Insects. 7663 



List of Lepidoptera hitherto found within the Province of Moray, 

 Sfc. ; arranged according to Bouhledaif s ' Lisl^ Second Edi- 

 tion. By the Rev. George Gordon, M.A. * 



Teeming with entomological information, as the pages of the 'Zoo- 

 logist ' have been since its commencement, there are to be found in 

 them but few notices, in this department of Natural History, from the 

 ^ar North. The chief claim, then, which this list of the Lepidoptera 

 of the province of Moray can present to the attention of the British 

 entomologist arises from the latitude of the district to which it refers. 

 Neither the number of species included in it, nor the rarity of any 

 portion of them, would have merited a place in the pages of the ' Zoo- 

 logist,' had this list been drawn up for any other part of our island 

 that lay south of the Grampian range of mountains. Whatever inte- 

 rest or information this list may on other points convey, it will be 

 held as a step towards ascertaining the northern range in Britain of 

 several Lepidoptera hitherto not suspected of flourishing so near the 

 arctic circle. Observers whose hunting-grounds lie in warmer lati- 

 tudes will perhaps be surprised to learn that some of their favourite 

 objects of pursuit have managed to cross the alpine heights of the 

 Grampians ; but, however this feat may have been accomplished, 

 their surprise at these being captured in Moray will be somewhat 

 moderated when they further learn that along the shores of the Firth 

 wheat is the staple produce of the fields ; that the barley of Moray 

 and Easter Ross brings a high price in the London market; that nec- 

 tarines, peaches and apricots ripen here on the open walls in ordinary 

 seasons, and that even figs and sweet almonds are occasionally ma- 

 tured. From a table kindly drawn up by Dr. Geddes, H.E.LC, it 

 appears that the mean temperature at Elgin, for the six months April 

 to September inclusive, is SS'L This is the result of 4320 observa- 

 tions, made at 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., during the last six years, and on 

 instruments kept entirely away from radiating influences, a position 

 which should ever be chosen for registering thermometers in the North 

 of Scotland, where in the course of a day the rays of the Midsummer 

 sun come in from almost every point of the horizon. The annual 

 average of rain for the same months and years has been 13*13 inches. 

 The province of Moray lies between the rivers Spey and Beauly, 

 and is bounded on the south by the Northern Grampians, and on the 

 north by the Moray Firth. Hence it forms the third subdivision 



* lu continuation of ibe Fauna of Moray (Zool. 4462). 



