190 Notes on Morvern, Argyllshire. [Sess. 



some expeditions to this spot I became more acquainted with 

 the habits of these insects, and captures, if wished for, were 

 correspondingly easy. One other dragonfly I found some- 

 what common in the happy hunting-ground was the small 

 red-bodied one (Pyrrhosoma minium). This species is rather 

 difficult to capture, owing to its small size, as it appears and 

 disappears in the sunshine like a thread of gossamer. This 

 is the only species I noticed in the actual process of egg- 

 laying. The two insects were generally to be found settled 

 on the stem of the rush. The ovipositor of the female was 

 below the surface of the water, and they never seemed to 

 shift from the one stem. I have often picked up the two 

 insects with my hand when the process of egg-laying was 

 going on. 



Of course these insects only appear when the sun is shining, 

 and I have often wondered what becomes of them when a 

 thunder-shower sweeps down from the hills. As long as the 

 clouds are above, you may wander over the whole place and 

 not disturb a single insect, nor can you find one though you 

 search for it. But as soon as the sun breaks forth, the whole 

 place is teeming again with insect life. The dragonflies come 

 forth shining in their armour, and butterflies, from the beauti- 

 ful fritillaries to the humble meadow brown, disport them- 

 selves as if the sun had never been hidden. Where did they 

 shelter their delicate wings during the rain ? or are these a 

 different generation from what flitted about an hour ago ? — 

 born in a few minutes of sunshine, to disappear as quickly 

 in the first stormy blast. 



One other conspicuous insect I met with on these moors 

 was the horse cleg, as it was locally named — the Tabanus 

 bovinus of scientists. It appears during the summer, but is 

 met with more frequently during very hot weather. Its 

 distribution in Scotland is not well known, or at least the 

 records of its appearance are scant. Comparing its size with 

 that of an ordinary cleg as found in the Lothians, it will be 

 seen to be a much more formidable insect, and one can well 

 understand the state of terror a horse gets into when the 

 boom of one of them is heard close at hand. 



Some distance up Glen Geal, or the White Glen, there is 

 a wonderful and most interesting colony of brown ants. They 



