CHAPTER XII. 



THE DISTRIBUTION OF INSECTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 



BY SAMUEL H. SCUDDER. 



I. General Considerations. 



PROBABLY no state in the Union presents so striking a variety in 

 ihs> its animal life as New Hampshire. Its northern and southern 

 portions belong to distinct continental faunas ; above the forest growth 

 of its colder region rise some of the highest elevations east of the Rocky 

 Mountains, and these bleak altitudes support a vegetation and an assem- 

 blage of animals intimately resembling those of Labrador and Greenland, 

 while sixty miles to the south nourish animals characteristic of sub- 

 tropical climes. 



In the northern hemisphere, rivers flowing south always exert an 

 influence upon the character of the inhabitants upon its banks ; and the 

 Connecticut, although navigable but fifty miles, is no exception to the 

 rule. At its southern extremity it reaches a warm coast and a latitude 

 where numerous insects occur, whose true metropolis is found in the 

 Carolinas and Floridas. Many of these, following the course of the river, 

 with its warm, moist banks, penetrate into the heart of the country; 

 some are found in central Massachusetts, a few in southern Vermont 

 and New Hampshire, and one or two are found even in the latitude of the 

 White Mountains. It is therefore especially interesting to consider the 

 distribution of a few groups of insects in New Hampshire. 



