The Ciiane-Flies of New York — Part I 827 



on the adjacent zones. Thus the Canadian life zone of southern Canada 

 and the northern United States extends southward in the mountains 

 as far as Georgia, the same faunal and floral conditions prevailing in the 

 high Alleghenies of Virginia and the Great ^moky Mountains of western 

 North Carolina as are found at much lower levels in the northern parts 

 of the United States. By this it is seen that the same result is obtained 

 by climbing these mountains as by a long journey from south to north, 

 a rise of a few feet in altitude being equivalent to many miles of latitude. 

 Similarly there are extensions of the Upper Austral zone northward 

 into the Transition zone, these being produced by favorable conditions 

 of warmth and moisture. In New York State is found an extensive 

 Austral belt along the southern shores of Lake Ontario, altho the country 

 due southward is Transitional or even Canadian in its tendencies. Such 

 isolated islands are by no means infrequent.^ 



The crane-fly fauna seems to be fairly well distributed in these zones, 

 and in the following pages the various species are arranged in 

 their respective places. As has already been stated, crane-flies are 

 notable lovers of rich vegetation, usually near running or standing water. 

 Definite groups of crane-fly species may be expected to occur in certain 

 floral communities, this relationship being often well marked. In cold 

 Canadian woods, such as are found in the Adirondacks and Catskills 

 and as isolated islands in the bogs and gorges thruout the State, definite 

 plant associations are found, each of which supports an equally well- 

 defined society of crane-flies. As a correlation and aid in checking these 

 various species, the plants that the writer believes to be characteristic 

 of the different life zones are herewith included. 



The Boreal region 



The Arctic-Alpine zone. — "The Arctic or Arctic-Alpine zone lies 

 above the limit of tree growth and is characterized by such plants as 

 the arctic poppy, dwarf willow, and various saxifrages and gentians. . . . 



^ The following papers refer to this subject: 



Bray, William L. The development of the vegetation of New York State. New York State Coll. For- 

 estry, Syraeuse Univ., Tech. pub. 3:1-186. 1915. 



Eaton, Elon Howard. IJife zones of New York State. In Birds of New York. New York State Museum, 

 Memoir 12':19-42. 1910. 



Merriam, C. Hart. The geographic distribution of life in North America. Smithsonian Inst., Ann. 

 Kept. Bd. Regents 1891:36.5-415. 1893. 



Merriam, C. Hart. Life zones and crop zones of the United States, Part H. U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. 

 Biol. Survey, Bui. 10 : 18- .53. 1898. 



Miller, Gerrit S., jr. Life zones of New York. In Preliminary list of the mammals of New York. New 

 York State Museum, Bui. 6™ : 280-292. 1899. 



