Treasures of the Dalean Collection. Lepidoptera & Coleoptera

The historic melanic Scarlet Tiger moth Callimorph dorminula

In the Entomologist's magazine of 1909, James Walker in his review of the rarities of the Dale collection mentioned that a specimen of the Scarlet Tiger moth [ Callimorpha dorminula] was a magnificent male melanic aberration. This specimen was not produced from any selective breeding, but was reared from a single wild collected caterpillar that was found by an eminent entomologist Samuel Stevens in 1872 at St Margaret's Bay in Kent. The specimen was figured in the 1872 edition of the ' The Entomologist ' with notes by the editor ' Edward Newman'. See Below. The specimen was purchased by C.W. Dale in the great sale of the Stevens's collection in 1900.
It turns out that Samuel Stevens was a friend of J.C. Dale and was a founder member of the Entomological Society of London. Dale wrote that Stevens said " I am on the look-out for an entomological wife, I want one that will be useful as well as ornamental." Dale would have understood and indeed probably shared, Stevens's singlemindedness. He at least had been fortunate enough to have found a wife who was tolerant of entomology, and who accompanied him on some excursions. Yet Dale was prepared to go through fire and water for insects; he once rode forty miles in a day, and discovered three insects new to science at his destination. The last paragraph is taken from the ' The Aurelian Legacy' by M. Salmon [2000].



The historic melanic Callimorpha dorminula specimen.



The Entomologist for 1872.

Dale's magnificent female variety of L. dispar dispar and the extinction. 

In the Dale collection, there are 26 very fine specimens of the extinct Lycaena dispar dispar [ Haworth 1803]. Among the series are 11 males and 15 females. The smallest males are 31mm in size and the largest an exceptional 52mm and the females range from 35mm to 52mm. Easily the gem of the series and one of the most magnificent butterflies in the Dale collection is a unique dark female aberration. The small label says from Simmonds [ J.C.D]. Unfortunately an antennae has been broken. Above this remarkable aberration is a fine female that was bred by J.C. Dale on June 23 1841. Most of the other specimens which bear labels are from Whittlesea mere in Huntingdonshire with the dates 1819, 1820 and 1833 . Whittlesea mere with the adjacent Yaxley and Holme fens were all good areas for dispar and formed a large expanse of fenland known as the Great Fen [ see map]. This species was first collected in Britain in Lincolnshire in 1749 and the butterfly was later taken in the Huntingdonshire Fens during 1793. In 1819, Thomas Speechley , an old boatman in J.C. Dales employ, collected a specimen at Whittlesea mere and sent it to him. Dale had arrived earlier that year to search for dispar at Yaxley and Whittlesea mere but was unsuccessful In 1820 Dale employed the local collector Standish, to collect dispar at Yaxley.

In the London's Natural History magazine for 1834, the Rev T. Bree quoted from a letter sent to him by Mr Haworth. This letter is of considerable importance because it shows that dispar was in plenty in the fens before they were drained and burned. Here is the extract; " Some entomologists once made an excursion into the fens, for the purpose of taking the beautiful Lycaena dispar or Large Copper butterfly, which we all know inhabit marshy grounds. The coppers were captured in great abundance. It so happened that the following winter proved to be a very wet one, and the entire tract of land where the Coppers had been found was completely inundated and actually lay under water for a considerable time. The entomologists deemed that the flood would cetainly destroy the Coppers and that the race would become extinct in that part of the country. The next summer however, the butterflies were found in the very same spot , as plentifully as before. Subsequently the tract of land was submitted to the action of fire, and the whole surface was burnt, with a view to agricultural improvement. After this operation, the Coppers were no longer met with in that particular locality." It is certain that Haworth was talking about Bardolph Fen in Norfolk where he had found L. dispar dispar in abundance, collecting 50 specimens during 1827.C.W. Dale mentions that Whittlesea mere was drained in 1851 and he mentions " what was the home of many a rare bird and insect became first a dry surface of hardened mud, cracked by the Sun's best into multitudinous fissures and now yields the weight of the golden harvest".

Whittlesea mere with Yaxley fen to the west and Holme Fen to the south were really one large L. dispar dispar locality. A great drainage dyke was dug through Holme Fen leading north to Whittlesea mere just before the last Large Copper butterflies were recorded from this locality during 1848. This would have seriously lowered the water table before Appold's Steam engine pump was installed at Whittlesea to start the drainage of the large mere, which was said to have been the largest lake in England. Ironically after the drainage ,Holme Fen was still too boggy for farming and Birch woodland a natural coloniser of dry fen covered much of the former marshland. Today the Holme Birchwood is a National Nature Reserve.


The magnificent dispar variety.


L. dispar dispar in the Dale collection, mostly taken at Whittlesea Mere in 1819-1820. Dale's abbs of Lycaena phlaeas are on the right..



The best of the early L. dispar dispar plates by the great entomological artist John Curtis. His plate is from his British Entomology[ 1820-1840] Vol five and this work is dedicated to his friend and patron J.C. Dale.


A map of Whittlesea Mere from the 1820's, around the time Dale and others were visiting to collect the Large Copper butterfly.


It was not only the Large Copper butterfly and entomologist's that frequented Whittlesea. A regatta held there in 1840.


The draining of Whittlesea mere. Appold's pump in 1851.



The site of Whittlesea mere today, looking north from Holme Fen.

Hi anthony, thanks for the feedback. I am pleased that you and perhaps others will have enjoyed the Dale specimens and their history. When I showed the melanic bred dale callimorpha dominula specimen elsewhere today, it got rave reviews, wow, awesome and I have never seen anything like it, so some collectors like to see these rarely seen museum specimens. Like you, I believe that their history and the collectors stories who found them are equally important. As I will include some of the Dale Coleoptera specimens, perhaps I should have posted this thread in Show my favourite specimen topic. Peter.

During the study of the Dale collection and its insects, the Aurelian Legacy by Michael A. Salmon has been invaluable for a history of the collectors and personalities involved. I have gleaned much information from C.W. Dale's ' History of our British Butterflies ' [1890] and his History of Glanville's Wootton [ 1878]. The best source on the lepidoptera specimens was from James Walker's review of the specimens in the Dale collection that was published in the Entomologists Magazine for 1907 and 1909. I of course would not have got beyond the basics, without the kind help of James Hogan of the Hope Entomology department at Oxford and many thanks are due to his kind help. Peter.

Very interesting. Thanks for posting!

Tom

Amazing Dark Green Fritillary Argynnis aglaja aberration

In the Dale collection there is a very striking pale aberration of Argynnis aglaja that James Walker called " perhaps the most singular variety in the entire collection, indeed, of any butterfly I have ever seen ." This remarkable female butterfly was caught by Le Plastrier in the early part of the 19th century while he was walking along the chalk cliffs of Dover. I would be interested to know if anyone has seen anything like it . Those extreme recto aberrations that I have seen of this species consist of melanic specimens. The Reverend William Bree was so astonished when he saw this specimen, he remarked, it has a diseased appearance. This very fine variety has some damage to the anal margin and the body seems rather bloated. In the cabinet drawer the Pale ab lies below a female specimen from Bournemouth in Hampshire, which has some extra green on the forewings and it is above a female specimen of the dark subspecies from Scotland, scotica. Its position in the drawer is such that your eye is immediately drawn to it.


The fine Le Plastrier aberration.



With the Bournemouth specimen top and subspecies scotica bottom.

The Dale Lysandra coridon aberration

Most collectors will know, especially those enthusiasts of Palearctic Lycaenidae that there can be some pretty spectacular aberrations in Lysandra coridon, the Chalkhill Blue. However, rarely are they so extreme as the one that is to be found in the Dale collection. This female specimen is labelled var obsolete, but it is, so much more than that. The specimen was captured by J.G. Ross 1880 [ C. W. D. ]. This aberration is quite similar to the marvelous aberration photographed recently and posted on the UK. Butterfly web-site.  A link was posted by the member Small Copper in the aberration thread of this species. see

www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/phpBB/gallery/images/upload/ccc272a5408279cee19a16c9b4c2cd07.jpg


The Dale L. Coridon aberration.


Typical L. coridon female that I photographed at Landon Chase near Streatley in Berkshire, U.K July 2012.