December, 1958 



Ross: Faunistic Survkys 



133 



been little recognized as a factor in and 

 a difficulty of identification. A reference 

 series of a few specimens was considered 

 thoroughly adequate for each species. Al- 

 though the value of series of specimens 

 was becoming recognized at the beginning 

 of the twentieth century, the true neces- 

 sity for larger population samples was 

 not fully recognized in insect groups un- 

 til about the 1920's. By this time, in 

 group after group of insects and indeed 

 of other invertebrates, many of the older 

 species units were each being divided into 

 several species separated only by micro- 

 scopic characters, which were often 

 minute in character and difficult to see. 

 So detailed was the knowledge required 

 to identify many of these groups that it 

 was no longer possible for one person to 

 cover reliably the tremendous number of 

 groups which Hart had done so success- 

 fully according to the standards of his 

 day. 



Influenced by these changes, a faunistic 

 program was evolved centering around in- 

 tensive studies of individual groups. The 

 program called for each staff member to 

 study some special group, collect material 

 throughout the state at different seasons 

 and in different habitats, identify the ma- 

 terial, and write up a report of the group 

 for Illinois. It was hoped that the serv- 

 ices of specialists at other institutions 

 could be obtained during the summer 

 months to work with Natural History 

 Survey personnel on Illinois reports. In 

 the original plan, the thought was that 

 these reports could be restricted quite 

 closely to Illinois material and to Illinois 

 species. This plan did in fact prove 

 satisfactory for the aphids and Orthop- 

 tera, which were relatively well known 

 for the country as a whole. When, how- 

 e\er, projects were started for groups 

 which were poorly known for the conti- 

 nent, it was found essential to extend the 

 scope of the reports to cover roughly the 

 mid-central states, as Forbes had implied 

 as a general policy as early as 1900. 



It was recognized early in this pro- 

 gram that many insect groups of little 

 importance economically were neverthe- 

 less of great importance ecologically. An 

 attempt was therefore made to develop 

 a program which would alternate the 

 treatment of groups having principally 



economic importance with those having 

 principally ecological importance. 



Within the bounds of a primarily 

 systematic treatment, it was hoped that 

 basic information could be obtained on 

 the place of the species in nature. Collect- 

 ing programs therefore stressed discover- 

 ing the microhabitats, hosts, seasonal ap- 

 pearance, or other ecological attributes 

 of the different species. 



An aim of great importance which de- 

 veloped for these reports concerned their 

 usability from the viewpoint of the be- 

 ginning student. Many keys made by 

 specialists contained language too tech- 

 nical to be readily understood by non- 

 specialists. Frison was acutely aware of 

 this fact and insisted that all keys in the 

 faunistic bulletins be couched in language 

 as simple as possible and that, wherever 

 helpful to an understanding of characters 

 or specialized terms, illustrations should 

 accompany the keys. 



Frison's plan for faunistic reports was 

 not put into operation until 1928, when 

 F. C. Hottes was employed during the 

 summer as a special appointee to work on 

 the aphids of Illinois. The appointment of 

 Hottes was the first of several of its kind. 

 In 1931, when Frison became Chief, 

 Herbert H. Ross became Systematic En- 

 tomologist. In 1935 the insect systematic 

 program became the Insect Survey Sec- 

 tion of the Natural History Survey. 



The identification of economic insects, 

 always a duty of the Systematic Entomol- 

 ogist, became an important feature of 

 the Section. The Section was called on 

 also for the identification of certain other 

 invertebrates important in agriculture or 

 public health, especially mites, ticks, 

 aquatic Crustacea, and earthworms. In 

 these activities, changing taxonomic con- 

 cepts and the introduction of economic 

 insects and mites new to the state con- 

 tinually increased the difficulties of ac- 

 curate identification and the need for ob- 

 taining additional specialists for the staff. 



In 1947 the faunistic program was 

 expanded to cover all animal groups, with 

 the idea of extending to groups other 

 than the insects the faunal survey aims 

 which had been developed for insects. 

 The Insect Survey Section was renamed 

 the Section of Faunistic Surveys and In- 

 sect Identification, and it became the 



