Pi 
ON THE BOTANY AND ENTOMOLOGY OF ICELAND. 241 
inlet from which it is distant only two or three miles up the 
river Horga. 
Some of the leading characteristics of the Entomology of Iceland, 
Total absence of butterflies. 
4 % of orthoptera. 
Neuroptera only represented by Phryganidee. 
Beyond all doubt the two most abundant. tribes of insects 
in Iceland are moths and Diptera. 
Moths and Diptera appear to take the place on the flowers 
there that butterflies and Hymenoptera do here. 
The Fauna of one locality exhibits no diversity from that 
of another in respect of the particular species occurring 
there, so far as I can ascertain, by coasting round the W., N., 
and E. coasts, and landing at 14 of the 16 different fjords 
at which the steamer stopped. But there would seem to 
be decidedly fewer species on the N. and E. coasts than 
are met with on the West. Isafjord is the most northerly 
fjord visited on the W. coast and the line of demarcation 
where species decrease in number may probably be fixed 
between that place and Onundafjord, or about 50 miles 
S. of the arctic circle. At Onundafjord, Dyrafjord, and 
Arnafjord on the contrary, geometrida are very abundant. 
There would appear to be a regular succession of geome- 
tridee in point of time, and the average duration of any one 
species, or at all events its duration in abundance and in 
good condition, is about a fortnight. 
The insect fauna and likewise the flora of Iceland have 
remarkable affinity to those of Scotland. The var. tending 
to melanism of Larentia cesiata is found in Iceland, just as 
it is in Scotland, but the Iceland var. is not more melanic 
than the Scotch. Coremia munitata, which has a patch of dull 
brick-red on its forewings in Scotland, has said patch of a 
dusky slate colour in Iceland. If a reddish one is found 
there, it is quite the exception. This moth is said to abound 
in the Orkneys; it would be interesting to know its prevail- 
ing tint there. Some moths, notably such geometride as 
Coremia munitata, Larentia cesiata, and Cidaria immanata 
abound on the butter-cups in the hay~meadows, and rise up in 
a perfect cloud from the dwarf birch and willow scrub, when 
the bushes are lashed by the rider's whip. The wild thyme 
(thymus serpyllum) is the flower par excellence favoured by 
the noctne, owing to its fragrance, and both it and the 
