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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 32(2), 1978, 142-144
OBITUARY
WILBUR S. McALPINE (1888-1977)
Mr. Wilbur S. McAlpine, charter member of The Lepidopterists' Society, passed away on 30 July 1977, at the Grovecrest Convalescent Home in Pontiac, Michigan, at the age of 88. 'Mac/ as he was known by many of his friends, deeply enjoyed nature and the out-of-doors, and was a devoted amateur lepidopterist, spending most of his spare time collecting and studying Michigan moths and butterflies. He was particularly interested in the life history of many local Oakland County species and specialized in the genus Calephelis, the metalmark butterflies.
Wilbur was born in Detroit, Michigan, on 30 December 1888, and graduated from Detroit Central High School in January, 1908. He held positions as a draftsman with the U.S. Lake Survey, Michigan Central Railroad, and Detroit Edison, and was also employed as an Assistant Surveyor of Coal Claims in Homer, Alaska during 1906, 1907, 1911 and 1912. He served with the military in the 472nd Engineers during the First World War in 1918. Wilbur became the principal and owner of a mapping, surveying and engineering business under the names of McAlpine Engineers, Inc. and W. S. McAlpine Map Co. from December, 1915, until his retirement in 1965, when he sold his business to the employees. They are still conducting the business under the same names.
While operating his business, the firm produced complete maps of all Michigan counties, especially detailed maps of Oakland County. McAlpine published an Atlas of Oakland County, and engineered and recorded over two hundred subdivision plats and made numerous farm, residential lot and topographic surveys, which are still in use today. Undoubtedly, many of the Oakland County lepidoptera collected by McAlpine were discovered during his surveying activities. He witnessed the disappearance of many of his favorite collecting sites due to the suburban encroachment moving outward from Detroit.
McAlpine will always be remembered by mid-western lepidopterists as the one who described the Swamp Metalmark, C. muticum, and subsequently worked out its life history. In 1971, he culminated his intense interest in the Calephelis with his publication on the revision of the genus, describing 25 new species and 7 new subspecies
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mostly from Mexico and Central America. McAlpine also worked out the life history of several other Michigan species, including Hyalophora Columbia (Smith), Callophrys and Hesperiidae species, which unfortunately were never published. He was one of the first to locate several H. Columbia tamarack bogs in southeastern Michigan, and eventually secured numerous cocoons and reared many in his backyard cages. McAlpine was a very determined Michigan butterfly collector who would travel anywhere, anytime to add a new species to his collection. Unfortunately, the many years devoted to his Calephelis project left him with little time for his personal collection and other lepidopteral plans and pursuits. One of his plans that failed to materialize due to his death was the publication of a guidebook of Michigan butterflies, complete with colored plates of all known species found in the state. This project was a lifelong ambition to stimulate appreciation for and further the knowledge of Michigan butterflies, especially among young people. Two of his friends of long standing, Dr. George W. Rawson and John H. Newman, and this writer to serve as editor, were to collaborate with 'Mac'. Although this project is still continuing, the extremely high cost of colored plates has made it necessary to re-adjust the original goal.
In 1972, McAlpine donated the bulk of his collection, over 12,000 specimens, including many Calephelis type specimens, to the Smithsonian Institution. Later, he also donated approximately 800 moths and butterflies and 700 miscellaneous insects to the collection at Michigan State University at East Lansing, and a lesser amount to The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. His collection, rich in Michigan material, included a long series of H. Columbia and its cecropia hybrid, Colias interior (Scudder) and Oeneis chryxus strigulosa (McDunnough), and miscellaneous Alaskan lepidoptera and other insects.
McAlpine was an Honorary Member of The Michigan Entomological Society and held memberships in the former Detroit Entomological Society, The Entomological Society of Canada and The Lepidoptera Research Foundation, Inc. He was affiliated with the Cranbrook Institute of Science in Bloomfield Hills, and was made a Life Member of The Michigan Society of Registered Land Surveyors on 11 February 1970. He travelled widely in the United States and Mexico and examined museum collections and collected Calephelis material; and also visited the British and Paris museums in connection with his metalmark studies.
In addition to his interest in lepidoptera, 'Mac' was a devoted and active churchman. He particularly enjoyed evangelistic singing as a soloist, and sang in the choir at the First Baptist Church of Birmingham. He and his late wife, the former Minnie Burnett, are survived by one son, Wilbur Burnett, plus 16 nieces and nephews. Mrs. McAlpine died in January, 1975.
I wish to express my appreciation to Wilbur's brother-in-law, Mr. Percy C. Burnett of Pontiac, and his minister, Dr. Glenn H. Asquith, Jr. for information in preparing this manuscript.
Bibliography of Wilbur S. McAlpine
McAlpine, W. S. 1918. A Collection of Lepidoptera from Whitefish Point, Michigan. Occ. Papers Mus. Zool. Univ. Mich. 54: 1-26, 1 folding map.
----------. 1936. Habitat of Cissia mitchellii in Cass County, Michigan. Bull. Brooklyn Entomol. Soc. 31: 110, 221.
----------. 1937. A Case of Mistaken Identity and Discovery of a New Metalmark
(Calephelis) from Michigan. Bull. Brooklyn Entomol. Soc. 32: 43-49, 1 pi.
----------. 1938. Life History of Calephelis muticum (McAlpine), Lepidoptera. Bull.
Brooklyn Entomol. Soc. 33: 111-121, 1 pi.
----------. 1939. A New Metalmark (Calephelis) from Texas (Lepidoptera, Riodin-
idae). Bull. Brooklyn Entomol. Soc. 34: 75-80, 1 pi.
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Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society
----------, S. P. Hubbell and T. E. Pliske. 1960. The Distribution, Habits, and Life
History of Euptychia mitchellii (Satyridae). J. Lepid. Soc. 14(4): 209-236, 3 pi.
----------. 1971. A Revision of the Butterfly Genus Calephelis (Riodinidae). J. Res.
Lepid. 10(1): 1-125, 8 pi.
----------. 1972(1973). Observations on Life History of Oarisma powesheik (Parker)
1870. J. Res. Lepid. 11(2): 83-93, 2 pi.
M. C. Nielsen, Adjunct Curator, Department of Entomology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824.
Journal of the Lepidopterists' Society 32(2), 1978, 144
BOOK REVIEW
Frederick William Frohawk, by Valezina Bolingbroke, 1977. E. W. Classey Ltd. Park Rd. Faringdon, Oxon., England. 16 p., 3 figures (photographs), cover drawing in color by F.W.F.
"... I am going to attempt to give just a brief 'impression' of him," writes the author on page 1 of this little memoir. The author is not an artist nor a writer as was Mr. Frohawk, nor a fellow naturalist, but his own daughter. It is obvious from the start that she felt for him the love and admiration which any father hopes to inspire in his daughter. The narrative is a series of glimpses into the past, rather like impressionist paintings seen from a distance, as Ms. Bolingbroke rambles through the English countryside with her readers. One sees an ancient house with moat and drawbridge, a little stone village, an old fashioned garden, a field of cowslips, travellers in a 'pony trap'—all interspersed with charming and humorous incidents, flashes into the character of her father, his colleagues, his accomplishments and his deep love for all of nature, from a very small butterfly to a very young human being. Frohawk was both author and illustrator of distinguished books on Ornithology and Lepidopter-ology, but his vast knowledge encompassed many other aspects of nature including wild flowers, reptiles and weather patterns, to name but a few. One is left wanting to know much more than this 'brief impression' gives us of F.W.F., as Frohawk was affectionately nicknamed by his friends.
Jo Brewer, Editor, The News of the Lepidopterists' Society, 257 Common St., Dedham, MA 02026.