The Aurelian Legacy

I have recently been dipping into my copy of The Aurelian Legacy, British Butterflies and their Collectors, by Michael A Salmon and first published in around 2000. It covers 101 notable entomologists from Thomas Moffet (1553-1604) to John Heath (1922-1987), after whom the Heath trap was named. There is also a chapter on butterfly species of historical interest.

We learn that butterfly collectors called themselves 'Aurelians' after the highly gilded and decorated chrysalids of certain butterflies, and that 'eccentricity' or 'genius' or both could be applied to many of the early collectors. However, they all shared a passion, as many of us do today, for butterflies and moths. Life was generally slower-paced, habitats more extensive and unspoiled, and butterflies more numerous.

 

 

Travel and communication were slow and laborious by today’s standards, but where there was a will, they found a way. Enthusiasts came from various parts of society, but many of the leading collectors were clergymen, lawyers or doctors. The book gives information about their life stories, personalities and legacies, all making a fascinating read. Many of them wrote books or papers about their studies and often left their collections for future generations to study. Many collaborated in their hobby, except perhaps when netting specimens on their favourite patch. It is said that over-collecting adversely affected some species in some locations, but environmental changes had more impact on butterfly and moth populations.

 

 

Thomas Muffet

 

One name that crops up a lot in the Victorian era is that of Henry Tibbats Stainton (1822-1892). He was editor of The Entomologist’s Annual and The Entomologist’s Weekly Intelligencer, and much more besides. He was a wealthy man with an iron sense of duty and an unfailing kindliness towards the less fortunate. He lived in Lewisham at Mountsfield house where he would invite anyone, provided they were above fourteen years of age, to come in on a Wednesday evening to look at his collection and superb library. His advice to young novices was to 'Take a pleasure in your business and make a business of your pleasure'. He wrote A Manual of British Butterflies and Moths in 1857-59 in two volumes with the object of supplying 'in a small compass and for a low price the greatest amount of information likely to be useful to beginners in the pursuit of butterflies and moths'.

 

The books that I have are small enough to be described as field guides. They contain some black-and-white illustrations, space-saving abbreviations and informative text. Collecting and rearing caterpillars was the most frequent way of studying moths at the time, and Stainton advises 'Young collectors must be cautious not to admit the larva of the Satellite [Eupsilia transversa] into their breeding-cages as it has a depraved taste, and instead of confining itself to a vegetable diet, it eats with avidity other larvae, not disdaining even to eat those of its own kind.'

Stainton's The Natural History of the Tineina was published in 13 volumes 1855-73. The text is uniquely in four languages: English, French, German and Latin (he was fluent in all of them). In later life, he extended his accounts of micro moths to Southern Europe, Asia Minor and North America. To fit this all in, he was known for rising early and he records that some of his best work was done before breakfast. He was aided by his wife Isabel, who shared in his entomological travels and collecting. Although he discovered many new species, only one is named after him, Phyllonorycter staintoniella (Small Emerald), and that was ascribed by a friend who was returning a similar earlier compliment. He was a remarkable man and, on his death, his friends said that they suffered from 'a sense of void'.

References:

• The Aurelian Legacy by Michael A Salmon
• A Manual of British Butterflies and Moths by Henry Tibbats Stainton
• The Scientific Names of the British Lepidoptera by A Maitland Emmet