64 Journal New York Entomological Society. [Vol. xxi. 



beetles which, when climatic conditions are just right, fly, or are car- 

 ried by the wind up to the summits where they are found in the build- 

 ings or under whatever shelter offers at the top. 



While I have not personally been successful in collecting in the 

 merely temporary rain pools on the summit of Mt. Washington, pre- 

 sumably because it is too late, in September when I have been there, 

 to expect these insect flights, Mrs. Slosson and others have taken 

 many species of Dytiscidse in them. 



But the various " lakes " of the 5, coo foot level along the Presiden- 

 tial Range, — the Lakes of the Clouds on Mt. Washington ; Starr Lake, 

 smaller and more shallow in the col between Mt. Adams and Mt. 

 Madison ; Storm Lake, a mere puddle in the rocks on Mt. Adams ; 

 Peabody Spring, close to Storm Lake; and Spaulding's Spring on the 

 side of Mt. Jeft'erson, — have never failed me, however cold or dis- 

 agreeable the weather, and collecting in this region, with its rich yield 

 of interesting species and with such a glorious setting of natural 

 scenery on all sides, seems to me to be just about ideal. 



ENVIRONMENT OF HYDROPHID^. 



By Fred. Wintersteiner, 

 Long Island City. 



While all Hydrophilidae except the sub-family Sphseridiini (which 

 live on decaying plants or manure) are aquatic, swimming ability is 

 found only in the genera Hydrous, Tropistcrnus, Hydrophilus and 

 Bcrosus, the others crawling on submerged vegetation or clinging 

 to various submerged objects. They exhibit a uniform dull colora- 

 tion varying from piceous to testaceous, with very few exceptions, as 

 in Hydrobiiis tcssclatiis and certain species of Tropisternus and 

 Berosns, or in the dull cuprous tinge of some Helephorini. The un- 

 derside of the last named is provided with a pubescence, retaining air 

 which modifies their specific gravity and causes them to float to the 

 surface, ventral side upwards, when the vegetation to which they 

 cling is sufficiently disturbed to break their hold. According to Euro- 

 pean authors eggs are laid in cocoons, which in Hydrous and Hy- 

 drophilus float freely on the surface of the water, while in Hydrobitis 



