126 DAVENPORT ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES. 



except in partially- cleared openings or along wood-roads. The face 

 of the country is extremely rough, bold rocky hills alternating with 

 deep ravines, most of which form the course of some small stream, or, 

 failing this, there may be a series of small cold pools with boggy spots 

 between. The lake shore is in most places bordered by high bluffs, 

 but two or three fine beaches are within easy reach, and with the 

 marshes lying back of them furnished quite a num])er of forms not 

 found elsewhere in the vicinity. A peat-bog of several acres in extent 

 also proved very productive of peculiar species. Very little farming 

 has been carried on, and consequently we find few introduced species, 

 so that almost the entire number of those enumerated may ])e con- 

 sidered indigenous. 



The period covered by my collections is that l)etween the middle of 

 June and the end of Jnly. This will account for certain deficiencies 

 in the list which will be evident to every one who is familiar with the 

 Spring fauna of our Northern States. Thus the poor showing in the 

 Staphylinidte, Pselaphidas, and Scydmaenid^ may be partially ex- 

 plained. The Carabidce are tolerably well represented, but the curious 

 absence of any species of the genus Brachinus is worthy of note, since 

 a number of them are found in the Canadian provinces to the east- 

 ward. There is a good representation of the genus Platynus (as usual 

 in our northern regions) and of Harpalus, while the Scaritini are but 

 poorly developed, only three species of one genus {Dyschirius) appear- 

 ing on the list. The Water Beetles were not found in such abundance 

 as I had hoped from a perusal of lists from northern localities, and of 

 those named in the present report a great part were taken not in water 

 but under moss in damp spots — a peculiarity which I have noted in 

 some species of Agabus collected on a previous trip to Alaska. Sein- 

 ing was very unproductive, but a good many things were washed up 

 by the lake on stormy days, and might be picked up along the beach, 

 some of them alive, others apparently drowned by the buffeting of the 

 surf. Staphylinidai were not given quite as much attention as some 

 other families, and as the North American Aleocharini are for the 

 most part undescribed, but few of them appear in ihe list. The absence 

 of Blediiis is of interest, and is to be noted as a companion incident 

 to the dearth of Scaritini, mentioned above. Most of the small 

 Silphidse were taken in slime-moulds of the genus Stcmonitis, though 

 Agathidium may l)e taken on various fungi or in rotten wood pene- 

 trated by the mycelia. In the Coccinellidae the occurrence of Hyper- 

 aspis quadrivittata is very interesting, as it is more essentially southern 



