HABITS OF THE BLACK CRAPPIE. 9 
in the food are largely those which live in the vegetation along- 
shore, and the same applies to a considerable degree to the clado- 
cerans. The dragon-fly, may-fly, and damsel-fly nymphs eaten are 
those which are found among aquatic plants. The occasional high 
percentages of adult midges and midge pup, with the presence 
of grasshoppers and moths, indicate that feeding often takes place 
at the surface. . 
VARIATION IN FOOD. 
Seasonal variation in the food of the crappies in Lake Wingra is 
shown in Table 1 and in figure 2. In the spring the food is made 
JFMANMNSIASONDO JFMNANJSISIASONO JFMAMJJASOND 


100 25 Se 
90 
a a 20 
70 Amphipods Copepods Odonata 
60 “s im} oygmphs 
50 
4o 10 40 
Jo 
20 $5 e 5 
10 
7) rs) s 
JFMAMJSISIASONO JFMAMSIASOND JFMANSJSJASOND 
25 50 50 
y 77 ; 40 Chironomid 
oe Ephemer:a Chironomid irono. 
nymphs larvae A 
1S ymp 30 Jo i pupae — 
adults--- 
40 20 20 
5 10 10 
o oO Oo 
JFMAMJJASOND JFMAMSJIASOND JEMAMJISJA SIND 
Js 
SO 100. 
90 
: 40 6a 
Corethra Fish zo Cladocera 
larvae 30 60 
2 50 
20 40 
4 JO 
40 20 
10 
‘ 0 0 
Fig. 2.—Percentage by volume of nine of the chief constituents of crappie food, so 
arranged as to show sequence throughout the year, from amphipods, with their 
maximum in February, to cladocerans, which attain their maximum volume in 
September. 
up, for the most part, of amphipods, copepods, and cladocerans. 
During the summer larve, pups, and adults of insects are eaten in 
large quantities, but cladocerans continue to be utilized. In the 
autumn, cladocerans, small fishes, and chironomid larve are the 
chief foods. Adult crappies do not appear to feed in the winter. 
Though fishing was carried on each week with gill nets, or with 
hooks and lines, none was caught from October 14, 1916, until Febru- 
ary 14, 1917 (Pearse and Achtenberg, forthcoming report). 
