THE STUDY OF INSECT LIFE 19 



the Equator ; on lonely mountain peaks far above 

 the snow-line, in the tropical forests and swamps, 

 in arid " bad-lands" and deserts, in the hot 

 springs of volcanic regions, in underground 

 caves, and even in the sea. Suitable food and 

 climatic conditions play an important part in 

 limiting the distribution of species, which other- 

 wise would have a far greater range, for insects 

 possess almost unique possibilites of dispersal in 

 the adult stage by flight, and by high and prevail- 

 ing winds which frequently carry them long dis- 

 tances ; while the eggs and larvae, through the 

 agency of floods and tides, may be carried on 

 floating tree-trunks, branches, and similar plant 

 debris, not only from one tropical island to 

 another, but across the ocean for many hundreds 

 of miles. Indeed, the winds and tides have ever 

 been Dame Nature's great distributing agents, 

 and will continue, so long as any life exists upon 

 the earth, to be the prime factors in peopling 

 with plant and animal inhabitants new lands that 

 may rise from beneath the surface of the waters. 

 On one occasion when outward bound for Brazil 

 I had the good fortune to witness a demonstration 

 of the long distance to which winged insects may 

 be carried by a strong prevailing wind. We 

 were in lat. 3 50' S. and long. 32 32' W., and 

 keeping a sharp look out for the interesting 

 volcanic island of Fernando Noronha ; the hour 

 was between eleven and noon, and for the past 

 twenty-four hours we had encountered a steady 

 breeze blowing from the West, that is to say, 

 directly off the distant coast of Brazil. One of 

 the ship's officers called my attention to what 



