SUBFAMILY III. COPIPHORIXJK. 



523 



Laporte Co., Ind., Oct. 

 15. Woodhaven, Long 

 Island, N. Y., August 

 (Da pis). This is a 

 xerophytic species, in- 

 habiting sandy districts 

 and is known only from 

 along the Atlantic sea 

 coast from Tape Cod, 

 Mass., to Charlottes- 

 ville, Va., and along the 

 shores of the larger in- 

 land lakes. In Indiana 

 it is known definitely 

 only f r o in Laporte 

 county where it occurs 



Fig. 175. Female. Natural size. (After Beutenmiiller.) quite fl'equeiltlv along 



the shores of Lake Michigan. R. & H. (1015, 300) state that typi- 

 cal robitstus has not been taken over 60 miles from the coast, and 

 without seeing the Laporte Co. specimens have assigned them to 

 N. robust us crcpitans; but they are identical in form of fastigium, 

 size and all other characters with Scudder's type at Cambridge 

 and with specimens from Long Island sent me by Davis as typical 

 lobustus. They also fully agree with the key and description of 

 B & H. of that form. 



Scudder (1874, 376) describes the note of robust us as heard in 

 New England thus: "This insect is exceedingly noisy and sings 

 equally, and I believe similarly, by day and night. The song re- 

 sembles that of the harvest fly, Cicada canicularis. It often lasts 

 for many minutes, and seems, at a distance, to be quite uniform. 

 On a nearer approach one can hear it swelling and decreasing in 

 volume * * * and it is accompanied by a buzzing sound, quite 

 audible near at hand, which resembles the humming of a bee or 

 the droning of a bag-pipe." 



Davis (1887, 57) says that on Staten Island A. robustux "re- 

 sides for the most part mid the grass on sandy ground near the 

 sea shore, though an occasional individual finds its way inland. 

 Along the sea beach they stridulate in early afternoon, especially 

 if slightly cloudy, and when approached they have a curious 

 fashion of dropping to the ground. I have often found them on 

 such occasions actually standing on their heads in the soft sand, 

 leaning against the grass stems which grow so close together 



