The Extinct British Lycaena dispar dispar

There have been quite a number of papers about the biology of the Dutch subspecies Lycaena dispar batavus, , but none about L. dispar dispar , because it became extinct in the Mid 19th century. However the biology of the extinct British race was probably very similar to the Dutch ' batavus' race . Unlike other subspecies of L. dispar both only have one generation a year and feed only on the Great Water Dock [ Rumex hydrolapathum ]. Bretherton [ 1966] also includes the extinct French race L. dispar gronieri [ Bernardi] in this group, which occurred in the marshes of Saint-Quentin where it was last recorded around 1890. It would be very interesting to see specimens of the extinct L. dispar gronieri . Betherton and later A.S. Pullin [ 1995] and several other authors have also recognised the following subspecies, carueli [ Le Moult] from Belgium, Luxemburg and NE France, burdigalensis[ Lucas] from SW France and centralitaliae [ Verity] from Central Italy. Most other authors have only recognised two extant subspecies in in this region, the Dutch race batavus and the widespread European L. dispar rutilus. There have been a number of attempts to reintroduce subspecies batavus to the British Isles. The most successful reintroduction of batavus was to Woodwalton Fen in Huntingdonshire , as Bob has mentioned in this thread, that here ' batavus ' required regular assistance from field workers and when eventually the butterfly was left to its own devices, it became extinct there in the 1990's. Woodwalton Fen surrounded by cornfield prairies, ultimately proved too small to host a viable population. L. dispar batavus is not a rare species in collections, because as dunc has mentioned in this thread, larvae from captive stock are regular sold by livestock dealers. However, what is the status of the protected Dutch race L. dispar batavus in the wild. According to what I have read, batavus only now regularly breeds in the wetlands of the De Weeribben National NNR and a few other nearby sites, where it is far from common. Written 19th accounts of fiery Large Coppers in the fens used to haunt my daydreams when I was a boy. I first saw this species in northern Italy and its rich fiery colour was even better to see at first hand than any ' illustration' in my butterfly books. However, it is about time I made a pilgrimage to Holland to see the fenland Large Copper, camera in hand of course, what an experience that would be. Any information on the flight times and the best places to see Large Coppers [ and stay] at De Weeribben would be most welcome.

The differences.

So what are the differences between the Dutch and Extinct British races. In this thread, Saturniidave has mentioned that he defies anybody to tell specimens of the two subspecies apart without data. So what do the others lepidopterists believe in their written accounts of these races. . Emmet [1990] said that batavus has slightly smaller verso hindwing white-ringed spots with a narrower orange hindwing band , which is less squared at its apical extremity. Minor difference indeed, especially as the two populations have been separated for at least 7000 years when the sea levels rose. Jeremy Thomas [ Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, 2010] states that batavus undersides are slightly less bold? E.B. Ford, the Oxford tutor, in his well known and well read book ' Butterflies ' [ 1945 ] wrote " the two can only be distinguished with difficulty. They are approximately the same size and colouring, but on the under-side, batavus  is less heavily spotted, while the red sub-marginal band on the hindwings is slightly narrower.

The Dutchman Blink [ 1970], wrote that in both races he found variation in the pattern, but concluded that in his opinion there were no significant differences between the two subspecies. He also wrote that the " small, but inconsistent differences may be typical of that recorded for populations of species which have become isolated at the edge of its range ".

Michael Salmon and Peter Edwards wrote in their book the Aurelians Fireside Companion, " Our species was larger and more brilliant than either of the Continental subspecies, and its extinction in the fens of East Anglia was an unmitigated disaster."


A plate from the E.B. Ford book showing the three subspecies, dispar, batavus, rutilus

In Luxembourg the species only occurs in the "Gutland" which lies south of the "Éisleck". The Éisleck is the Luxembourgish area of the Ardennes and is characterized by Lycaena helle. In contrast to the Éisleck the Gutland is a very flat area which reaches into Germany on the East (Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland) and France in the South (Lorraine). The populations of Lycaena dispar that fly in the Gutland are in connection with these Populations as no large natural barriers do exist. Lycaena dispar covers on the German site pretty much the whole Saarland, it reaches further South where it covers the Northern part of Baden-Württemberg and then gets more and more narrow in distribution along the river Rhine as it cannot go up into the Black Forest which borders this. As much as it reaches into Germany it will reach into the flat areas of Northern France and along the river Rhine towards the South.

Having a separate name for the populations in Northern France is nonsense in my point of view given the topology of the area that I just explained. The older name Lycaena dispar rutilus Werneburg, 1864 will apply. You have to be very very careful with these names as a lot of "National Pride" was flowing into the nomenclature published back in these days (-> carueli Le Moult, 1945).

The South-Western population is as far as my knowledge goes completely separated from the rest, your specimen from Dordogne would belong to that population and if you attribute a subspecies then most likely burdigalensis.

Many distribution maps of the species, at least from Germany, are online, so I could draw you a range map for rutilus as far as my knowledge goes but for now I have to leave for work.

Rgds Claude

p.S. The British race was different, I could immediately spot them on the plate shown, judging from the ventral sides, forget the dorsal in determinations as it plays a minor role for a butterfly that likes to rest with folded wings.

Claude, thank you for your detailed knowledge of the L. dispar distribution in Luxemburg and Germany and their relationship with the those populations occurring in France. I must admit from the image shown, if this is a good representative of those populations in SW France, then perhaps burdigalensis would apply to it, however, one would need to have more information on the different populations from that area. The image came from the Foret-de-la Double in the Dordogne. I have viewed again your distribution map provided for this species by your link. It would be interesting to know the views of the French lepidopterists who are members here.

Claude, impressive distribution maps, I can seen as you described in your earlier post than it is missing from large areas of Germany. I have read of declines in a number of different areas of subspecies rutilus , have you noticed this at all.