WELCOME TO THE CFZ BLOG NETWORK: COME AND JOIN THE FUN

Half a century ago, Belgian Zoologist Bernard Heuvelmans first codified cryptozoology in his book On the Track of Unknown Animals.

The Centre for Fortean Zoology (CFZ) are still on the track, and have been since 1992. But as if chasing unknown animals wasn't enough, we are involved in education, conservation, and good old-fashioned natural history! We already have three journals, the largest cryptozoological publishing house in the world, CFZtv, and the largest cryptozoological conference in the English-speaking world, but in January 2009 someone suggested that we started a daily online magazine! The CFZ bloggo is a collaborative effort by a coalition of members, friends, and supporters of the CFZ, and covers all the subjects with which we deal, with a smattering of music, high strangeness and surreal humour to make up the mix.

It is edited by CFZ Director Jon Downes, and subbed by the lovely Lizzy Bitakara'mire (formerly Clancy), scourge of improper syntax. The daily newsblog is edited by Corinna Downes, head administratrix of the CFZ, and the indexing is done by Lee Canty and Kathy Imbriani. There is regular news from the CFZ Mystery Cat study group, and regular fortean bird news from 'The Watcher of the Skies'. Regular bloggers include Dr Karl Shuker, Dale Drinnon, Richard Muirhead and Richard Freeman.The CFZ bloggo is updated daily, and there's nothing quite like it anywhere else. Come and join us...

Search This Blog

WATCH OUR WEEKLY WEBtv SHOW

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON

SUPPORT OTT ON PATREON
Click on this logo to find out more about helping CFZtv and getting some smashing rewards...

SIGN UP FOR OUR MONTHLY NEWSLETTER



Unlike some of our competitors we are not going to try and blackmail you into donating by saying that we won't continue if you don't. That would just be vulgar, but our lives, and those of the animals which we look after, would be a damn sight easier if we receive more donations to our fighting fund. Donate via Paypal today...




Monday, April 17, 2017

MUIRHEAD`S MYSTERIES: The Cleopatra butterfly in Britain

Gonepteryx.cleopatra.mounted.jpgIn early April 2017 Jon Downes told me the Cleopatra butterfly was a resident of continental Europe. However I have a couple of old records I found in the excellent `Porritt`s Lists` which is a reprint of George Porritt`s Yorkshire butterfly and moth records first published in 1883/86, 1904,1907 and 1922 (Butterfly Conservation 2011)

Page 158 includes the following records - Cleopatra Gonepteryx cleopatra or rhamni

1883 Of general occurrence except in the coal districts of West Riding, where it is rare), but scarcely so common as the last.The variety Cleopatra occurred at Thrybergh Park, near Rotherham,June 27th 1860 (Rev HA Pickard in Entomologist`s Wkly Intell. 8: 171-2 Sept 1860)

1904 p.193. Widely distributed but apparently not nearly so common as my former record would lead one to suppose

1907 p.248 Widely distributed, but not common.

Note: Although Porritt treated the Cleopatra as a variety, the Cleopatra as a variety, it is actually a separate species. There is a full history of this record in H.M.Frost (ed) 2005 The Butterflies of Yorkshire.

In the Doncaster Museum Collection there is a Cleopatra labelled `Collected by EA Schofield, Doncaster August 1911` with its photograph on p.158 of Porritt`s Lists.

PIC: By Sarefo - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2905123

EDITORIAL COMMENT: The Cleopatra is a close relative of the Brimstone, a common British species. The excellent UK Butterflies website writes:

"Several individuals of this species were captured in the late 1800s, and their data labels indicate they were taken from Ventnor, Isle of Wight in 1870, Sandown, Isle of Wight in August 1873, Aldeburgh, Suffolk in 1896 and Forfar in June 1887. An individual was also caught at Feock, near Falmouth, Cornwall in September 1957. More recent records include an individual seen on 27th July 1981 in a garden in Temple Ewell, Kent and a male seen in Jersey on 10th August 1986. This species is not considered to be migratory and their presence has been attributed to passage by ship."

It would appear, therefore, that Richard has discovered a series of previously unknown sightingsof this species. Well done old friend.

No comments: