Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1996, Page 103

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Notes on Xestia alpicola ssp. atlantica nov.
(Lep.y Noctuidae) on the Faroe Islands
Svend Kaaber
Digtervænget 2, DK-8000 Aarhus, Denmark
Úrtak
I 1956 var á fyrsta sinni rakt við norðannáttfirvaldin
Xestia alpicola í Føroyum, eitt kvenndýr funnið á Eiðis-
kolli. Síðani tá hevur verið leitað við ágrýtni eftir náttfir-
valdum í árunum 1990-1995.1 1996 vóru tríggir kallfir-
valdar tiknir í ljósfellu í Kunoy, og ein annar kallfirvald-
ur varð sæddur á Viðoynni. Kanningarúrslitini og til-
haldsstøðini hjá honum benda á, at í Føroyum heldur
slagið bara til í fjallalíðum úr 300 upp í 600 metra hædd.
Føroyska granskingartilfarið.sum ikki er stórt.er alt líka
til útsjóndar og verður lýst sum nýggj landafrøðilig ætt,
ssp. atlantica nova.
Abstract
In 1956 a female of the boreal moth Xestia alpicola was
found for the first time in the Faroe Islands on Eiðis-
kollur, Eysturoy. Since then the moth has been eagerly
searched for during the years 1990-95. In 1996, three
males were caught in a light trap on Kunoy and another
male was observed on Viðoy. The findings and habitat
claims indicate that the species on the Faroes is restric-
ted to arid mountain slopes 300-600 metres above sea
level. The restricted Faroe material is quite uniform in
apperance and is described as a new geographical sub-
species, ssp. atlantica.
Introduction
On July 18 in 1956 the late Faroese ento-
mologist Leif Dahl made a daytime excur-
sion to the mountainous area of Eiðiskollur
on northern Eysturoy, about 4 km north of
the village of Eiði. The aim of the excursion
was most probably the local Faroese tortri-
cid, Epinotia mercuriana Froel., which he
two years earlier had observed in plenty
there on the same date. Apparently E. mer-
curiana was not out on that occasion, but
he caught a female specimen of a conspic-
uous noctuid moth, which he afterwards set
but did not identify. In 1959 he moved to
Denmark, where the specimen in question
was determined by the renowned Danish
entomologist, the late Dr. Niels L. Wolff as
a Xestia alpicola, a moth hitherto unknown
from the Faroe Islands. Some years later
Wolff made a brief mention of the find in an
updated list of Lepidoptera known from the
Faroe Islands (Wolff, 1970). After Dr.
Dahl’s death in 1982 his entire collection of
Faroese and Danish Lepidoptera was trans-
ferred to the Faroe Museum of Natural His-
tory, Føroya Náttúrugripasavn in Tórshavn
(FNT), where the specimen is now pre-
served.
When the present author in 1990 initia-
ted a study of the lepidopterous fauna of the
Faroes, an important aim was to rediscover
the species and to provide study material to
compare its relationship to the neighbour-
ing populations in Great Britain and Fenno-
scandia. However, the search continued in
Fróðskaparrit 44. bók 1996: 107-113