|
|
Post by nomad on Sept 14, 2014 9:06:17 GMT -8
I have shown quite a number of butterfly rarities that are in the J.C. Dale - C.W Dale collection that are held at the Oxford University Museum. What was unknown to me until recently was how large the other British Collections were. They are housed in rows of wooden Hill cabinets in one big room. I had the good fortune to again visit and study some of the rarities that this collection contained. Of course some of the extinct species will have been shown before, but as there is now concern about fraudulent specimens being passed around on places such as ebay, it is a relief to see original British examples that have so much historic value. Not all these really early specimens have full data, but what they have is real provenance, in that they can be traced back to the original collections, some have passed through several on their way to Oxford. Just in this one visit a couple of weeks ago, I have learn quite a bit already. I only saw a tiny fraction on this one visit, so hopefully with further permission granted, there will be many further visits and surprises along the way. How I love these truly historic specimens, there is so much that you can learn from them as regards the geographical former distribution and the variation in the species in its former range. I will start with perhaps the best specimen so far viewed and post some others later. I hope some here might enjoy them. First up a unique Swallowtail -Papilio machaon britannicus bred from a wild collected larva. I have never seen anything like this, even the Entomologist who works at the museum who is a Coleopterist was impressed.  Papilio machaon brittannicus extreme aberration bred from a larva collected at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire on the 12th August 1901. The imago emerged in May 1902 to the great surprise no doubt of the collector A. H. Hamm. |
|
|
|
Post by dertodesking on Sept 14, 2014 12:54:54 GMT -8
A-M-A-Z-I-N-G specimen Peter - thanks for sharing!
Simon
|
|
|
|
Post by nomad on Sept 14, 2014 21:14:52 GMT -8
Thanks Simon, I am glad that you liked the specimen. The collector of the larva, Albert Harry Hamm ( 1861-1951) that produced this wonderful Swallowtail aberration, is shown on the frontispiece of the Aurelian 's Fireside Companion ( 2005 ) with the caption ' Brethren of the Net '. A.H. Hamm, a printer by trade, joined the Oxford University Museum during 1897 as an assistant lepdopterist and later became very interested in Diptera and Hymenoptera. He formed large collections that were all donated to the museum. He worked at the museum until 1931 , but was a frequent visitor after he retired.
Peter.
|
|
|
|
Post by nomad on Sept 15, 2014 10:57:14 GMT -8
Here is another unusual aberration of the Swallowtail- Papilio machaon britannicus that was bred by the famous Entomologist Captain Edward Bagwell Purefoy ( 1868-1960 ). It was Purefoy's great detective work that discovered the secrets of the life history of the Large Blue - Maculinea arion. He is also well known for introducing the Large Copper - L. dispar rutilus into a snipe bog on his families estate at Greenfields in County Tipperary, Ireland. It was also Purefoy that introduced Lycaena dispar batavus into Woodwalton Fen in the historic county of Huntingdonshire which is now part of Cambridgeshire. Both Large Copper subspecies survived for a number of years before they eventually died out. More anon on these Large Coppers. Peter.  Papilio machaon britannicus bred from larvae collected at Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire in 1918 by Bagwell Purefoy. |
|
|
|
Post by trehopr1 on Sept 15, 2014 22:00:56 GMT -8
Nomad, absolutely love your detective work at Oxford ! What a treat to see such wonderful historic specimens......
|
|
|
|
Post by nomad on Sept 16, 2014 10:43:13 GMT -8
This very pretty Papilio machaon brittannicus aberration was bred in 1892 by the classicist Sir Arthur Wallace Pickard-Cambridge ( 1873-1952). Pickard-Cambridge started to revise the university museums coleoptera in 1896. He was the son of the celebrated arachnologist - entomologist Octavius Pickard- Cambridge ( 1828-1917 ), the rector of Bloxworth in Dorset. In 1952, Sir Arthur bequeathed his fathers historic collection to the Oxford museum with those, such as this beauty, which he added himself.  Papilio machaon brittannicus aberration, bred by A.W. Pickard-Cambridge from a larvae collected at Wicken Fen in Cambridgeshire. |
|
|
|
Post by nomad on Sept 17, 2014 9:45:57 GMT -8
There are few British records of the Scarce Swallowtail - Iphiclides podalirius. This specimen was taken by the squire of Netley in Shropshire, the very wealthy Frederick William Hope ( 1797-1862 ). It is thought that this is the original specimen that Hope took at Netley in 1822. Hope also saw others around Netley and caught another specimen in 1829. It was Hope's bequest of a large donation of money, together with his collections that saw the start of the entomological collections in the new Oxford University Museum of Natural History building. Hope's specimens, including that of the I. podalirius, came to Oxford during 1850 and were transferred to the university museum in 1861, where they were installed in the department that is named in his honour. This specimen is now nearly two centuries old and considering its age, it is in very good condition. For a full account of this species in Britain see the Dalean thread. Scroll down on this link. insectnet.proboards.com/thread/5375/teasures-dalean-collection-leidoptera-coleoptera?page=2 I first saw this lovely species among the Roman ruins of the Palantine Hill in Italy. I was very surprised to find I. podalirius in the centre of a large City. Peter.  Iphiclides podalirius captured by F.W. Hope at Netley, Shropshire in 1822 |
|
