Darwin Correspondence Project

Transcription

Chaplains House, | County Prison, | Exeter.

April 20. 1868

Dear Sir,

I wrote secondly to Mr Stainton—after glancing thro my note books—& told him I thought I had so little recorded on the numerical relation of the sexes in Lepidoptera, that it was not worth while troubling you with it;^f1 however as you seem to think that I have formed a wrong impression on the matter, I will give you just the few facts about wh I am quite clear, & wh will show you the sort of evidence on wh I have relied.^f2

You must remember that I have been breeding Lepidoptera from the egg—partly because I found this a fascinating recreation (just as others take to gardening or fishing) & partly because I had formed an intimate friendship with Mr Buckler, who was desirous of figuring the larvæ of our Macrolepidopteræ;^f3 I have not therefore—as I told Mr Stainton—tried to rear a number of specimens— 6 or 7 of a species contented me; but when I say that I dont mean that in a general way I had the chance of selecting 6 or 7 larvæ out of a large number; I simply collected as many as I wanted (that is if I could get them) & then stopt; or if offered eggs—I told my friend to send me a few; besides I think that if in the case of such species as Eriogaster lanestris or Bombyx neustria^f4 I may have selected a few larvæ out of a nest, had I taken the finest I should have expected rather they would have produced male moths—as being more advanced than their fellows, & therefore likely to be the first to emerge from pupa,—& certainly the ♂s as a rule do appear before the ♀s in the perfect state.

As to the priced lists of dealers I can quite understand that males would be very much cheaper than females^f5—except in the case of species wh are only found in the larva stage, for of many species you may catch 20 ♂s before you will see 1 ♀—examples of wh you will find noted on the other paper.

Of course the fairest way would be to take large batches of eggs from the same female, & do one’s best to rear as many specimens as possible—but this I have seldom cared to do—generally giving away eggs or larvæ to my friends if I had more than a score.

But I reason in this way—if I in my rambles pick up one or two or three larvæ or pupæ of a species, and oftener rear a ♀ moth than a ♂—there must be some way of accounting for this—& I try to do so by saying ♀s are more abundant than ♂s—& therefore more likely to be captured in those stages in wh their powers of flight do not come into play.

I wish I could have given you better help, & during this season will note the sex of every specimen I breed—common or rare.

Yours faithfully | J. Hellins

C. Darwin Esqre

Enclosure

Argynnis adippe.^f6 I have not gone butterfly hunting for years—but I

 remember well—when amongst this

 species—quite failing to see a ♀ on the

 wing, tho I took several ♂s

 aglaia.^f7 I have taken a great many ♂s on the wing

 —but only 1 ♀.

Smerinthus populi.^f8 I see some years ago from a few pupæ collected

 at random I bred 6 moths—4 ♀s— 1

 ♂—& 1 sex not recorded.

 tiliæ^f9 In the same season from pupæ collected at

 random I bred 35 specimens—of wh 21

 ♀s—8 ♂—& 6 sex not recorded.

Chærocampa elpenor^f10 In various years I have altogether bred 4

 specimens from larvæ or pupæ found by

 chance in gardens—of these I see 3

 ♀s and 1 ♂.

Cossus ligniperda^f11 I never bred but 1 moth of this—& that from

 a larva caught crawling on the road—this is

 a ♀

Eulepia cribrum^f12 —I once bred one moth  a ♀.

Arctia fuliginosa^f13 I picked up 1 larva this spring—I see this

 has produced a ♂

Angerona prunaria^f14 I have seen & captured the ♂s by scores

 —but never took more than 1 of 2 ♀s

 on the wing; whilst out of 4 or 5 larvæ wh I

 have reared I obtained only 1 ♂.

Ennomos alniaria.^f15 Of 5 specimens reared from the egg in 1866—

 4 were ♂s & 1 ♀

 tiliaria.^f16 a single specimen reared in 1866 was a ♀

 fuscantaria.^f17 2 or 3 specimens reared in various years were

 ♀s.

Himera pennaria.^f18 A few larvæ captured in various years  for

 the most part produced ♂s.

Nyssia hispidaria^f19 2 larvæ captured promiscuously in

 1866—produced 2 ♀s.

Pseudoterpna cytisaria^f20 I see the last time I bred this species I

 reserved 2 larvæ for myself wh produced

 ♀s.

Phorodesma bajularia.^f21 Some seasons ago I captured a score of

 ♂s on the wing—not one ♀. A

 year or two since I bred one moth—a

 ♀.

Hyria auroraria^f22 From a few larvæ reared from some eggs sent

 me—I reared 6 or 7 moths all ♀s

Acidalia rubricata^f23 the only specimen I ever bred was a ♀

Acidalia caspitaria^f24

 remutata^f25 — I once bred about 8 or 9 moths—only 1

 ♂ amongst them.

— —emutaria^f26 —Last year I bred 2 moths—both ♀s.

Selidosema plumaria^f27 I once bred 1 moth a ♀

Sterrha sacraria^f28 Of the six specimens bred in /65 4 were

 ♀s & 2 ♂s.

Anisopteryx æscularia^f29 of 16 moths bred in 1862—I have recorded

 8 ♀s, 6 ♂s —2 undetermined.

Lobophora sexalata^f30 From 3 larvæ captured in various years I

 believe I have had 2 ♀s & 1 ♂.

 hexapterata^f31 the only moth I ever bred was ♀.

Camptogramma fluviata^f32 The first six I bred in 1858 were 5

 ♀s & 1 ♂. Last year I bred about

 a score & these were only 5 or 6 ♀s

 among them.

Chesias spartiata^f33 I once bred two or three— I know 2 were

 ♂s.

Stauropus fagi^f34 I once captured 1 moth a ♂

Petasia cassinea^f35 The ♂s are not uncommon at lamps but I

 never captured the ♀ on the wing. I once

 bred 1 moth a ♀.

Ptilodontis palpina^f36 I once bred 2 moths both ♂s.

Notodonta cucullina^f37 I once found a pupa sh produced a ♀.

Notodonta trepida^f38 —In various seasons I have bred about a dozen

 moths from pupæ obtained

 promiscuously—of these I am sure not more

 than 3 were ♂s

— — Chaonia^f39 in 1862 I bred 3 moths 2 ♂s 1 ♀

 since then I have in various seasons bred 3

 or 4 more—I believe 2 ♀s & 1

 ♂.

Cymatophora ridens.^f40 In different seasons I have bred 4 moths 2

 ♂ 2 ♀s.

Heliophobus hispida.^f41 A season or two since I bred 8 or 10

 moths—certainly not more than 3 of them

 ♂s

Noctua ditrapezium^f42 I once had 4 larvæ sent me—taken at

 random from amongst others—all produced

 ♀s.

dasycampa rubiginea.^f43 I have known of some 50 or 60 specimens of

 the moth captured in the last 10 years—&

 only 2 ♀s among them—tho we watched

 for them narrowly in hopes of getting eggs.

Hadena protea ^f44 I captured 2 or 3 larvæ last year—only 2

 moths were produced both ♀s.

 ———————

Fumea nitidella^f45 —In various seasons I have picked up

 cocoons—but never yet bred a ♂.

Footnotes

f1: Henry Tibbats Stainton had enclosed a letter from Hellins with his letter to CD of 29 February 1868.
f2: See enclosure.
f3: William Buckler relied on Hellins to provide many of the larvae that he illustrated (Salmon 2000, pp. 158–9).
f4: Eriogaster lanestris is the small eggar; Bombyx neustria (now Malacosoma neustria) is the lackey.
f5: CD had been sent a catalogue of Lepidoptera by Henry Doubleday (see letter from Henry Doubleday, 3 April 1868 and n. 1). The price of female specimens was usually higher.
f6: Argynnis adippe: the high brown fritillary.
f7: Argynnis aglaia: the dark green fritillary.
f8: Smerinthus populi is now Laothoe populi, the poplar hawk-moth.
f9: Smerinthus tiliæ is now Mimas tiliae, the lime hawk-moth.
f10: Chaerocampa elpenor is now Deilephila elpenor, the large elephant hawk-moth.
f11: Cossus ligniperda is now C. cossus, the goat moth).
f12: Eulepia cribrum is now Coscinia cribraria, the speckled footman.
f13: Arctia fuliginosa is now Phragmatobia fuliginosa, the ruby tiger.
f14: Angerona prunaria: the orange moth.
f15: Ennomos alniaria: the canary-shouldered thorn.
f16: Ennomos tiliaria is now considered a synonym of E. alniaria.
f17: Ennomos fuscantaria is the dusky thorn.
f18: Himera pennaria is now Colotois pennaria, the feathered thorn.
f19: Nyssia hispidaria is now Apocheima hispidaria, the small brindled beauty.
f20: Pseudoterpna cytisaria is now Pseudoterpna pruinata, the grass emerald.
f21: Phorodesma bajularia is now Comibaena bajularia, the blotched emerald.
f22: Hyria auroraria is now Idaea muricata, the purple-bordered gold.
f23: Acidalia rubricata is now Scopula rubiginosa, the tawny wave.
f24: Acidalis caspitaria is now Scopula immutata, the lesser cream wave.
f25: Acidalia remutata is now Scopula floslactata, the cream wave.
f26: Acidalia emutaria is now Scopula emutaria, the rosy wave.
f27: Selidosema plumaria is now S. brunneria, the bordered grey.
f28: Sterrha sacraria is now Rhodometra sacraria, the vestal.
f29: Anisopteryx aescularia is now Alsophila aescularia, the March moth.
f30: Lobophora sexalata is now Pterapherapteryx sexalata, the small seraphim.
f31: Lobophora hexapterata is now L. halterata, the seraphim.
f32: Camptogramma fluviata is now Orthonama obstipata, the gem.
f33: Chesias spartiata is now C. legatella, the streak.
f34: Stauropus fagi: the lobster moth.
f35: Petasia cassinia is now Brachionycha sphinx, the sprawler.
f36: Ptilodontis palpina is now Pterostoma palpina, the pale prominent.
f37: Notodonta cucullina is now Ptilodontella cucullina, the maple prominent.
f38: Notodonta trepida is now Peridea anceps, the great prominent.
f39: Notodonota chaonia is now Drymonia ruficornis, the lunar mottled brown.
f40: Cymatophora ridens is now Polyploca ridens, the frosted green.
f41: Heliophobus hispida is now Leucochlaena oditis, the beautiful gothic.
f42: Noctua ditrapezium is now Xestia ditrapezium, the triple-spotted clay.
f43: Dasycampa rubiginea is now Conistra rubiginea, the dotted chestnut.
f44: Hadena protea is now Dryobotodes eremita, the brindled green.
f45: Fumea nitidella is now Psyche casta, the common bagworm.
f46: See letter from Henry Doubleday, 3 April 1868 and n. 2.

Summary

Transcription

Enclosure

Footnotes