16 



EXPERIMENTS IN THE BREEDING OF CERIONS. 



but we secured 8 individuals belonging to the second generation of 

 Florida-grown specimens, of which table 3 gives measurements. They 

 are figured on plate 24, middle set of figures. 



TABLE No. 3. Measurements of the second generation of Florida-grown Cerion viarcgis 



from the second key north of Sands Key. 



THE COLONY ON TEA TABLE KEY. 



On June 1, 1912, we planted 500 specimens of Cerion viaregis on Tea 

 Table Key. These were scattered about the ruins of an old house on 

 the north side of the island. The ground seemed ideal, coarse calcare- 

 ous beach sand supporting a scanty scattered herbaceous vegetation. 

 When we visited the place on April 27, 1913, where the planting 

 had been made, we found it covered with a rank growth of a mal- 

 vaceous plant which seemed to be unsuited to the Cerions, for they 

 had all left it and wandered inland, some as much as 100 feet. Most 

 of them expired on this journey, for of the 75 recovered, only 3 were 

 alive; these we placed in a clump of Hymenocallis, about 200 feet 

 northwest of a cordia tree, which is about 100 feet west of the old build- 

 ing where the first planting was made. The aspect of the place where 

 the original planting was made seemed very favorable for Cerions 

 last year, for the malvaceous plants had died and shed their foliage 

 after fruiting. 



Our visit on April 22, 1914, showed no living Cerion. At that time 

 the island was completely overrun with crabs, the entire land mass 

 being simply riddled with then- burrows. It is quite possible that the 

 small hermit crabs which were also swarming on this key at the time 

 may have carried off the dead shells. 



It seems safe to assume that the colony on this key is extinct, as our 

 visits in 1915, 1916, 1917, and 1919 showed no trace of Cerions, and in 

 January 1919 the greater part of the key was covered by a tomato 



plantation. 



THE COLONY ON DUCK KEY. 



On June 2, 1912, a planting of 500 specimens of Cerion viaregis was 

 made on the south side of Duck Key. At that time the key was 

 covered by a scattered growth of Uniola paniculata. On our visit on 

 April 28, 1913, this colony was doing well. 



