262 The Scottish Naturalist. 



Notes on the Entomology of Skye.— Last August I paid a visit of a 

 few days' duration to the isle of Skye, and as the entomology of that wild 

 but beautiful island is still but little known, perhaps the following notes 

 on the few insects I observed during my stay will be of interest to readers 

 of the " Scottish Naturalist." 



I arrived at Portree, the capital of Skye, on August 7th, by steamer from 

 Strone Ferry, and left again on the 12th for Gairloch, so that I only had 

 six days there, and of these one was consumed by a visit to the celebrated 

 Quiraing, in the north of the island, some distance from Portree, during 

 which I had no time for collecting. 



I may at once say that, entomologically speaking, the results of my visit were 

 disappointing, as no novelty, and but one or two rarities, either in Lepidoptera 

 or Coleoptera, rewarded my search. This, however, I feel sure, is in part 

 to be accounted for by the fact that the time of my visit (the beginning of 

 August) is one of the very worst in the whole year for Coleoptera, and not 

 particularly productive in Lepidoptera. Moreover, the neighbourhood of 

 Portree, where I had taken up my quarters, is not in itself favourable to an 

 abundance of insect life, as it is surrounded on all sides, except towards the 

 sea, by monotonous peat-mosses, covered by heath, sphagnum, sweet-gale, 

 and other moss-loving plants. Over these you might walk for miles with- 

 out seeing any but the commonest insects, and but few of them. Portree 

 too, is too far from any of the higher hills, such as the Cuchullin Hills, in 

 the south of the island, which attain an elevation of more than 3,000 feet, 

 to allow of one's working them from that place. I should strongly advise 

 any entomologist who contemplates visiting Skye, to take up his abode 

 in this south portion of the island, within a convenient distance from the hills 

 there, as I believe that species new to the British lists may well occur on 

 some of the lonely and little visited peaks in that district. A small planta- 

 tion behind the town of Portree, and the shores of the Cove, on which it is 

 so pleasantly situated, were my most productive hunting grounds, whilst the 

 peat-mosses, and some of the hills near Portree afforded me a few other species 

 of Lepidoptera. 



The following are the only ones requiring any special notice ; the others 

 are merely mentioned in the subjoined list. Argynnis Aglaia occurred on all 

 the heaths and mosses, but not in abundance. As a rule only single speci- 

 mens were seen at a time, and these were already well worn. A pair 

 frequented a small wooded gully on the shores of Portree bay, sailing up and 

 down in the sun for several hours, then settling on the brambles or other 

 bushes, and then sailing off again for a few minutes over the adjacent slopes 

 to reappear again in the accustomed place. Satyrus Semele was also abun- 

 dant in this locality and the adjoining slopes, being particularly partial to 

 settling in the bright sun on places where the rock had become exposed, and 

 broken up into sloping masses of fine gravel. I also saw several specimens 

 of one of our too common smaller species of Pieris fluttering about the gar- 

 dens, but unfortunately neglected to see whether they were Napi or Rapa. 



Of Noctucr, I got three specimens of Stilbia anomala in good order, one 

 on the mosses, the other two in the aforesaid plantation behind the town. 

 Charceas graminis flew over the moors, and I also swept up one larva, which 

 seems to be Hade7ia pisi. A much worn specimen of Agrotis poiphyrca fell 

 to my net on the moors, as well as two specimens of Plusia pidc/irina ( V- 

 aureum) in a bit of wet ground near Portree. 



