102 



ME. E. M'LACHLAN OK THE INSECTA COLLECTED 



In all about 60 species. Schiodte enumerated 80 from G-reen- 

 land*. Staudinger Sfcettiner entomol. Zeitung,' 1857) found 

 about 312 (excluding Arachnida) in Iceland, of which more than 

 one third were Diptera, and there was no Butterfly. 



Carrying the analysis a little more into detail, we find the 

 Hymenoptera represented by two species of Bombus and three 

 parasitic forms no doubt infesting the larvaB of Lepidoptera. It 

 appears probable that even in these extreme northern latitudes 

 some of the plants may be dependent upon insects for their ferti- 

 lization and perpetuation. Capt. Feilden noticed that the Bomli 

 especially frequented the flowers of a species of Pedicularis ; and, 

 according to the researches of Mliller (' Befruchtung ') and Dr. 

 Ogle ('Popular Science Eeview,' 1870), the species of this genus 

 are more or less incapable of self-fertilization, or, at any rate 

 there is reason to believe that fertilization is, to a large extent, 

 efl'ected through the agency of insects, and especially of Bomhi. 



The paucity of Coleoptera is somewhat remarkable, the order 

 being represented by only one individual of a common species. 



The Lepidoptera form the most striking feature amongst the 

 Inseeta, and, I venture to say, also amongst the whole of the zoo- 

 logical collections. It is true that I have been able to find only 

 13 species ; but of these, 5 are showy Butterflies (one of them so 

 protean in aspect that some may incline to the belief that the 

 individuals represent several species) belonging to the genera 

 CoUas, Argynnis, Chrysophanus, and Lyccena. Butterflies have 

 long been known from the lower portions of G-reenland, at any 

 rate as far as Disco Island (69° 30' N.) ; the expedition found 

 them at Upernavik (75° N.) ; they are recorded from East Green- 

 land, collected by the second German Expedition. Eormer expe- 

 ditions, in search of a north-west passage, found them spread spa- 

 ringly over the regions visited by them ; but all these localities 

 are in much lower latitudes. Dr. Bessels, of the American ' Polaris * 

 Expedition, obtained two examples of Argynnis polaris at Polaris 

 Bay (81^ 20-81° 50'); and this was the first indication of the ex- 

 istence of these insects in extreme high latitudes. But the cap- 

 tures made by Dr. Bessels have been eclipsed, and in a remarkable 

 manner, by the discoveries of Capt. Eeilden and Mr. Hart, who 

 brought back from between the parallels of 78° and 83° a collec- 

 tion of butterflies that certainly excited my astonishment as an 



^ Holmgren, ' Sv. Akad. Handlingar,' viii. (1869), raises the number to 83, 

 and enumerates 64 from Spitzbergen. 



