cacti take the place of tree ferns, and instead of wet jungles we have
dry scrub brush full of spiny and thorny shrubs with almost every sort
of prickle one can think of. One who has never encountered them can
scarcely appreciate the abundance and effectiveness of tropical thorns.
These thickets of brush extend over most of the undisturbed portion of
the south side. Everywhere through them there are scattered cacti of
several sorts; but near Guayanilla, a few miles west of Ponce, these
become relatively much more numerous so as to form a veritable cactus
desert. Only here is the largest form present. It is a large Opuntia
with a bare stem and long arms radiating in one or two whorls near the
top. Besides it there are several species of Cereus and another small
Opuntia similar to the common prickly pear, together with a species of
the same group cultivated for its fleshy branches which are eaten. All
through this dry region agaves or century plants are very common. There
seem to be several species, but they are such terrors to botanists that
it is hard to tell anything about them.
From this brief sketch it will be seen what a diversified flora Porto
Rico offers to the student. There are opportunities for several
ecological studies of surpassing interest, and on the systematic side
the work has only been begun. At present there are scant facilities for
the student, but with the fuller occupation of the island by American
government and customs, we may hope that some of our enterprising
universities will establish there a school of tropical agriculture and
botany, fields now white for the harvest but almost without workers.
Washington, D. C., October 30, 1901.
SALAMANDERS TAKEN AT SUGAR GROVE.
MAX MORSE.
On May 25, 1901, Prof. Hine, while collecting in the hills at Sugar
Grove, Fairfield County, O., found a salamander under a piece of pine
log on the slope of a hill, about a hundred yards from water. It was,
for the time, put in a jar along with several individuals of
Desmognathus fusca Raf., which were taken in, or within a few feet of
the rivulets which flow down the valley. Aside from this specimen taken
on the hillside, all the specimens were found not farther than a half
dozen feet from the water. When the collections were examined in the
laboratory it was found that the single specimen just mentioned differed
in many respects from the others. This led to investigation and it was
found that it corresponded closely with the description of D. ochrophæa
Cope. Thus, the posterior portion of the mandible was edentulous; no
tubercle in canthus ocelli; belly paler than in any of D. fusca taken;
length nearly three-fourths of an inch shorter than the others; a light
bar from eye to corner of mouth; tongue free behind; parasphenoid teeth
separated behind. The specimen was kindly examined by Dr. J. Lindahl, of
the Cincinnati Society of Nat. Hist., who is acquainted with the form.
He agreed that it corresponded with the description of Cope. Whether the
characters as given above are sufficient to place the specimen under
ochrophæa is a matter hard to decide. Cope gives the range of ochrophæa
as “in the Alleghenies and their outlying spurs.” Dr. Lindahl has a
specimen from Logansport, Ind., taken November 10, 1900.
FISHES TAKEN NEAR SALEM, OHIO.
E. B. WILLIAMSON.
The present short list is published, not because of any records of
special interest, but in order that a record may be made of the fish
known certainly from the headwaters of Beaver Creek. In the case of fish
the most logical and significant way to indicate distribution is
certainly by streams, and a very small contribution to the ichthyology
of the above named stream is here presented.
About three-fifths of Columbiana County is drained by Beaver Creek,
one-fifth by the Mahoning River and streams leaving the county to the
west, while the remainder enters the Big Yellow and Little Yellow
Creeks. Beaver Creek is practically confined to Columbiana County,
though it empties into the Ohio River in Pennsylvania at Smith’s Ferry,
just above the state line. The relation of Beaver Creek to the Mahoning
River is interesting, the two being in general, arcs of concentric
circles with the Mahoning outside. A person going directly west from
Salem crosses Middle Fork of Beaver Creek first, then the Mahoning, and
the same is true if he goes directly north or directly east. South-west
of Salem the small streams empting into the Mahoning have not been
seined. From one of these Herman McCane has taken a specimen of
Ichthyomyzon concolor which is preserved in the Salem High School
collection with the other species here recorded. All the other streams
in close proximity to Salem are part of the system of the Middle Fork of
Beaver Creek, with the exception of Cold Run, which flows almost
directly south into the West Fork of Beaver Creek, the stream thus
formed soon being augmented by the waters of the North Fork.
Seining has been done only near Salem in small tributaries and where
Middle Fork has an average width of not more than ten or twelve feet.
Mr. Albert Hayes, Mr. J. S. Johnson and Mr. F. W. Webster have helped me
draw the seine. Mr. Webster has also given me many valuable suggestions
as to suitable localities.
1. Ameiurus melas (Raf.). Rare, only in main stream.
2. Catostomus commersonii (Lac.). Common, main stream and tributaries.
3. Catostomus nigricans Le S. Taken only in a small tributary.
4. Moxostoma aureolum (Le S.). In a small tributary.
5. Cyprinus carpio L. Only in main stream.
6. Campostoma anomalum (Raf.). Everywhere.
7. Chrosomus erythrogaster Raf. In two small tributaries.
8. Pimephales promelas Raf. In main stream only.
9. Pimephales notatus (Raf.). Everywhere.
10. Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitch.). Everywhere.
11. Leuciscus elongatus (Kirt.). In one tributary and in Cold Run. The
iridescent coppery red of the sides anteriorly in the living
fish, taken in October, turned scarlet in alcohol.
12. Abramis chrysoleucas (Mitch.). Taken only in main stream.
13. Notropis cayuga Meek. A single specimen taken in Cold Run.
14. Notropis cornutus (Mitch.). Everywhere.
15. Notropis rubrifrons (Cope). Taken only in main stream.
16. Notropis umbratilis lythrurus (Jordan). Taken only in main stream.
17. Ericymba buccata (Cope). Everywhere.
18. Rhinichthys atronasus (Mitch.). In the smallest tributaries.
19. Hybopsis amblops (Raf.). In Cold Run.
20. Hybopsis kentuckiensis (Raf.). Taken only in Cold Run, a single
specimen.
21. Umbra lima (Kirt.). Taken only in the main stream.
22. Eucalia inconstans (Kirt.). Taken only in the main stream.
23. Ambloplites rupestris (Raf.). In main stream and one tributary.
24. Apomotis cyanellus (Raf.). Taken in Cold Run.
25. Lepomis megalotis (Raf.). Taken only in the main stream.
26. Eupomotis gibbosus (Lin.). One specimen taken in a tributary;
determined by Dr. Evermann. Numbers 25 and 26 probably represent
one species.
27. Micropterus dolomieu Lac. Taken only in the main stream.
28. Boleosoma nigrum (Raf.). Everywhere.
29. Etheostoma flabellare Raf. In the main stream and Cold Run.
30. Cottus ictalops (Raf.). Taken only in Cold Run.
* * * * *
MR. A. J. PIETERS, Assistant Botanist in the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture,
has written an interesting and useful article[1] on the plants of
western Lake Erie. This report should be read by all who are interested
in the hydrophytes of Ohio, or in the flora and fauna of Lake Erie. In
addition to some introductory remarks, the paper treats of the plants in
Put-in-Bay, in Squaw Harbor, near Gibraltar Island, in Hatchery Bay and
in the open lake, and the plants of East Harbor. The swamp vegetation is
also discussed, including the plants in the Portage River swamps and in
the swamps about Sandusky Bay. The ecological conditions and the
ecological adaptations of the flora are treated quite fully, and at the
end are given alphabetical lists of the plants studied, including
angiosperms, stoneworts and desmids.
JOHN H. SCHAFFNER.
Footnote 1:
A. J. PIETERS. “The Plants of Western Lake Erie, with Observations on
their Distribution.” Bull. U. S. Fish Commission, 1901, pp. 57–79.
Pls. 11–20.
COLLECTING TABANIDÆ.
JAMES S. HINE.
The habits of flies belonging to the family Tabanidæ, commonly called
horse-flies or gad-flies, furnish much material for study and
observation. I take this opportunity to record some of the notes which I
have taken in the last few years while endeavoring to collect and study
the local species of the family. Although the eggs, larvæ and pupæ of
many species have been studied, what I have to say in this paper
pertains wholly to the adults. Members of the family are usually taken
by every entomologist who does general collecting, but as a usual thing
males are seldom taken; in fact this sex is so poorly represented in
collections that no key has been published for identifying the males of
our American species. The student must use the key to the females as far
as possible and guess at the rest. In very many cases the male is not
even described, so that sometimes, when the sexes are unlike, they can
be associated only by observations in the field. By careful collecting
and observation we have procured practically all of our local species in
both sexes, and the derived benefit, satisfaction and enjoyment have
paid us fully for our time and pains.
In the first place the mouthparts of the two sexes are different—the
male lacks the mandibles which are present in the female. This makes it
necessary for them to procure their food from different sources, the
male obtains his from flowers, while the female lives by puncturing the
skin and sucking the blood of warm-blooded vertebrates. Thus it is
evident that during the time spent in procuring food the sexes cannot
remain together. From an economic standpoint the female most concerns
the student and she is often taken for study without an attempt being
made to procure the male.
At this point I can say collect females around horses, cattle and other
animals, and males on flowers; but this is not enough, for knowing the
general habits of insects we are certain that there is a common ground
where the two sexes may be found together. One finds this common ground
in the vicinity of water, where their transformations take place and
where their eggs are laid, also in various other places, which we shall
take occasion to discuss as we proceed.
The females of all our local species of Chrysops with Tabanus pumilus
and nivosus come buzzing around the collector in numbers, and at such
times may be taken easily with a net. Other species of Tabanus come near
enough that the sound of their wings is recognizable, but are so active
that it is almost impossible to procure them.
During the time the female is ovipositing the male is often sitting near
by on the foliage. At Georgesville, Ohio, June 4th, I observed C. mœchus
ovipositing on foliage overhanging a mill-race; soon after specimens of
the male sex were observed resting on the upper leaves of the same plant
on which females were ovipositing. In a few minutes collecting, a dozen
or more specimens of each of the sexes were procured. The only males of
C. indus I have ever taken were procured at Columbus, on the border of a
small pond, where the females were ovipositing.
The sexes of many species of Tabanus often alight on the bare ground of
paths or roads that run through or along woods. At Cincinnati, June
10th, in company with Mr. Dury, we procured large numbers of the sexes
of different species resting on some furrows that were plowed around a
woods to prevent the spread of fire. We also took the same species
resting in paths and roads that ran through the woods. Some of these
same species were also taken from low-growing foliage in sunny places
among the trees. At Medina, Ohio, males and females of T. vivax and
trimaculatus were taken while resting in a road that ran through a dense
woods.
One of the best places I have ever found to get the sexes of Chrysops
and Tabanus is in the tall grass that skirts the marshes of Sandusky
Bay. This grass is the Phragmites of botanists and grows to a great
height by July 1st. On July 6th, at Black Channel, when the wind was
high I went into a patch of this grass that was so dense that I could
not use a net to advantage. Here I saw an abundance of flies and found
that by approaching them very slowly I could readily pick the specimens
off with my fingers. The male and female of T. stygius, nivosus, C.
æstuans and flavidus and the male of T. affinis and bicolor were taken
in this way. I found that this same species of grass afforded excellent
collecting wherever found, but most material was procured when the wind
was high. On the same date and near the same place the male of C.
flavidus was taken from the flowers of the common spatter-dock, and this
and æstuans were procured by sweeping in the adjacent low-growing
herbage. R. C. Osburn informs me that he has had excellent success in
collecting Tabanids from tall grass near water in his experience.
Tabanus sulcifrons Macq. is an abundant species in northern Ohio during
the latter part of July and all of August. So common that by actual
count twenty-eight specimens were taken from a cow in ten minutes, while
a few that alighted on the animal during that time were not procured.
August 1st of the present year I was at Hinckley, Medina County, and
spent the day taking observations on this species. In the morning about
nine o’clock I went to the border of a woods where I had often observed
the species before. Here males and females were found in abundance
crawling over the trunks and foliage of trees, on the fence along the
woods and flying about generally. One pair was observed in copulation on
the fence, and I am of the opinion that the presence of so many flies in
the locality at the time is explained on the ground that it was the
general mating place of the sexes. On several occasions I have made
observations which lead me to believe that the sexes of various species
of the family copulate among foliage often high up in the trees. As
Tabanids are not easily procured with a net from the surface of a rough
rail, I tried the experiment of picking the specimens off with my
fingers and found that it was surprisingly successful, if the movement
toward them was made very slowly until just ready to touch them when the
fingers were gripped quickly. Near a watering trough where a herd of
cattle drank daily I found males in numbers resting on the ground where
the turf had been tramped off. Along Rocky River I observed both sexes
fly down to the water and dip several times in succession and then away
to alight on a stone on the bank or disappear from sight altogether.
On July 29th I rode from Sandusky to Cleveland by boat. Although we were
from two to five miles off shore all the time, males and females of T.
sulcifrons often came on board and alighted on the canvas and rigging of
the boat. From this it is evident that this species at least may fly for
some distance over water.
We have taken Goniops chrysocoma on several occasions. It has a habit
which is of value to the collector. At Hinckley, Medina County, I took
several females and observed that they have the habit of stationing
themselves on the upper side of a leaf, where by vibrating their wings
rapidly and striking the upper surface of the leaf at each downward
stroke, make a rattling noise which can be heard plainly several feet
away. At Vinton last spring Mr. Morse and myself identified the
characteristic sound of the species and were guided by it to procure
specimens.
I have taken the male of Pangonia rasa on blossoms of sumac at Medina,
Ohio, in August.
OBSERVATIONS ON INSECTS.
JAMES S. HINE.
AGROMYZA SETOSA Loew—The larvæ of several species of the genus Agromyza
are known to mine the leaves and stems of various plants. Cabbage,
potatoes, corn, clover, strawberries, verbenas, chrysanthemums and
sunflowers are among the cultivated plants from which various species of
the genus have been reared; while plantain, round-leaved mallow,
golden-rod, aster, cocklebur, rag-weed and wild-rice are given as their
food-plants. In some cases a single species of fly has been reared from
a half dozen or more different plants. Agromyza setosa Loew, as
determined by Coquillett, was reared in numbers from leaves of
wild-rice, Zizania aquatica, at Sandusky during August of each of the
years 1900 and 1901. Professor Osborn studied the species and its work
in 1900, while my observations were made a year later. Although I
include the notes taken by both of us, many points are needed before a
detailed account of the habits and life history of the species can be
given.
The eggs are conspicuous on account of their abundance and white color,
and are deposited chiefly on the upper surface of the leaves of the food
plant.
The larvæ upon hatching bore into the leaf and feed beneath its upper
covering. When full grown they measure about 6 mm. in length, are white,
or greenish on account of chlorophyl taken in with their food, and are
furnished with strongly chitinous mouth parts. The mines which they make
in the leaves are irregular in width and extend for varying lengths on
one side or the other of the mid-rib. These variations in extent are
usually explainable from the fact that a variable number of larvæ occupy
the different mines. The work of the larvæ is apparent from the first on
the upper side of the leaf, and may be seen beneath after a few days
because of the fact that the parts beneath the mine sooner or later turn
yellow.
The pupa is to be found either in the mine or clinging to the surface of
the leaf. It is brown in color, with two prominences anteriorly where
the attachment with the leaf is effected, and is contained within the
last larval skin so that the legs and wing-pads are at no time visible
from the outside.
BIBIO ALBIPENNIS Say—Larvæ observed in colonies under fallen logs, and
boards which were lying on the ground. Specimens taken April 4th pupated
May 5th and the adults appeared May 13th. The adults were unable to fly
for several hours after they emerged on account of their wings remaining
soft. I observed the first males flying out of doors on the 23d of May.
CHRYSOPILA ORNATA Say—Larva about an inch and a half in length, white in
color, cylindrical, with an enlargement at the posterior end bearing a
number of fleshy elongations which are about the length of their basal
breadth. Found under rotten wood May 1st. Pupa brown, last segment armed
with six spinose teeth, the two on the ventral side arising from the
same base, the remaining abdominal segments furnished with a circlet of
spines near the posterior third. The adult emerged the 18th of June.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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