Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1996, Side 105

NOTES ON XESTIA ALPICOLA SSP. ATLANTICA NOV. ON THE FAROES
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closer examination at the Museum of Nat-
ural History in Aarhus (MNHA). The
Kunoy site produced three male specimens
of X. alpicola, one in the period from July
14-23, the next from July 24-31, and the
last one from August 10-28. The first male
was still alive when it arrived in Denmark,
indicating that it had probably been attrac-
ted to the light on July 23 where the night
was mild and calm. Similarly, the third
male most probably was attracted during
the night of August 13 when the weather
conditions were extremely fine, according
to the warden of the trap, Mr. Atli Vilhelm.
In the Viðoy trap no X. alpicola were ob-
served.
In August 1996 the author spent one of
his annual visits to the Faroes. Due to ex-
cellent weather conditions from August 6
to 10 the field work during daytime was
concentrated in the mountains on Viðoy
and Kunoy for a search for the moth. At
noon on August 8 a resting alpicola-male
was spotted on Viðoy on a rock under a
vegetational clump with Crowberry at an
elevation of about 500 metres above sea
level. During the attempt to get a good pho-
tograph of the specimen. it was disturbed
and flew away in a straight and characteris-
tic swift flight and escaped capture due to
the uneven terrain and the bright sunlight.
Later attempts to discover further speci-
mens there and on similar sites on Kunoy
were unsuccessful.
The vegetation and fauna on the Viðoy
site looked similar to the habitat on
Eiðiskollur where the first Faroe specimen
was found. It may therefore be useful to
comment on the local habitat conditions
Fig. 1. The mountain slopes on the eastern side of
Viðoy where Xestia alpicola was observed. The
background shows the summit of Malinsfjall (751 m)
where the subalpine vegetation zone ceases at about
600 m.
which characterize the sites where the moth
has been found on the Faroes. The site on
Viðoy was a rather steep and well drained
fellside with plenty of eroded scree materi-
al from the overlying steep mountain (Fig.
1). The vegetation was patchy but con-
tained many flowering species, including
Alchemilla species, Oxyria digyna, Poly-
gonum viviparum, Silene acaulis, Thymus