MORSE: ORTHOPTERA OF NEW ENGLAND. 251 
This opening paragraph of Scudder's essay on "The Distri- 
bution of Insects in New Hampshire," written in 1874, and based 
especially on the records known at that time of the butterflies 
and Orthoptera of that State, applies almost equally well to New 
England in its entirety as we know it today. 
The Orthoptera are a heat-loving group of insects and diminish 
rapidly in number of species and individuals in cold climates as 
compared with warm. There is much difference even in the 
extremes of so small a district as New England, there being 
relatively few in northern and eastern Maine as compared with 
southern Connecticut. Certain species are as distinctively 
northern in distribution as others are characteristically southern, 
while others still are spread over the entire country. In these 
particulars the Orthoptera agree with other animals and plants 
and it is easily recognized that New England, small as it is, is 
crossed by three belts or zones of life: a northern, represented by 
boreal species of animals and plants; a narrow southern, con- 
taining austral species; and a broad transition belt where species 
of both boreal and austral derivation overlap in distribution. 
The delimitation of these zones is based on data of distri- 
bution secured from studies of various groups of animals, — 
especially mammals, birds, and butterflies, — and on the results of 
botanical research also. Their boundaries are characterized by 
great irregularity and follow in a general way the course of the 
mean annual isotherms, being strongly influenced by elevation 
and topography. A glance at the accompanying map, Fig. 22, 
will render the matter clearer than pages of description. This 
map is derived from that prepared by S. H. Scudder to illustrate 
the faunal areas of New England in his monograph of the but- 
terflies of the eastern United States and Canada (1889-1890), 
the isotherms contributed by Professor W. M. Davis. 
The three zones or belts appear clearly, and the Transition is 
further subdivided into northern and southern portions according 
with the restricted distribution of certain species. It will be 
noticed at once that there is a marked interdigitation of faunal 
areas corresponding with the north and south extension of 
mountain-chains and river- valleys; the influence of the sea-coast 
also is noticeable. These various physical features markedly 
affect the climate and consequently the distribution of many 
