PSYCHE. 



COLLEMBOLA OF THE GRAVE. 



BV JUSTUS WATSON FOLSOM, CHAMPAIGN, ILL. 



This article deals with the Collembola 

 collected from graves in Washington, D. 

 C, by Dr. Murray Gait Hotter and re- 

 corded in his important paper* on the 

 fauna of the grave. 



I am indebted to Dr. Motter and Dr. 

 Howard for the opportunity to examine 

 this material. 



In over fifty-six hundred specimens 

 there were only six species, five of which 

 are new. Ninety-seven per cent consist- 

 ed of Isotoma sepulcralis, sp. nov., two 

 per cent of Entomobr}'a lucifuga, n. sp. 

 and the four other species were repre- 

 sented by only thirty-three examples in 

 all. 



The comparison of my results with 

 those tabulated by Dr. Motter shows 

 that, as regards the period of interment, 

 Collembola (usually I. sepulcralis) oc- 

 curred with practically every cadaver 

 from No. i (i yr. ii mos.) to No. 8i 



* M. G. Motter. A contribution to the study of the fauna 

 of the grave. A study of one hundred and fifty disinter- 

 ments, with some additional experimental observations. 

 Journ. N. V. Ent. Soc., vol. 6 (iStjH), pp. 201-231. 



(16 yrs. 5 mos.), and one specimen was 

 found with No. 95 (21 yrs.). In fact, 

 Collembola occurred almost always when 

 the surroundings were in any degree 

 moist, and almost never in a dry envi- 

 ronment ; in the two cases (Nos. 14 and 

 9S) in which they were present in spite 

 of dryness, there were only three individ- 

 uals altogether. Nos. 82-100 were all 

 marked as "dry" and none of them 

 afforded any collembolans except No. 95, 

 just mentioned. From these insects, 

 then, no conclusion of any medico-legal 

 importance appeared, — simply a few 

 facts of entomological interest. 



The most striking characteristics of 

 these subterranean forms are those that 

 may be attributed to the absence of 

 light: all are white — without pigment 

 — and are blind, with the exception of 

 two species, which, of course, have a 

 black ocular pigment. In one of these, 

 the eyes even vary slightly in number. 

 All these species have the chief pecu- 

 liarities of cave insects. The blind Iso- 

 toma fimetaria is known, the world over, 



