C COPPER BUTTERFLIES Rarities, Historic Specimens
Captain Edward Bagwell Purefoy. A number of the Lycaena dispar rutilus in this list, are from colonies that were established in Ireland by Capt. E B Bagwell Purefoy. Purefoy has the distinction of being the person who discovered the life history of the Large Blue Butterfly Maculinea arion, which depends upon symbiosis with the red ant Myrmica sabuleti. He was working with FW Frohawk who was working on the two volume work on the Butterflies of the British Isles. Frohawk was a superb artist as well as entomologist, and he could not disover how the Large Blue larvae completed their life history, because they kept being taken by an ant! In 1915 Purefoy, not only cracked the life history of the Large Blue, but he established most successfully the only colony of the Large Copper Lycaena dispar rutilus, in the British Isles, at his family home Greenfields, in Tipperary. Captain Purefoy is the Grandfather of Rosemary Goodden. His colony in Ireland thrived from 1918 spanning the entire period between the two world wars.
PLEASE NOTE: This collection of Coppers is offered now and orders from it can be dispatched immediately.
To see an enlarged and detailed photo click on it and click again on the further information photo.
A fine male with some suffusion, and strikingly large and square forewing spotting. F Norgate but no date or place of capture.
A female in near mint condition, large and rounded wings. Hindwings lack the normal copper inner margin. Full data.
A diminutive and beautifully fresh female from Deal, in near mint condition and with data.
A nice fresh male, also small and slightly suffused. Excellent condition, with data label.
Selected pairs of typical Small Copper, all in good condition and with data. There is more than one pair, so the photograph represents them all.
Selected pairs of typical Small Copper, in moderate condition, with data. Not as fine as previous lot, but good value. There is more than one pair, so the photograph represents them all.
A selected pair, upper and underside, perfect and with data
A selected pair, upper and underside, perfect and with data.
