174 The Scottish Naturalist. 



yellowish-white, or yellowish-ochreous, often with the veins suf- 

 fused with 'grey or greyish -brown. H.-w. pale or dark grey. 

 12-13 L - 



Var. and ab. Warrin^toneilus Stt. — Smaller. Palpi dark 

 grey. F.-w. veins much suffused with greyish-brown. 9^- 

 10% L. 



July, August. Central and Northern Europe. Somewhat local but not un- 

 common throughout Britain ; it has been found as far north as Eoss-shire. 

 The var. is much more local, occurring chiefly on the south and west coasts of 

 England, and on the west coast of Scotland (Kirkcudbrightshire and Ayrshire). 

 Its exotic distribution is polar Norway, Finland, and Armenia. 



[Lithargyrellus H., which has shorter palpi, less elongate and very shining 

 pale ochreous grey front wings, with scarcely paler veins ; or rostellus Pe la H., 

 which has long grey palpi, oblong front wings, dilated at the end and very 

 shining dirty grey, may perhaps be found. ] 



THE SCOTTISH FORM OF ZYG.&NA EXULANS 

 HOCHENWARTH. 



BY THE EDITOR. 



T AST July Mr. J. W. H. Traill and I found, for the first 

 ■^ time in Britain, a colony of a pretty Burnet moth, Zy- 

 goma exulans, inhabiting a hill in the district of Braemar, Aber- 

 deenshire. 



There are several interesting matters in connection with the 

 Aberdeenshire colony of this species ; and one, not the least in 

 point of interest, is the tolerably plain evidence of the northern 

 derivation of the colony. The geological and botanical features 

 clearly show that the locality is an ancient shore of the glacial 

 or post-glacial period, and it seems probable that the same agen- 

 cies which brought from the north to this ancient shore its 

 characteristic plants, likewise conveyed hither about the same 

 time, and from the same quarter, the insect in question. 



In the south of Europe Zygcena exulans inhabits the highest 

 Alps and Pyrenees ; in the north, it is found upon the moun- 

 tains of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and in Lapland, where it 

 occurs at all altitudes. The southern and northern races, 

 however, differ so much that the latter has been described as 

 a distinct species. Curiously enough, the individuals of the 

 Braemar colony present characters intermediate between the 



