ENTOMOLOGIOAL SDCIETY OF ONTARIO. 47 



that principle throughout his check list to all seasonally polymorphic butterflies. Lst the 

 same principle be followed in dealing with all sorts of variitions, amongst all kinds of 

 insects, and worked out in thair classification, so far as is known, and what an amount of 

 exact information could be conveyed at a glance as to the relationship of the diSerent 

 parts of any multiform species. We would have the diS'erent forms that are to be found 

 in separated localities in the same coiiati-y distinguished by nam3, and the forms of the 

 same species found in other countries, continents or islands, with distinguishing names, 

 whilst their habitat might be indicated as well. We should have also the kind of varieties, 

 whether permanent local forms or incidental variations on these, brought about by the 

 intermingling of separate forms, varieties wh.oUy the result of natural operations, or 

 produced by man's interference with the course of nature in pursuit of his own ends, and 

 thus including the most recent variations ; giving an opportunity to indicate forms that 

 may have been exterminated through altered conditions, varieties seasonal, sexual or 

 unaccountable, thus giving a world-wide view of every variable species according to the 

 extent of knowledge procurable up to date, laying a solid and certain foundation for 

 future advances in the same direction. It would be an immense convenience if species 

 could be defined by app3arance with certainty, but past exparience ha^, so far, proved it 

 hopeless. An approximation to the facts is the most that can be looked for. Ova, larvae, 

 and pupse can all be classified by appearances as well as imagoes, but a sys':em reared 

 upon preparatory stages would fail of certainty as sure as on the mature one. No regu- 

 larly graduated line can be formed of either, soma inconvenient breaks are found in all. 

 Some forms are found that will not fit in comfortably anywhere, whilst afl&aities are found 

 in others that point in opposite directions. Yet for final arrangement and classification 

 surely it is upon the affinities and resemblances of the mature form it ought to be founded, 

 all the others being but preparatory thereto. So I conclude that the limit of species is 

 found by uniting two, when the beings produced are uniformly non-prodnctive, but the 

 limit of variation cannot be reached until the power to produce different conditions and 

 combinations has b«en exhausted. 



SOME WINTER INSECTS FROM SWAMP MOSS. 

 By W. Hague Harrington, F.R.S.C, Ottawa. 



Where are the insects in winter I What becomes of all the varied winged and 

 painted forms that in the hot summer hours fill the air with movement and sound ? Then 

 every nook and corner of the land has its tiny familiar folk, flitting from flower to flower, 

 in restless haste ; every plant has its devouring hosts, and crawling, running, leaping 

 creatures swarm in every direction. With the shortening days and the approach of frost, 

 the myriads of insects, which have added so much to the joyous, exuberant life of sum- 

 mer, fast disappear and silence broods through forest glades and over meadow vales, which 

 rang continuously with the shrill murmurings and stridalations of the innumerable 

 orchestra. A few drowsy flies crawling on a sunny surface, or an occasional butterfly 

 flitting in the midday warmth, m\y occur until winter has well set in, bat these at last 

 disappear. The winds strip ofi the dead foliage, the frost congeals the surface of the 

 ground, and snow covers, beneath its chill pure shroud, a land from which all life seems to 

 have departed. " All the insects are dead " the thoughtless remark, forgetting for the 

 moment that they will be as numerous and lively in the forthcoaaing summer, and that 

 none of the immense variety of forms will be created afresh. 



Certainly the vast majority of the individuals, which are seen during the warmer 

 season, perish before the close of the season, for the life of most insects is but a brief 

 span, but the perpetuity of the species is preserved in spite of the apparent death of all 

 the individuals. In some secure hiding places, then, the representat-ives of eaoh species 

 must remain daring the long months of frost and snow. Those who have not made a 

 study of our smaller forms of life would find it difficult to search out any of the swarms 

 which are waiting for the vivifying breath of spring. Some might remetnber that our 

 houseflies have crawled away into cracks and orevlzis, iron which to slu^ishly emerge 



