Z. meliloti, a continental species but new to Britain ".
The London entomologists probably felt certain that they each had discovered a species new to Britain but in the same volume of the entomologist, H. Ramsey Cox wrote " seeing several notices respecting this insect, Mr A.B. Farn looking over my collection last week drew attention to a very small burnet moth that I took in the enclosures between Bolderwood and Stubby Copse, Lyndhurst July 1869. This proves the value of journalizing by means of a number underneath of every specimen in ones collection ".
In 1872, W.A. Lewis gave eggs of meliloti to T.H. Briggs, a collector and Barrister in London. Briggs noted that the eggs of the meliloti were larger than trifolii in spite of the smaller size of meliloti adults. Briggs had sixty eggs, and fed the larvae on the main food plant Bird's foot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus but only 18 of those safely hibernated and just three adults emerged in April 1873. He was breeding trifolii at the same time and always maintained that meliloti was a small race of Z. trifolli which he named later subspecies ytenensis.
In 1883, H. Jobson noted in the entomologist that he found no "Z. meliloti in its favourite haunt of Wood Fidley in early July ".
T.H. Brigg's brother C.A. Briggs, a noted collector, wrote in the entomologist for 1888 that " this insect had completely died out in its old haunts in the forest and was rediscovered by Mr E.G. Meek in a new locality at some little distance from the previous where it was flying with typical Z. trifolii".
J.W. Tutt was the first to use the correct name for the New Forest Burnet, Z. Viciae but attributed it wrongly to Schrank 1785 instead of Denis & Schiffermuller 1775. Tutt mentioned it had been found at " Ramnor, Park-Hill, Denny Wood, Perrywood Heath near Brokenhurst, near Lyndhurst, Matley Bog and Stubby Copse. Stubby Copse along with Wood Fidley were the moth's best known localities and most specimens seen in collections were taken there.
Russell E. James wrote some interesting notes in 1907, on this species in the Record and Journal of Variation, " Next morning before going back to Tortland , I went to the meliloti ground, and found them quite common, but hard to find. They sit on the undersides of the leaves and grass blades and I found the best way to search, was to sit down and look carefully round sideways for a few yards, when they could easily seen at rest. In spite of the bright sun, I only saw one fly, and then for only about a yard. This sluggishness is a safeguard, but in spite of it, this species could scarcely hold its own, were it not its headquarters were in private grounds. The workable spot is happily only an overflow. I found one professional on the ground, and was informed by a labourer that he had lived there for a week and had taken 600 specimens ".
In the Entomologist Vol 45 1912, in his New Forest notes, G. B. Corbin of Ringwood wrote " I well recollect the numbers of the pretty little Burnet Moth, Z. meliloti, I once saw floating like small dark bees over bright patches of the golden-flowered bird's-foot-trefoil near the railway. I understand none are there now and if an inference may be drawn from the fact that at this time every possible specimen was netted and boxed by a very tall man (a dealer I suspect) we need not wonder why at this species is becoming scarce".
G.T. Lyle commented in the Entomologist for 1913 that " our forest burnet was as usual, plentiful in 1912 in its locality. This is a matter of congratulations, as the number of collectors who discover or are told of its haunts is yearly increasing. I have frequently noticed that this species does not fly much before mid-day".
F.G. Whittle of Southend-on Sea wrote in the entomologist for 1917, that on July 2nd of that year " meliloti was very scarce at Wood Fidley ".
W. Fassnidge recorded in July 1927, that " viciae still survived but in sadly diminished numbers at its best known locality at Wood Fidley".
1927 was the last year that the New Forest Burnet Moth was seen in its old haunts within the forest.
Wood Fidley railway crossing today with New Forest ponies. This area was the last Stronghold of the New Forest Burnet Moth.
Cooke searched for this species during 1931 but found none, he wrote in the Entomologist for 1932. " It has been exterminated by over-collecting by certain dealers. A few years previously, these dealers, apparently having sat around day after day watching for the insects to hatch out and walk into their nets ".
In 1952, the well known collector S.G. Castle Russell wrote in the South London and Entomological Society " there seemed little doubt viciae has been exterminated by over-collecting in the New Forest. A dealer sat on the ground each day during the emergence and took every specimen that came out ".
R.F. Bretherton in his article 'Our Lost Butterflies' published in the Entomologist's Gazette for 1951 said of viciae " If it is now completely gone, this seems a clear case of the destruction of an ancient species by the hand of man and of all the extinct British species of lepidoptera, viciae seemed to be the only case where over-collecting had been the decisive factor in its extermination ".
E.B. Ford in his book ' Moths ' published in 1955, wrote that viciae " Owed its destruction to its extreme localization. Forest fires, the planting of conifers and the inexcusable avarice of collectors had done their work ".
In 1963, the British entomological community was astonished to hear that viciae had been discovered in a single spot on remote cliffs on the coast in Western Scotland, However this was not the lost subspecies ytenensis but a new one, named argyllensis Tremewan 1967. During the 1980's heavy grazing of the foodplant of argyllensis by sheep, saw numbers plummet to just 20 and again extinction was almost certain. Swift action saw the erection of fences around the site and the moth has recovered. In spite of miles of suitable cliffs no other colony has been found.
Britain's and one of Europe's foremost Zygaenidae experts W.G. Tremewan wrote a long article on the New Forest Burnet ' The History of Zygaena viciae Anglica Reiss in the New Forest ' that was published in the Entomologist's Gazette during 1966. anglica Reiss 1931, is a synonym of ytenensis Briggs 1888, and is therefore an invalid name. Tremewan made several visits to viciae's old haunts in the New Forest in the 1960s to search for this species. He also searched the surrounding areas but found no Z. viciae, only Z. trefolii was still present. In his article Tremewan wrote " I personally think, it is possible that viciae might still occur in some remote and undisturbed part of the New Forest ". Perhaps that was wishful thinking because Z. viciae ytenensis was never seen again.
As, an amateur lepidoptera historian, I have simply recorded the written observations that were recorded in the entomological journals. According to most collectors who went to capture Z. Viciae ytenensis and observed the moth in its New Forest localities, the extinction of the moth was especially bought about by a few unscrupulous dealers. Whether there was any habitat change in this part of the New Forest as early as the 1920s when the moth disappeared as suggested by Ford remains unknown. None of the collectors who visited the New Forest during that period made any mention of any changes in the Z. viciae habitat.
The Specimens.
Most of the extant specimen of Z. viciae ytenensis that have data, usually have the New Forest as the locality with no other site details. However, in the Oxford University collection in the Hope Department of Entomology, there is a super drawer of this species that were caught by several collectors that included very famous entomologists and many have very good data. Nearly all the specimens with locality data were taken at Stubby Copse or Wood Fidley. There are also some empty pupae cases of this species. I have yet to see specimens from the other localities with data that were mentioned by Tutt.
From the G.B. Corbin collection, Bristol City Museum.
Specimens bottom left, from Frederick William Hope (1797-1862) coll, founder of the Hope Department of Entomology at Oxford University. Above left, pupae cases and a bred specimen, June 1921, B.M. Hobby. Middle row, specimens from Gulliver 1895. The two Gulliver brothers was foresters and caught many rare aberrations of butterflies in the New Forest. Right, a series from Samuel Stevens perhaps taken by himself. Steven's auction rooms were at Covent Garden in London, where many a fine insect went under the hammer. OUMNH Coll.
Specimens left, taken by Francis Cardew Woodforde (1846-1928) at Wood Fidley. Specimens right, captured by Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton (1856-1943) from Stubby Copse in 1875, a few years after the moth had been discovered there. Poulton was an evolutionary biologist and the 2nd Hope Professor of Entomology at Oxford. OUMNH coll.
Left, Specimens from the Raphael Meldola (1849-1915) coll. Meldola was a famous chemist and President of the Entomological Society between 1895-1897. Right, specimens taken by the Rev G.E.C. Osborne, the rector of Botley, a village east of Southampton and not many miles from the New Forest. OUMNH coll.
Raphael Meldola captured his specimens in the company of the great "Alfred Russel Wallace " (1823-1913)" during 1883-1884. OUMNH coll.
The extinct endemic New Forest Burnet Moth, Zygaena viciae ytenensis (Briggs 1888) was found along rides and in open clearings in the Lyndhurst and Brokenhurst area of the New Forest of Southern England. To the old Aurelians this was Zygaena meliloti of Esper (1793).
The first mention of this species as a British native was in the Entomologist's Journal of 1872, when three London Collectors captured it in the New Forest in late June-July 1871 . W.H. Tugwell of Greenwich wrote " When I was looking over some specimens that had been captured by Mr J. Gulliver, and specially noticed a few very small burnet moths that I did not know and found they had been taken some two weeks before, that would have been the last week in June. A few days after I took this species in cop, and then felt certain that it was a stranger to our list, and proves to be Z. Meliloti.
J.P. Barrett, the honorable secretary of the South London Entomological Society, noted that a Mr Boden of 127 Tooley Street exhibited two specimens of Z. meliloti that he captured with others during the present season (1872) and he wrote that " I find that I have two examples amongst my series of trifolii. I captured them on the 29th June 1871, when searching for A. caliginosa in its particular locality, Stubby Copse, and at the time considered them merely diminutive specimens of trifolii ”.
E. Harper also wrote in the Entomologist that " During a visit to the New Forest early in July, I took what I at first thought might be a diminutive specimen of Z. trifolii but on the next day, taking two others exactly the same as the one the day preceding, I thought they might possibly be something new. I have taken nine and through a friend submitted them to Mr Doubleday of Epping for his Judgment on them, he, without hesitation pronounced them to be Z. meliloti, a continental species but new to Britain ".
The London entomologists probably felt certain that they each had discovered a species new to Britain but in the same volume of the entomologist, H. Ramsey Cox wrote " seeing several notices respecting this insect, Mr A.B. Farn looking over my collection last week drew attention to a very small burnet moth that I took in the enclosures between Bolderwood and Stubby Copse, Lyndhurst July 1869. This proves the value of journalizing by means of a number underneath of every specimen in ones collection ".
In 1872, W.A. Lewis gave eggs of meliloti to T.H. Briggs, a collector and Barrister in London. Briggs noted that the eggs of the meliloti were larger than trifolii in spite of the smaller size of meliloti adults. Briggs had sixty eggs, and fed the larvae on the main food plant Bird's foot Trefoil, Lotus corniculatus but only 18 of those safely hibernated and just three adults emerged in April 1873. He was breeding trifolii at the same time and always maintained that meliloti was a small race of Z. trifolli which he named later subspecies ytenensis.
In 1883, H. Jobson noted in the entomologist that he found no "Z. meliloti in its favourite haunt of Wood Fidley in early July ".
T.H. Brigg's brother C.A. Briggs, a noted collector, wrote in the entomologist for 1888 that " this insect had completely died out in its old haunts in the forest and was rediscovered by Mr E.G. Meek in a new locality at some little distance from the previous where it was flying with typical Z. trifolii".
J.W. Tutt was the first to use the correct name for the New Forest Burnet, Z. Viciae but attributed it wrongly to Schrank 1785 instead of Denis & Schiffermuller 1775. Tutt mentioned it had been found at " Ramnor, Park-Hill, Denny Wood, Perrywood Heath near Brokenhurst, near Lyndhurst, Matley Bog and Stubby Copse. Stubby Copse along with Wood Fidley were the moth's best known localities and most specimens seen in collections were taken there.
Russell E. James wrote some interesting notes in 1907, on this species in the Record and Journal of Variation, " Next morning before going back to Tortland , I went to the meliloti ground, and found them quite common, but hard to find. They sit on the undersides of the leaves and grass blades and I found the best way to search, was to sit down and look carefully round sideways for a few yards, when they could easily seen at rest. In spite of the bright sun, I only saw one fly, and then for only about a yard. This sluggishness is a safeguard, but in spite of it, this species could scarcely hold its own, were it not its headquarters were in private grounds. The workable spot is happily only an overflow. I found one professional on the ground, and was informed by a labourer that he had lived there for a week and had taken 600 specimens ".
In the Entomologist Vol 45 1912, in his New Forest notes, G. B. Corbin of Ringwood wrote " I well recollect the numbers of the pretty little Burnet Moth, Z. meliloti, I once saw floating like small dark bees over bright patches of the golden-flowered bird's-foot-trefoil near the railway. I understand none are there now and if an inference may be drawn from the fact that at this time every possible specimen was netted and boxed by a very tall man (a dealer I suspect) we need not wonder why at this species is becoming scarce".
G.T. Lyle commented in the Entomologist for 1913 that " our forest burnet was as usual, plentiful in 1912 in its locality. This is a matter of congratulations, as the number of collectors who discover or are told of its haunts is yearly increasing. I have frequently noticed that this species does not fly much before mid-day".
F.G. Whittle of Southend-on Sea wrote in the entomologist for 1917, that on July 2nd of that year " meliloti was very scarce at Wood Fidley ".
W. Fassnidge recorded in July 1927, that " viciae still survived but in sadly diminished numbers at its best known locality at Wood Fidley".
1927 was the last year that the New Forest Burnet Moth was seen in its old haunts within the forest.
Wood Fidley railway crossing today with New Forest ponies. This area was the last Stronghold of the New Forest Burnet Moth.
Cooke searched for this species during 1931 but found none, he wrote in the Entomologist for 1932. " It has been exterminated by over-collecting by certain dealers. A few years previously, these dealers, apparently having sat around day after day watching for the insects to hatch out and walk into their nets ".
In 1952, the well known collector S.G. Castle Russell wrote in the South London and Entomological Society " there seemed little doubt viciae has been exterminated by over-collecting in the New Forest. A dealer sat on the ground each day during the emergence and took every specimen that came out ".
R.F. Bretherton in his article 'Our Lost Butterflies' published in the Entomologist's Gazette for 1951 said of viciae " If it is now completely gone, this seems a clear case of the destruction of an ancient species by the hand of man and of all the extinct British species of lepidoptera, viciae seemed to be the only case where over-collecting had been the decisive factor in its extermination ".
E.B. Ford in his book ' Moths ' published in 1955, wrote that viciae " Owed its destruction to its extreme localization. Forest fires, the planting of conifers and the inexcusable avarice of collectors had done their work ".
In 1963, the British entomological community was astonished to hear that viciae had been discovered in a single spot on remote cliffs on the coast in Western Scotland, However this was not the lost subspecies ytenensis but a new one, named argyllensis Tremewan 1967. During the 1980's heavy grazing of the foodplant of argyllensis by sheep, saw numbers plummet to just 20 and again extinction was almost certain. Swift action saw the erection of fences around the site and the moth has recovered. In spite of miles of suitable cliffs no other colony has been found.
Britain's and one of Europe's foremost Zygaenidae experts W.G. Tremewan wrote a long article on the New Forest Burnet ' The History of Zygaena viciae Anglica Reiss in the New Forest ' that was published in the Entomologist's Gazette during 1966. anglica Reiss 1931, is a synonym of ytenensis Briggs 1888, and is therefore an invalid name. Tremewan made several visits to viciae's old haunts in the New Forest in the 1960s to search for this species. He also searched the surrounding areas but found no Z. viciae, only Z. trefolii was still present. In his article Tremewan wrote " I personally think, it is possible that viciae might still occur in some remote and undisturbed part of the New Forest ". Perhaps that was wishful thinking because Z. viciae ytenensis was never seen again.
As, an amateur lepidoptera historian, I have simply recorded the written observations that were recorded in the entomological journals. According to most collectors who went to capture Z. Viciae ytenensis and observed the moth in its New Forest localities, the extinction of the moth was especially bought about by a few unscrupulous dealers. Whether there was any habitat change in this part of the New Forest as early as the 1920s when the moth disappeared as suggested by Ford remains unknown. None of the collectors who visited the New Forest during that period made any mention of any changes in the Z. viciae habitat.
The Specimens.
Most of the extant specimen of Z. viciae ytenensis that have data, usually have the New Forest as the locality with no other site details. However, in the Oxford University collection in the Hope Department of Entomology, there is a super drawer of this species that were caught by several collectors that included very famous entomologists and many have very good data. Nearly all the specimens with locality data were taken at Stubby Copse or Wood Fidley. There are also some empty pupae cases of this species. I have yet to see specimens from the other localities with data that were mentioned by Tutt.
From the G.B. Corbin collection, Bristol City Museum.
Specimens bottom left, from Frederick William Hope (1797-1862) coll, founder of the Hope Department of Entomology at Oxford University. Above left, pupae cases and a bred specimen, June 1921, B.M. Hobby. Middle row, specimens from Gulliver 1895. The two Gulliver brothers was foresters and caught many rare aberrations of butterflies in the New Forest. Right, a series from Samuel Stevens perhaps taken by himself. Steven's auction rooms were at Covent Garden in London, where many a fine insect went under the hammer. OUMNH Coll.
Specimens left, taken by Francis Cardew Woodforde (1846-1928) at Wood Fidley. Specimens right, captured by Sir Edward Bagnall Poulton (1856-1943) from Stubby Copse in 1875, a few years after the moth had been discovered there. Poulton was an evolutionary biologist and the 2nd Hope Professor of Entomology at Oxford. OUMNH coll.
Left, Specimens from the Raphael Meldola (1849-1915) coll. Meldola was a famous chemist and President of the Entomological Society between 1895-1897. Right, specimens taken by the Rev G.E.C. Osborne, the rector of Botley, a village east of Southampton and not many miles from the New Forest. OUMNH coll.
Raphael Meldola captured his specimens in the company of the great "Alfred Russel Wallace " (1823-1913)" during 1883-1884. OUMNH coll.
