THE DISTRIBUTION OF INSECTS IN NEW HAMPSHIRE. 34 1 



metropolis farther north. So that in ascending Mt. Washington, we pass, 

 as it were, from New Hampshire to northern Labrador; on leaving the 

 forests, we come first upon animals recalling those of the northern shores 

 of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the coast of Labrador opposite New- 

 foundland ; and when we have attained the summit, we find insects which 

 represent the fauna of Atlantic Labrador and the southern extremity of 

 Greenland.* 



We have hitherto spoken only of the barren elevations ; below these 

 we find the mountain or wooded region corresponding altogether with 

 the Canadian fauna. The boundary line between this and the Allegha- 

 nian fauna crosses the country at about this latitude, and therefore this 

 region forms a promontory of the Canadian fauna stretching southwardly 

 into the Alleghanian fauna, just as occurs to a greater extent along the 

 chain of the Green Mountains, while the Alleghanian fauna, in its turn, 

 extends northward into the Canadian fauna, along the warmer banks of 

 those rivers which find a southern outlet. We need only wander eight 

 miles north of Mt. Washington itself to find, in the valley of the Andro- 

 scoggin, the entomological fauna of the central portions of the New 

 England states, while between the two, in the mountain region and in 

 that portion of the Canadian fauna lying in the valley of the Peabody, 

 we have such phenomena as the replacement of Polygonia comma of the 

 Alleghanian fauna by P. Faunns of the Canadian, and of Argynnis 

 Aphrodite by A. Atlantis. 



We have, then, three distinct faunas upon the slopes of the White 

 Mountains,! each with its characteristic forms. However much we may 

 expect some difference between the animals of the barren summits and 

 those of the sheltered valleys, we are struck at finding such distinct 

 regions, each sheltering its own peculiar forms, which live, as it were, 

 within a stone's throw of each other, and would seem to be capable of 



* Dr. A. S. Packard, writing of the region about Hopedale, Labrador, says that he found the species of 

 CTmeis in great abundance on the outer barren exposed islands, while those of Brenthis were confined to the 

 valleys of the main land or the southerly slopes of the more protected islands, near the low stunted spruces and 

 the more luxuriant vegetation of that desolate coast. 



t It must not be supposed that all the insects which characterize the faunas of the barren regions have 

 been mentioned. I have only chosen a few from many which might be given. Nearly every year fresh instances 

 are recorded and partial lists have been made. It is unfortunate, however, that we seldom find any specification 

 of the exact locality or height at which an insect has been taken, or of its comparative abundance; so that the 

 notes at hand are worthless for any purposes of distinction between an alpine and a sub-alpine fauna ; they serve 

 only to show how strikingly the general fauna agrees with that of the -whole of Labrador. 



