1914.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 461 



of S. obscura just as rubiginosa may be a similar phase of S. alutacea. 

 Where the bay berry formation is more open, the grassy tracts 

 extending about and between the bushes abound in Melanoplus 

 fctnur-rubrum and Orphulella pelidna, while associatetl with them are 

 nuieh smaller, but not inconsiderable numbers of Orchelimum vulgare, 

 Scudderia iexensis, Conocephalus robustus and, locally at least, 

 Schistocerca americana. Along the edges of the salt meadows and 

 about the dune depressions these forms meet and more or less inter- 

 mingle with the Submaritime species. 



At the present time it is difficult to decide which of the species 

 given in the above list are indigenous to the islands and which have 

 been secondarily introduced through human agency. There can be 

 no doubt that human occupancy by destroying primitive conditions, 

 introducing artificial conditions and establishing railroads, turnpikes 

 and other avenues of communication with the mainland has effected 

 and is still effecting far-reaching changes in the faunal and floral 

 features of the islands. The clearing away of the bayberry thickets 

 over large tracts and the levelling of the dunes into building lots, 

 together with the importation of gravel from the mainland, have 

 resulted in the introduction of the common grasses and weeds of the 

 mainland, with the result that near all thickly populated parts the 

 vegetation is almost exclusively of the weedland type. In such 

 places one regularly meets such Orthoptera as Melanoplus femur- 

 rubrum, Chortophaga viridifasciata, Dissosteira Carolina, and Orcheli- 

 mum vulgare. 



Certain species, common on the neighboring mainland, are so 

 rare or exceptional on the beaches that there can be little doubt that 

 they represent quite recent introductions. Among these we may 

 mention Hippiscus phoenicopterus (1 individual taken in a vacant 

 lot at Sea Isle City, apparently the only instance of its occurrence 

 on the beaches), Melanoplus femoratus (a few taken at Anglesea), 

 Conocephalus triops (1 taken on Seven-mile Beach) and Xiphidium 

 slricium (1 each from Avalon and Cape May). Two additional 

 species apparently very rare on the beaches are Scirtetica marmoraia 

 and Scudderia furcata. It is doubtful whether these last two forms 

 are recent introductions or relicts from a time when the islands were 

 more extensively wooded. My own specimens of these forms from 

 the beaches came from Seven- and Five-mile Beaches, both of which 

 were until recently extensively wooded. 



I have never seen Orphulella speciosa on any of the beaches, but 

 the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia has several examples 



