159 



COLLECTING ON THE GULF COAST OF 



SOUTHERN TEXAS. 



Bv S. Frank Aaron. 

 It is the general opinion of collectors in entoniolog-y, who have not 

 x'isited our semi-tropical localities, that the farther South one goes the 

 more rapidly he can wield his net, and fill his collecting boxes. And 

 this is mainly true. There are, however, some exceptions to this; 

 localities where the peculiar climate and vegetation combine to produce 

 rather rare and interesting things, but few in numbers and short-lived 

 at that. Such a locality is Southwestern Texas, between Laredo, i6o 

 miles inland, on the Rio (irande, and Corpus Christi on the Gulf 

 Coast. 



Along the Rio Crrande, on both the Texas and Mexican sides, is a 

 broad belt of partly sterile land, where little if any grass grows, but 

 instead, great quantities of the common cactus or prickly pear, mesquite 

 (a kind of locust), black chaparral, some so-called ebony and yellow- 

 berry bushes, and other scrub vegetation suited to the sandy dry soil. 

 Over this area there is found very little insect life, and it has occurred to 

 me that insects, especially butterflies, dread to cross it, as they would a 

 broad expanse of water. In some places this dead-land belt continues 

 for over a hundred miles from the river on the Texas side. Near 

 the coast it becomes fresher and a little grassy. North of this belt the 

 broad grass pastures begin and there is le.ss chaparral and cactus, till 

 they disappear entirely as one travels up the coast. During the past 

 summer I made my headquarters at Corpus Christi and collected for 

 the most part within a radius of fifty miles to the north and west. 

 Corpus Christi is situated just a little north of the dead-land belt, and 

 being on the coast is surrounded by many broad pastures, but retains 

 much of the dead-land vegetation. Here it is that the collectino- may 

 be said to commence, but much depends on whether the seasons are 

 wet or dry. From the middle of March (the time I commenced col- 

 lecting ! to the middle of May it rained a greater part of the time, 

 generally copious showers in the morning and afternoon, with sunshine 

 between. This, with June, was the season for the wild flow'ers, and we 

 in the Northern States cannot imagine their beauty and variety. How- 

 ever, I would visit large patches and fields full of the most honeyed of 

 them, but few insects could be taken at this season. I can think only 

 of this explanation: before these rains set in there had been a long dry 

 spell, and this had most probably interfered with the preparatory 

 stages; in June the rains ceased, leaving for a time the flowers and 

 blossoms, and plenty of the purest blue sky and sunshine; then came 

 the insects, and through this month and the first two weeks in July my 

 net was kept going vigorously. Then as no later showers had come to 

 keep up the needed moisture, and Old Sol had shone down with all 



