Butterflies on Ebay!

[Piers]

Hey all,

Has anyone noticed the amount of British butterflies being sold on Ebay lately? They seem to be from old collections, but all the same there seems to be a healthy interest judging from the ones that I have 'watched'.

A Large Blue has been listed tonight, it claims to be an old specimen from Cambridge... ...did the Large Blue ever exist in that county?

Besides, don't you need a license or something to sell Large Blues??

Cheers,

Felix.

Ps: Hello, I'm new to the site - I have been keenly interested in the topics and discussions on the UK Butterflies site for a long while now and I have finally decided to take the plunge! It's an odd feeling - like being invited to join a bunch of regulars in a pub in a new town...

[Pete Eeles]

Hi Felix - mine's a Guinness Welcome.

Yes - there does seem to be quite an interest in set specimens, although most seem to be from old collections, which I guess is OK so long as, as you say, there is appropriate documentation when needed. In the case of the Large Blue, there clearly isn't - so the chap should be reported, if only to ensure that all such sales are conducted "in the open". The last thing we want is encouragement for people to illegally catch Large Blues so that they can make a quick buck.

The more-worrying items are those that aren't from old collections - especially those from abroad.

Anyway - welcome to the gang

Cheers,

- Pete

[Mike Young]

Interesting topic to open with Felix, never even thought about set specimens on E-bay, will av a look.

Welcome to the site, hope you enjoy the company and don't drink to much

[Matsukaze]

Hi Felix,

The Large Blue in Cambridgeshire - Francis Orpen Morris gives a location as "Chatteris, in Cambridgeshire" in his A History of British Butterflies(1870) (viewable on the web: http://caliban.mpiz-koeln.mpg.de/~stueb ... index.html). He provides no further documentation; however the butterfly was well-known from Barnwell Wold in Northamptonshire, not so very far away from Chatteris, until at least the 1860s.

The sale of Continental specimens of rare butterflies as allegedly caught in Britain was not unknown at this time; it could well be the butterfly was not caught where advertised.