220 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



The fauna of the shore of Village Bay, which is practically 

 the only shore on the island, is very scanty. Crustacea are 

 almost absent except for a few small species. Not a single 

 species of decapod was seen. This scarcity of littoral 

 animal life is no doubt due to the powerful action of the 

 sea. A species of animal attaining any size would almost 

 certainly be crushed by the violent action of the boulders 

 which form the greater part of the shore. 



ISOPODA (Terrestrial). 



Oniscus ase/lus, L. Common everywhere under stones. Its colour 

 varied from light brown to dark slate. 



Trichoniscus pusillus, Brandt. Fairly common near the shore and 

 on the slopes of Connacher and Mullach Mor where the 

 ground was damp. The specimens were rather small. 



Porcellio scaber, Latreille. This is certainly by far the commonest 

 invertebrate in the island. It occurs in thousands under 

 stones and rubbish in fact, everywhere from the seashore to 

 the top of the hills. As Sars states, this is the most widely 

 distributed species of the Oniscoidea. 



LEPIDOPTERA. 



Owing to the very bad state of the weather during the whole 

 of my visit, it was impossible to do much collecting of insects of 

 this order. About forty species were obtained, of which the follow- 

 ing are a few : 



Hepialus velleda, 1 Hb. A large series of this species was collected, 

 as it showed great variations in size and colour. The variety 

 gallica also. 



Melanchra thalassina, Rott. 



Plusia interrogationis, L. Obtained in the glen, where the larva 

 feeds on the heather (Callund). 



Tephrodystis venosata, Fb. This form was fairly common near the 

 shore, where the larva feeds on the white sea-campion. 



Hydriomena alchemillata, L. 



Xanthorhoe munitata, Hb. The Shetland variety of this northern 



form was obtained. 

 Eois rusticata, F. This species was extremely abundant, being 



by far the commonest moth at the time of my visit. 



1 Mr. Waterston has already recorded this species ("Ann. Scot. Nat. 

 Hist.," July 1906, p. 152). 



