30i THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



COLLECTING COLEOPTERA IN A MAINE SAWMILL YARD. 



BY C. A. FROST, FRAMINGHAM, MASS. 



One of the most prolific and interesting collecting places that I have 

 ever found, is the yard of an old sawmill situated on the banks of the 

 Cochnewagin Stream, below the village of Monmouth, Maine. This mill 

 was a picturesque and weatherbeaten structure as long ago as I can rem- 

 ember, and has been built and in constant operation for at least a hundred 

 years. The logs are hauled into the yard during the winter months and 

 remain there under natural conditions of moisture until they are converted 

 into lumber ; thus they do not come in contact with the water for a long 

 period as is usually the case. I have not been able to find many specimens 

 in the yard of a steam sawmill near the lake where the logs remain in the 

 water all the spring. 



For several years past, while on my vacations, I have spent many 

 hours collecting on the logs, and the slab and board piles, to the neglect 

 of other localities. During the first hot period of 1909 (June 20 to 26) I 

 collected nearly eight hours each day for three days in this mill-yard and 

 secured over five-hundred specimens, exclusive of a hundred Monoham- 

 mus sciitellatus which swarmed in such numbers that I think three hun- 

 dred more could have been taken. 



From June 20 to 25, 19 10, fairly hot weather prevailed, but, on account 

 of the previous cool weather and the greatly diminished amount of lumber, 

 the collecting was not as good as in former years. The slab piles below 

 the mill, however, yielded many good things'as did the alder bushes and 

 dying trees along the brook. 



The following notes, concerning species that have been taken in or 

 near this mill-yard, may be of interest. 



The CarabidsB were limited to specimens of Tachys nainis and flavi- 

 Cauda under bark, and a few specimens of Pterostichus adoxus which were 

 hiding under bits of wood near the slab piles beside the brook. Pterosti- 

 chus rostratus, Chlœjiius sericeus, and several species of Bembidiuju and 

 Platyjius have also been taken in this locality if not actually in the yard. 



The Staphylinidœ have been represented thus far by a iQ.vi bark- 

 haunting species, and one or two others on the flowers of Viburnum 

 growing near the logs. On these flowers were taken Cercus abdominalis 

 and Epurœa sp. representing the Nitidulidœ, with Cryptorhopalum 

 hœî7iorrhoidale of the Dermestidce, 



Silvanus bidentaius, Lcemophlœus biguttatus and adustus were found 



October, 1912 



