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grayling butterfly subspecies
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 8:53 am
by robertferguson
can anyone please tell me if all the grayling butterflies occuring on the inner hebridean islands[the ones i saw were from the isle of eigg] are ssp atalantica or do ssp semele also exist there ?
thanks
robert ferguson
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 10:13 am
by Pete Eeles
Hi Robert - the literature I have isn't particularly clear on the subject - something I hope Adrian Riley's new book will hopefully clarify. However, I'm pretty sure that any Grayling found on the Hebridean Islands are ssp. atlantica - considered to be an "extension" of ssp. scota found in northern Scotland on the coast.
Cheers,
- Pete
Posted: Thu Dec 20, 2007 9:10 pm
by alex mclennan
Pete
That's pretty much what Adrian says - the ssp. semele is replaced on the Scottish mainland by ssp. scota and on the Western Isles by ssp. atlantica. Incidentally, the book describes three other subspecies of grayling- the Great Orme (thyone), the Irish (hibernica) and the Burren (clarensis)
Alex