The Extinct British Lycaena dispar dispar

Previously I wrote that I cannot state if the two French populations are connected or not. Based on this map that I found right now they probably are:

www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/129387#page/107/mode/1up

The map that I posted says European distribution. Lycaena dispar is not known from Iberian Peninsula.

The other species you mention is either one of Lycaena virgaureae, L. hippothoe, L. alciphron, L. tityrus or with lots of luck L. bleusei (local species around Madrid). Note that L. alciphron and tityrus aren't really reddish.

Here are my pair of L dispar batavus from Woodwalton Fen.
It was so good to hear/read Bill Bacon's name mentioned on this strand along with that of Paul Smart. I never met Paul but was lucky enough to have visited Bill at his home many times & in the process obtain an array of wonderful butterflies from him during the course of the 1980's & 1990's which formed the backbone of my collection. As you say Bill has now sadly retired but I have fond memories of experiencing wonderful hospitality from both Bill & his wife Ann on my many visits there.
Bill's collection of Malaysian butterflies was a truly wondrous sight to behold.

I did actually buy a male O goliath procus from Bill in 1984 & still have it in the collection.
Here is part of one of Bill's lists from 1985....now my eyes are drawn to the Papilio lampsacus for the princely sum of £7.50...needless to say I did not buy it & Bill does not mention it in his notes either-how times change.

Dave

Happy days indeed

i wish I could find the reference (poor old brain is fried by drugs) but I did read that DNA sequencing has shown that dispar dispar and dispar batavus are genetically inseperable. I personally have seen many specimens of both subspecies and would defy anyone to tell the two apart without data. The land bridge between Europe and Britain was apparently a marshy plain and would have been ideal habitat for them, so I guess they were only separated when sea levels rose.
I had three pairs, two in reasonable condition and one A- which I sold for £500 a few years back. The other two pairs are still in the collection which I sold last year.
Regarding Paul Smart, I can't say I had much time for him either, I did visit the museum many years ago and dealt with Chris.
I have heard that he eventually went totally mad and was kept in a secure facility under heavy sedation.

My friend has now finished curating his Lycaena dispar dispar. His collection of this stunning extinct species is surely the largest in private hands. All the important data labels of these very historic specimens can now be viewed and show a truly wealth of detailed information. Many thanks to him for his permission to show them, I know I certainly enjoyed seeing them again. Also shown are two females which includes one of the oldest specimens taken in 1836. Enjoy.






In the second drawer is a genuine 19th century specimen of Parnassius apollo captured at Dover. This specimen has appeared in certain early butterfly books.