182 August, 



COLEOPTERA AT STORNOWAY, N.B. 

 BY JAMES J. WALKER, K.N., T.L S. 



A flying visit to Stonioway in H.M.S. " Northampton," from May 

 23nl to 27tli, produced some interesting Coleoptera ; and as very few 

 insects of this Order have been recorded from the Outer Hebrides, I 

 give the results of my collecting in this remote locality in extenso. 



Stornoway lies on the eastern side of the Island of Lewis, on a 

 fine harbour, behind which the land rises, gradually in some parts, and 

 more abruptly in others, into an extensive tract of peaty moorland 

 and scanty pasture, with an average elevation of 400 to 500 feet above 

 the sea-level. Rugged rocks and boulders of grey gneiss protrude 

 through the heather in every direction, and small lakes of clear water, 

 abounding in brown trout, are verj" frequently met with. Except 

 quite close to the town itself (which at the time of my visit presented 

 a scene of great bustle and animation, it being then the height ot" the 

 herring season) there is little or no cultivation of any sort, and one 

 may wander for hours over the moorland without meeting with a 

 human being, or anything living except a few sheep and red deer. 

 The general bare and cheerless aspect of the country is relieved in 

 part by the beautiful park or demesne surrounding Lewis Castle, on 

 the side of the harbour opposite the town. Here well grown trees of 

 Scotch fir, beech, oak, alder, sycamore, and hazel show that the 

 climate of the Hebrides is not, as is often supposed, unfavourable to 

 the growth of arboreal vegetation. The shady paths in this demesne 

 afforded very fair sweeping, and a sandy salt-marsh, about a mile to 

 the north of the town, gave an agreeable variety to the general col- 

 lecting ; one rather remarkable feature of which was the great scarcity, 

 or almost entire absence, of the Hydradephaga in so likely-looking a 

 locality for the group. Small ponds, running streams, clear-water 

 lochs, and peaty pools on the moorland, all were tried with the water- 

 net, with the result of solitary specimens of Arjahus Solieri and 

 Hydroporus ohscurus, besides the numerous Gyrini, all apparently of 

 one species (opncus), gyrating on their surface. It is also rather 

 {•urious, I think, that not a single species of the genus Apion was 

 met with. 



No butterflies were observed during my visit, although the 

 weather was generally fine; Riimin crataecjata was found in the demesne, 

 and one or two pupa3 of Hepialus huviuli under stones, near the town. 

 On the moorland, Fidonia afomaria and Melanippe luistata occurred in 

 great profusion ; the latter in superb condition and beautifully variable, 

 flying actively in the sunshine in wet places among Myrica qnlc. 



