1920] MetcalJ-Osborn: Insects of Between-Tide Zone 113 



Myndus enotatus VanDuzee. 



This species was taken at Southport in a tidal flat much of 

 which was covered with a rather coarse grass and in which 

 DeUocephalus littoralis was found in abundance. All specimens 

 of the Myndus secured were in the adult stage and no data was 

 secured as to the larval stages. Inasmuch as Myndus radicis 

 Osb. occurs under the surface of the ground and on the roots 

 or crowns of grasses growing in low ground notably, so far as 

 observed, in a river bed subject to periodical overflow, it will be 

 a matter of interest to determine if possible whether the nymphal 

 stages of enotatus have a similar habit in the tidal flats. 



VanDuzee says of enotatus: "This form was swept from the 

 grass on the prairies at Haw Creek in untold thousands and in 

 lesser numbers at other localities farther south," but nothing 

 is said to indicate their occurrence in areas subject to 

 inundation . 



The species is recorded in VanDuzee's Catalogue for 

 "Georgia and Florida," so the North Carolina record gives it 

 a considerably wider range. Specimens in the Ohio State Uni- 

 versity Collection from Bay Ridge, Maryland, collected by 

 Prof. J. S. Hine, appear to belong here also and these would 

 agree with a maritime distribution. Whether the species is 

 strictly limited to one species of grass and this one confined to 

 the tidal flats of the Atlantic coast will need to be determined 

 by further study but certainly the species has been able to 

 accommodate itself to the tide flat habitat and there is little 

 doubt that it is able to undergo periods of submergence lasting 

 for a number of hours. There does not appear, however, to be 

 any structural modifications differing from species occurring 

 where no such peculiar condition prevails and as in other species 

 it would seem that the insect has simply been able to follow its 

 food plant into an unusual environment. 



Megamelanus spartini Osb. 



This species was beaten from the heads of the common ' ' sea 

 oats" (Uniola paniculata) which fringe the dunes on and near 

 the tidal flats and while we did not find evidence of this species 

 occurring below tide level the close adaptation of the species to 

 its habitat in the heads of the grass and its relationship to 

 species definitely adapted to submerged conditions seem to 

 warrant mention of it here. 



