IN THE BRITISH ISLANDS. 117 



no conflua. Part of these, which came out late in the autumn as a 

 second brood, were found to come nearer to conflua than to the typical 

 festiva of our flat country. Dr. Bossier has probably tried a large 

 number, and formed his opinion accordingly. Dr. Staudfuss writes to 

 me : Dr. Wocke has likewise reared a second brood from Altvater, 

 which, more or less forms an approach to festiva.'' According to Dr. 

 Staudfuss, festiva occurs only in the heart of the Eiesengebirge, and he 

 found two larvaB at an elevation of 4,000 feet, which produced festiva, not 

 differing in the least from the form of the flat country. Conflua has 

 never been taken in the Riesengebirge, whilst this form further east on 

 the Schneeberg and Altvater at considerable elevation, seems to repre- 

 sent festiva. On the moors of the Upper Hartz, there occurs a small 

 pale form of festiva, but I have never found any approaching conflua 

 in that locality. Professor Frey gives localities for festiva, not only 

 from the lower regions of the Swiss mountains, but also Sils-Maria in 

 the Upper Engadine about 5,500 feet high, and therefore on the borders 

 between the lower and upper Alps ; for conflua, only the Berner Alps, 

 Belchen, Engethal and Eigenthal. The last three are at a height of 

 3,000 feet, and therefore on the boundary between the lower region 

 and mountain region. I only give these details for comparison, to show 

 that conflua does not represent unconditionally the mountain form, as 

 festiva occurs everywhere in the mountains at the same elevation as 

 conflua, even much higher " (< Stett. ent. Zeit.,' 1884, pp. 360-362). 

 It would appear certain from this, that Continental entomologists, like 

 ourselves, erroneously call the small specimens of festiva conflua, and 

 have not yet differentiated correctly the form known under this name ; 

 and it is probable that those from the Alps are simply small festiva, like 

 our own moorland forms, but those from Lapland and probably those 

 from Norway are true. It is certain that the var. borealis is a true con- 

 flua variety, for Zetterstedt writes : " Similar to N. brunnea, Fab. or 

 N. fragarice, Bork., but certainly distinct, it is so much smaller, &c." 

 (' Insecta Lapponica,' 941). At the same time, ordinary festiva are 

 taken side by side with it in Norway, but these are considered perfectly 

 distinct by Scandinavian lepidopterists (vide 'Entom. Tidskrift,' 

 1885, p. 53). Staudinger writes of conflua: "Perhaps an Alpine 

 and northern variety of festiva or a Darwinian species," and 

 gives as localities "Northern Europe, Silesian Mountains, 

 the Alps, Iceland and Labrador " (' Catalog,' p. 83). Of these, 

 the specimens from the Silesian Mountains and the Alps are probably 

 only con/Zwa-like vars. of festiva, but this is not necessarily so. 

 My friend, Mr. Eeid, I know, believes it possible that the higher 

 mountainous districts in Perth and North Scotland might produce the 

 real Shetlandic form, but up to the present time, I have not seen any 

 from the Scotch mainland. With regard to these Scotch festiva, which 

 we have been accustomed to call conflua, Mr. A. Home of Aberdeen 

 writes : " I am now convinced that this variety does not occur in 

 Aberdeenshire, nor, in fact, in any of the northern counties of Scotland. 

 I have taken N. festiva in, I think, all the counties from Kincardine- 

 shire up to and including Orkney, but they do not appear to be smaller 

 or paler at any one place than another. At Forres, the majority are of 

 a red colour, In Professor Trail's ' List of the Lepidoptera of Dee ' 

 (Aberdeenshire) is found the following : ' N. festiva, abundant, rather 

 local.' <N. conflua, abundant.' I think this is the principal cause of 

 Aberdeen collectors sending away their specimens as N. conflua " (in 



