ZOOLOGICAL NOTES 199 



more commonly in Nairnshire. Should this be so, its presence is 

 amply protected from sight by extraordinary powers of movement, 

 combined with such a striking resemblance to the Humble Bees 

 (Bombus fragrans and muscorum) that even to the practised eye 

 there is often some difficulty in distinguishing the individual species 

 when on the wing. There is only one capture recorded in the late 

 Rev. Dr. Gordon's list of Lepidoptera as having occurred within 

 the Province of Moray up to the year 1861. Venilia maculata 

 Almost abundant this year in Ferness woods and along the river 

 side among trees. Carsia imbutata Took half a dozen specimens 

 in September 1894. This is a very local insect. It occurs among 

 the heather near the Loch of Belevat. As its reputed food-plant 

 Cranberry (Vaccinium oxycoccos) does not grow in Ardclach, or 

 even in Nairnshire, the caterpillar must thrive on some other local 

 wilding. Apatnea oadea Occasional in this district. Plusia pul- 

 chrina One specimen last year : rare. R. THOMSON, Ferness. 



Nisoniades tages in Moray. On 22nd May last I found this 

 butterfly, the Dingy Skipper, which is here local and rare, flying 

 over heather on a hill in Dallas parish at an altitude of 600 feet 

 above sea-level. The butterflies were in the company of Fidonia 

 piniaria and atomaria. I was struck with the resemblance between 

 tages and piniaria when on the wing. Colour, design, and mode of 

 flight were so similar that I several times mistook the moth for the 

 butterfly. Is this a case of protective mimicry, or is it the result of 

 adaptation to environment in both instances ? As tages is so rare 

 here, I cannot obtain sufficient data, but it would be interesting to 

 ascertain whether tages and piniaria are generally found in company. 

 HENRY H. BROWN, Elgin. 



The Cinnabar Moth in Perthshire. A fine male of the Cinna- 

 bar Moth (Euchelia jacobesa) was captured by me at the Woody 

 Island, near Perth, on the evening of 3ist May. Whether or not 

 this is a bona fide occurrence, or whether the insect has been intro- 

 duced by a local collector, can only be surmised. Certain it is 

 that the insect was caught on the wing on the date mentioned; and 

 I am not aware that it has ever previously occurred in this district. 

 -T. M. M'GREGOR, Perth. 



Boreus hiemalis, L., in the Edinburgh District. Among some 

 spiders collected by my friend Mr. W. Evans by the roadside south 

 of Mortonhall in November and December last, I was pleased to 

 find a female of this rare and local neuropterous insect. Mr. J. J. 

 F. X. King, whom I have consulted as to previous Scottish records, 

 kindly informs me that he has taken the insect at Killin, Perthshire, 

 and that Professor Trail has captured it near Aberdeen. In 

 England it appears to be more often taken in the north than in the 

 south, though it has been found near London. GEO. H. CARPENTER, 

 Science and Art Museum, Dublin. 



