22G [October, 



MSCHNA BOREALIS, Zett. (1840), = ^. C^RULEA, Strom (1783), 



BUT NOT JE. SqUAMATA, Mullee (1764). 



BY ROBERT McLACHLAN, P.R.S., &c. 



As the name ^sclina 'borealis, Zett., is still in common use for an 

 insect that has lately been much and successfully sought for in its 

 Scottish localities, it may be well to point out that it was described 

 more than a century ago by Hans Strom, a Norwegian Provost, in the 

 "Nye Saml. af K. Dansbe Vid. Selskabs Skrivter," ii, p. 90 (1783), 

 under the name of Libellula ccsrulea. All who have had the pleasure 

 of seeing the insect alive will agree that the specific name is strikingly 

 fitting, but unfortunately there is very little of tlie " blue " left in 

 dead individuals. 



This is no ne-w discovery ; it was brought forward by Wallengren 

 in 1880, in an article in the Christiania " Yidenskabselskabs For- 

 handlinger," 1880, No. 2 ; again by Schoyen in the same publication 

 for 1887, No. 13; and once again by Wallengren, in a Synopsis of 

 Scandinavian Dragon- flies, published in the " Entomologisk Tidskrift" 

 for 1894, p. 255, who there went so far as to propose a new name 

 {Cnemopliila) for a section of ^scJma, of which this is the sole European 

 exponent. From specimens before me, and from the remarks of 

 Wallengren and Schoyen, it would appear to be common in Norway, 

 extending far within the Arctic Circle. That Strom's name for the 

 insect was not sooner recognised is no doubt due to the fact that his 

 works remained almost neglected until recently (on this point see 

 Hagen, in the Stett. ent. Zeit., 1873, p. 225), and appear to have been 

 quite unknown to Zetterstedt when he published his "Insecta 

 Lapponica." 



I have lately attempted an analysis of the literature concerning 

 the three names at the head of this article, and submit a few remarks. 



No one, I think, has doubted the correctness of the identification 

 of Zetterstedt's ^. horealis (Ins. Lap., col. 1040), and it was probably 

 confirmed by a comparison of type specimens. Zetterstedt states 

 that it can scarcely be a variety of juncea, L., which latter he does 

 not include, but whicb also occurs in Lapland, according to more 

 modern research. According to him, horealis occurs from June 16th 

 to 28th. In Scotland it sometimes commences to appear at the end 

 of May, and is commonly over before the end of July. 



Strom's diagnosis (Z. c.) is as follows : — " Libellula {ccerulea^ ; 

 alis aqueis, corpore atro, maculis ceruleis." Then follows a detailed 

 description in Danish, which I do not reproduce, but which, in the 

 distribution of the blue markings, quite accords with our insect. 



