100 NATURAL HISTORY OF AMIA CALVA LINN^US. 



metres they flee from the net with so much skill that it requires an experienced 

 man to capture them. At this time also they react in a characteristic way to 

 the departure of the male. As the male leaves the school he gives a sharp 

 splash at the surface of the water with his tail. This behavior of the male was 

 not noted with the younger schools. The reaction of the larvae to this stimulus 

 is thus described. "The male went away with a splash of the tail, and it was then 

 noted that the larvse, which had before been at the surface, easily visible, were 

 no longer seen. They were soon seen working slowly up from the bottom, where 

 they had been concealed in the deep shadows among the weeds. I then struck 

 the water sharply with my stick in imitation of the splash of the male's tail and 

 the larvae at once disappeared. The utility of this reaction is obvious." In 

 another case "the male was frightened away and the larvse scattered and hid 

 at the bottom. The male returned after a while, but was again frightened by a 

 slight movement. He soon came back, brushed past my boot and stopped very 

 near me. The larvse then gradually returned to him from all directions and finally 

 enveloped him so that he was completely hidden. It was then possible to take 

 some of the larvae with the net without disturbing the male." These larvse were 

 about 45 millimetres long. This behavior of the larvse, as suggested by Whitman 

 and Eycleshymer, who have described it ('97), has probably given rise to the myth 

 that the males swallow the young when danger threatens. 



e. The breaking up of the schools. This has not been observed, nor is it likely 

 to be. There is no record of a school of larvae longer than 100 millimetres (Dean, 

 '96, '98). In the middle of June, when the larvae are some 90 to 100 millimetres 

 long, the schools are much spread out, consist of few individuals, and are moving 

 with great rapidity. The male, whenever I have seen him, then follows the school 

 at a little distance. At this time, then, there is evidence of a loosening of the rela- 

 tions between the larvae and between them and the male, and one watching a 

 school feels that it is not likely to hold together long. 



9. The Behavior of the Male while with the School. The headlong rush of the male 

 when frightened from his nest or school, the splash with the tail at the surface when 

 leaving the school, and the subsequent shy return, have been already referred to. 



Once I saw a returning male approach the circling fragments of j his school as 

 though to guide them to the main body. When they came in contact with him 

 they stopped at once and bunched, but they may come within five or six inches 

 of him without stopping. The behavior of a male apparently in search of his 

 swarm I have noted thus: "The 'two-spot' male was found, but without his 

 swarm. He met me as I waded out and then turned and retreated. He then 



