704 ]MOSQUITOES OF NORTH AMERICA 



immense brood that was developing. The ditches were completed just in time 

 to do their work. At New Brunswick the swarm arrived May 12th, and 

 extended onward. At Newark the invasion was almost unprecedented and com- 

 pelled the closing of stores in some cases. This swarm not only reached Pater- 

 son, but covered the Garret Mountain, where Messrs. Dickerson and Grossbeck 

 found them swarming June 11th. It was reported further that it had extended 

 to Bernardsville, which is well up in the hills, and far enough back to be beyond 

 the reach of ordinary migrations. So in the Pines, cantator reached Lahaway 

 May 17th, weeks ahead of the 1903 record, 



" There is one feature in which cantator differs from the other migratory 

 forms, i. e., both sexes fly together for some distance and occasionally females 

 with developed ovaries are found far from any point where they can deposit 

 them with any hope of development. The males are seen for a day or t\vo only, 

 but they arrive with the females and are evidently able to stand a flight of several 

 miles at least. In Newark and Elizabeth both sexes may be taken on first arrival 

 in equal numbers ; at New Brunswick the males are numerous enough to ' dance ' 

 in small swarms just at dusk. From Lahaway no males have been sent and my 

 records are not sufficiently complete to give the limit of male flight. 



" While, as has been noted, occasional females with developed ovaries are 

 found at some distance from shore, yet this is a feature only in the early arrivals ; 

 t. e., they occur during the week or two after a flight and disappear, none being 

 found during the later days of the brood's stay. Whether they make their way 

 back to the marshes to oviposit, or whether they lay their eggs in the most 

 likely place to be found, is not definitely known. As the percentage of such 

 females is larger in Newark and Elizabeth than in New Brunswick, it is quite 

 probable that many find their way back, and as an occasional brood of the larva 

 is found above the marsh line, it is possible that some may lay eggs which in 

 most instances fail to develop. 



" In New Jersey cantator dominates the Newark, Elizabeth and Raritan 

 meadows early in the season. If the year is favorable, the early start will carry 

 this dominance to midsummer or even through the summer. At the Barnegat 

 shore cantator shares with solUcitans the early honors, but becomes steadily less 

 as the season advances, leaving solUcitans in almost sole possession. At Atlantic 

 City and Cape May I found no cantator during the period when they were 

 swarming further north, though the species does occur there in small numbers 

 throughout the summer. Mr. Brakeley's records show that they must have bred 

 on the Mullica River marshes in greater number than solUcitans during the 

 present year ; but this is probably the southern limit of their dominance, and in 

 ordinary seasons it does not extend so far. Just why they should be more 

 plentiful on the northern marshes I do not know, nor what prevents their devel- 

 opment along the southern shore. 



" In 1903 I found no appearance of cantator dominance south of Sandy 

 Hook; in 1904, as soon as the May swarm developed, I sent Mr. Brehme along 

 the Barnegat shore to Manahawkin, where he found them everywhere, while 

 I sent Mr. Dickerson to Cape May and went myself to Atlantic City, finding 

 only sollicita7is in both places. Twice, in June, I visited Cape May and at 

 neither times found cantator. 



" Cantator enters houses freely where they are open; but is easily kept out by 

 ordinary screening. It does not seek opportunities, but when attracted by light 

 or the human odor it will come indoors much more readily than solUcitans. 

 Among the indoor captures by Mr. Buchholz, this species is well represented 

 throughout the season, scarcely yielding at times to pipiens. It comes to porches 

 readily enough and does not hesitate about getting into the breeziest corners. 



