■>io 



PS 1 CHE. 



[October — December 1SS4. 



ed Lake Pontchartrain several times in 

 the first part of April, and also on 19 

 and 20 Jinio. T C(uiUl find no traces of 

 Cicindcla at all tliL-n. either on the 

 beach or elsewhere. They are proba- 

 bly fomid here, however, at other times 

 of the year. Not one was to be seen 

 in the low country along Bayou la 

 Fourche during April, May and June. 

 Leaving New Orleans, and going up 

 the river. I foinid them more plentiful 

 in the higher country in the northern 

 part of the state. They occtn' all along 

 the river on the sand flats above the 

 levee s\ stem and on the sandy inud- 

 banks of the lower river. 



Braclivmis tortiiottariiis is abundant 

 under old wood in moist places. This is 

 a much larger species tiian our northern 

 bomliardiers. and emits its explosions 

 vigorouslv and with continued frequen- 

 cy, causing great pain unless carefully 

 handled. Kirbv and Spence state that 

 they were informed by M. Lacordaire 

 that the burning sensation arising from 

 the discharges of the large exotic species 

 was so painful that he had often been 

 obliged to let those which he had taken 

 escape. ° This species may be among 

 those to which M. Lacordaire had refer- 

 ence; it is certainlv one of the -'large 

 exotic species." These beetles have a 

 wav of curling the tip of the abdomen 

 up so as to eject the burning licjuiil not 

 only behind and on each side but also 

 frontwards over the back, and it is 

 often expelled in drops, and to a con- 

 siderable distance. The bombardiers 

 all seemed, when a log was rolled over, 



^ Kirby and Spence's Entomology, 7th cd., p. 419. 



to take the alarm from the one which 

 first detected the danger and gave the 

 signal by emitting its explosion ; for all 

 the others, wlierever they might be, 

 would follow with their explosions as 

 soon as thev heartl that of one of their 

 number. By this habit 1 often discov- 

 ered individuals that had hidden in holes, 

 or under leaves in the dirt. 



In the flooded forest growths near 

 Bavou la Fourche I found several of the 

 groimd-frcquenting carabidae ( C/ilae- 

 iiiits fiiscicoriiis. C. /aticol/is and 

 otlicis) imdei' chips upon stmnps tiiat 

 rose above the water. So this is 

 how the carabs fared in their flooded 

 home, taking to stumps and logs in 

 default of tiie ground ! Arboreal forms 

 of these genera might be produced in 

 this wav. if inundation were to prevail 

 for a sutHcient length of time and the 

 trees themselves continued to flourish 

 in tiie water as well as before. Before 

 the levee svstem was constructed the 

 coleoptera as well as the other animals 

 of southern Louisiana were undoubted- 

 Iv accu-stomed to tiie periodical immda- 

 tions caused In the risings of the 

 Mississippi forcing them to seek habi- 

 tation elsewhere than on the ground. 

 The gro\md-frequenting species that 

 survived probablv then took to stumps 

 and logs, as in the present instance ; 

 while others confined liiemselves to the 

 foliage or bark of the trees, wliich 

 previouslv had been frequented In them 

 onl\- a portion of the time. .\nd thus 

 thev lived until the waters subsided and 

 allowed them to betake themselves to 

 tiieir old retreats. I'erhajis this ac- 



