Chapter Fourteen 



INSECTA 



(Insects) 



Insects are not usually regarded as marine, yet 

 there are a few that are so characteristic of the sea- 

 shore that they merit inclusion here. Of the marine 

 insects, even in a broad sense of the word, the num- 

 ber of species in this region is very small. One of 

 these few, a minute blue collembolan or Spring Tail 

 (Anurida maritime/, Guerin) is occasionally seen 

 among rocks or pebbles in tide pools along the New 

 England and New Jersey coasts. A few closely 

 related species have been found on Long Island 

 beaches but have not yet been found in New Jersey. 



The larvae of certain midges (Chironomidae) 

 frequently live in tide-pools feeding on the green 

 algae. These are truly aquatic larvae, breathing 

 oxygen by means of gill filaments. The adults of 

 these midges usually inhabit the region adjacent to 

 the seashore. Occasionally these larvae are dredged 

 at a considerable distance from shore in water up 

 to 20 fathoms in depth. The most common species is 

 Chironomus oceanicus Packard, which is known from 

 Maine, Massachusetts and New Jersey and probably 

 lives elsewhere along our coast. 



Numerous insects may be considered as mari- 

 time since they are to be found in the brackish water 

 of the salt marshes and inlets and yet are not to be 

 found in the open ocean where the salinity is higher. 

 The most conspicuous of these are the larvae of the 



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