232 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



Will readers make the necessary alteration in our catalogue, p. 1. 



It will be noticed that several of the alterations in the names of British 

 species made by Staudinger, appears to be owing to his want of acquaintance 

 with the work of Albin, published in 1720, though this work is given in his 

 list of authorities. 



The Extinct Large Copper. 



A good deal of confusion obtains in the nomenclature of the Disbar or 

 Eippothoe of British lists, and unprincipled or ignorant dealers are enabled 

 thereby to impose on ignorant or young collectors, who want- to purchase 

 Type specimens. The point has been explained previously in the Young 

 Naturalist, but as the question still crops up, and dealers still send out 

 the wrong species, it may be as well to try again to put the matter right. 

 In the first place the true name for the extinct British species is Bispar, 

 Haw. Doubleday fell into error in supposing Bispar to be a mere synonym 

 for the Eippothoe of Linnseus. Bispar was called Eippothoe by Lewin 

 and "Donovan under the same mistake, but the true Eippothoe of Linnaeus 

 is known in British works as Chryseis, W.V., and is described under 

 that name in " iStainton's Manual." Whether the Purple-edged Copper 

 ever occurred in this country, or whether it got into the " reputed " list 

 through the confused nomenclature we cannot tell. The latter seems 

 most probable. Male Bispar has both wings bright coppery red, with 

 a darker border. The female has a black spot at the disc of the fore- 

 wing, another nearer the base, and a row of black spots before the hind mar- 

 gin; the hind-wing is much darker, except a band of bright coppery red 

 near the hind-margin. Chryseis is tinged with purple, most distinct at the 

 hind-margin. The Alpine form (Eurybia) has less of the purple hue, 

 and much more nearly resembles Bispar, but the latter may always be known 

 by the underside of the hind-wing, which is a clear pale blue. Virgaurea is 

 another species that I have seen in collections as a type of Bispar, and being 

 larger than the others, the male might pass for Bispar on the upper side, 

 but it lacks the peculiar blue of the hind-wing just named. Female Vir- 

 gaurea have two rows of black spots between the disc and the hind margin, 

 and the hind-wing has one, and several spots on the other portion. Those 

 who want a*foreign type should purchase the variety Rutilus, Wernb, but it 

 is not nearly so common as some of the others. Rutilus is the Continental 

 form of our Bispar, and only differs from it in being rather less, and in hav- 

 ing the spots rather smaller, but it varies in this respect as do British Bispar, 

 and the latter is too rare now to compare long series. 



