variable species as regards its colouring and wing markings. There are several subspecies, with two recognised in Ireland – Coenonympha tullia scotica and C. t. polydama. The former is confined mainly to the south and western Ireland.65 The latter occurs in many parts of the country but its main stronghold appears to be in the Midlands and in the north of Ireland.66
The emperor moth, easily identified by its prominent eyespots on the upper and lower wing surfaces, is on the wing from April to end June especially on upland boglands. Another moth, the beautiful yellow underwing, takes it name from the yellow central area, bordered by black, on the underwings. Both these moths may be encountered on Irish uplands and mountains together with numerous other smaller, paler moths exploding upwards for a brief dashing flight when disturbed by a hill walker or roaming beast before plunging back down into the protective vegetation.
In contrast to the highly mobile butterflies and moths, many other invertebrates are yoked to their local environments. One interesting group is the water beetles belonging to the family Dytiscidae which, although most are well able to fly, tend to remain confined to very specific aquatic habitats, especially within the mountainous environment. These water beetles have evolved adaptive devices to make their aquatic lifestyle easier – their heads are generally sunk into the thorax and the body is smooth and rounded, both facilitating their passage through water. They also possess broad hind legs, flat and fringed with hairs to act as efficient paddles. Although rising to the surface, tail first, to renew the oxygen supply is still necessary, the water beetles can also hibernate, particularly in order to overcome cold conditions. Both the adults and larvae are aggressive carnivores. Some larvae reach up to 6 cm long and will successfully tackle small fish and even take on, working with their fierce looking hard jaws, a tasty-looking finger of a hapless bug hunter. Several members of the Dytiscidae found in Ireland have been identified as glacial relicts that ‘chilled out’ in their mountain-top pools as the ice sheets were banging around in the valleys below.
A particularly rich site for these relict species is the top of Doughruagh Mountain (526 m), a northern outlier of the Twelve Bens of Connemara, west Galway. Several small, shallow pools pepper the summit. The vegetation is meagre and includes bog pondweed, water lobelia, water-milfoil, Myriophyllum sp., bulbous rush and the sub-aquatic moss Scorpidium scorpioides. These often mist-shrouded and rain-drenched pools are the unlikely spots, because of their barren mountain summit locations, for spawning frogs. The ensuing tadpoles enter into the diet of the rapacious larvae of two very rare Dytiscidae found here: the alpine and smallest of the great diving beetles Dytiscus lapponicus and an arctic-alpine species Agabus arcticus. The nymph of another glacial relict, the water boatman Glaenocorisa propinqua, has also been recorded here67 as well as on the Peakeen Mountain, Co. Kerry and in the Blue Stack Mountains, Co. Donegal. It has also been recorded from Lough Nacartan (30–60 m above sea level), Killarney, Co. Kerry, and in Upper Lough Bray (425–457 m above sea level).68 The only other Irish records of Dytiscus lapponicus are from Co. Donegal, the Partry Mountains, west Mayo and Co. Kerry. As for Agabus arcticus, it has been found in pools in the Wicklow Mountains and from Glenariff and Lough Evish in Co. Antrim. The adults in the population of the glacial relict stonefly Capnia atra living in the Devil’s Punch Bowl (over 700 m above sea level) near the summit of Mangerton Mountain, Co. Kerry, are brachypterous – short winged and non-flying – considered to be a selective advantage as because they cannot fly they are prevented from being blown away to an unsuitable area in such a windswept region.69 Another insect survivor from the Ice Age is a small alpine caddisfly Tinodes dives,
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