December, 1958 



Ross: Faunistic Surveys 



135 



The entomological collection has been great- 

 ly enlarged, especially in Diptera, and a large 

 number of determinations in all orders have 

 been made. The named collection is now con- 

 tained in 160 double boxes, and numbers 

 about 5,000 species, each being represented, 

 as a rule, by four selected specimens. The 

 pinned and determined duplicate insects on 

 hand — largely in process of distribution to 

 public schools — amount to 42,600 specimens. 

 The alcoholic insects, including large numbers 

 of larvae, are contained in about 10,200 bot- 

 tles and vials. 



Although we have no later estimates 

 of the size of this insect collection, it is 

 obvious from material now in the collec- 

 tion that by 1910 Hart was keeping much 

 larger series of each species. 



In addition to material gathered by the 

 staff, in the Natural History Survey col- 

 lection are several collections of note that 

 have been given to or acquired by the 

 Survey. Notable items include the W. 

 A. Nason collection (insects of Algon- 

 quin, Illinois), the C. W. Stromberg 

 collection (insects of northwestern Illi- 

 nois), the Andreas Bolter collection (all 

 orders of insects), the Emil Beer Lepidop- 

 tera collection, the Charles Robertson 

 collection (insects on flowers), the L. J. 

 Milne caddisfly collection, the C. L. 

 Metcalf flower fly collection, the W. P. 

 Hayes weevil collection, the A. D. Mac- 

 Gillivray sawfly collection, the P. N. 

 Musgrave water beetle collection, and the 

 K. F. Auden beetle collection. Amateur 

 entomologists, such as Murray O. Glenn 

 of Henry and Alex K. Wyatt of Chicago, 

 have made numerous valuable additions 

 to the collection. 



Because of special taxonomic interests 

 on the part of staff members, the collec- 

 tion is unusually comprehensive in certain 

 groups of insects. To this category be- 

 long the stoneflies, mayflies, and caddis- 

 flies; the aphids, mirids, and leaf hoppers; 

 the leaf beetles, rove beetles, and June 

 beetles ; the sawflies and bees ; the thrips 

 and psocids ; the springtails ; and a few 

 groups of the true flies. In many orders 

 the collection contains a great deal of ma- 

 terial of the immature stages, which have 

 been emphasized in our reports. The 

 large collections of rove beetles, sawflies, 

 and ectoparasitic groups are associated 

 with plans for future projects. 



Since 1925 primary types at the Nat- 

 ural History Survey have been segregated 



for reference and protection. In 1927 

 these represented about 1,000 species; the 

 number now stands at about 2,500 spe- 

 cies. At present the total insect collection 

 contains roughly 2,000,000 specimens, in- 

 cluding over 50,000 slide mounts, repre- 

 senting about 40,000 species and housed 

 in 2,700 insect drawers and 100,000 

 vials. 



FAUNISTIC REPORTS 



The preparation and publication of re- 

 ports on the animals of Illinois, a respon- 

 sibility repeated several times in mandates 

 to the Natural History Survey and its 

 predecessors, was begun with the first 

 publications of the Illinois Natural His- 

 tory Society and has been continued to the 

 present. Many of the first reports were 

 mere lists, often local in nature, and have 

 needed revision or complete retreatment. 



In addition to the chiefly systematic 

 accounts outlined below, ecological and 

 economic studies over the years have con- 

 tained a wealth of records and descrip- 

 tions of a large number of species. This 

 is true especially of surveys of the sand 

 areas, prairie and forest areas, and exten- 

 sive bottom fauna and shore studies of the 

 large rivers. 



Vertebrates 



Faunistic reports have been published 

 on all the vertebrate groups occurring in 

 Illinois. Certain of the older reports are 

 now out-of-date because of our greatly 

 increased knowledge of the fauna. 



Fishes. — The work on Illinois fishes 

 may truly be considered the first sustained 

 faunistic project carried on by personnel 

 of the Natural History Survey or its par- 

 ent organizations. The project was begun 

 with Forbes' first connection with the 

 Illinois Natural History Society and con- 

 tinued as a cohesive systematic study until 

 1909. 



At the time of birth of the Illinois Nat- 

 ural History Society, approximately three- 

 quarters of the Illinois fishes had been de- 

 scribed and named by such distinguished 

 early ichthyologists as Rafinesque, Le 

 Sueur, Girard, Agassiz, Mitchell, and 

 Kirtland. Half a dozen of these species 

 were first discovered in Illinois waters. 

 During the next three or four decades, 



