THE AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



37 



adhered to the bones, in a wet and mouldy 

 condition, communicating its moisture to 

 surrounding objects. Upon pieces of 

 wood and boards that lay upon this heap, 

 and were thus kept perpetually moist, we 

 captured seven specimens of Campodea, 

 (Fig. 8, described hereafter) and four 

 of Machilis, both of which though blind 

 had the habits of their felatives the Bristle- 

 tails and Poduras, also five specimens of the 

 blind Pseudo-scorpion, [Chthoniiis Pack- 

 ardi Hagen, described and figured in the 

 second part) and two specimens of a 

 transparent and delicate Psocus with small 

 eyes and rudimentary or undeveloped 

 wings. The last is perhaps a wanderer 

 from without, but the three former are 

 blind and colorless, true cave forms. The 

 larger cave fly {Anthomyia) was common 

 about the ledges,,and a single specimen of 

 Afiophthalmus Menetriesii, which presents 

 an extreme amount of variation, was dis- 

 covered after much searching, deeply 

 hidden in a crevice, four feet above the 

 floor. 



Some of the numerous fragments of 

 wood that lay scattered about the chamber 

 were covered with thick downy masses of 

 brown or white mould, and no life could 

 be found upon them. The greater part 

 were however dry and but slightly mouldy, 

 and upon such pieces we discovered four 

 specimens of a Lathridiid beetle, {Cor- 

 ticarid) with well-developed eyes, and 

 not differing remarkably from other 

 cellar-inhabiting species of the same ge- 

 nus.* 



At noon my friend left me and returned 

 to the hotel. I was too much excited to 

 interrupt this my first acquaintance with a 

 true cave fauna, and momentarily expected 

 to find a new beetle or to make some other 

 grand discovery. I left the Rotunda and 

 proceeded along Audubon Avenue perhaps 



* Packard's list of wanderers into the cave does not include 

 this beetle. He mentions {Am. Nat. v, p. 286) from 

 neighboring caves, Bairisus spretus^ Quedius fiilgidus., and 

 two other Staphylinid beetles, probably both common 

 Philonthi^ but his beautifully executed figures are rendered 

 valueless for specific determination by the omission of the 

 punctation and other details. Cope also names three 

 species of beetles taken within the mouth of Wyandotte Cave 

 in Indiana, Catops n. sp. ? Quedius spelaus Horn, I.esieva 

 n. sp. and an Aleocharid allied to Tachyusa (Am. Nat. 

 vi, p. 413.). 



a quarter of a mile, to the first sharp turn. 

 Here I heard water dripping at the summit 

 of a long hill of loose rock which rose be- 

 fore me to the roof of the dome. Up this 

 I climbed until I reached the spot upon 

 which the water fell. Most of it sank at 

 once between the rocks and disappeared, 

 but accumulations of sand here and there 

 retained shallow pools, and formed tiny 

 beaches among the fallen fragments. The 

 wet sand was seen at the first glance to be 

 covered with the tracks of insects, as if the 

 hillside swarmed with life. And in fact 

 crickets {Raphidophora subterranea Scud.) 

 and their young were quite numerous upon 

 the wet stones, although they were congre- 

 gated in still greater numbers upon the 

 side walls and roof. Almost the first stone 

 I turned uncovered an Anopthaltnus, but it 

 fled like a shadow into a crevice and saved 

 itself. Three or four others, however, 

 shortly fell into my clutches, and then 

 during an hour's hunt I could find no 

 more. My movements had, I suppose, 

 frightened the rest, and caused them to 

 seek shelter in the cavities below. I took 

 however two specimens of a minute blind 

 spider [Anthrobia) which were running 

 upon the sand. I next turned my attention 

 to the pools of water, and though none of 

 them were larger than an ordinary wash- 

 bowl, I found them all veritable little 

 aquaria, well stocked with the Crustacean 

 described by Packard {Ccscidotea stygia, Fig. 

 lo). Some of the pools contained twenty or 

 thirty specimens in all stages of growth. 

 In company with them occurred not rarely 

 a leech, or possibly worm, of very slender 

 form, not thicker than an insect pin, but 

 capable of extending its delicate body 

 to a length of two inches. Being almost 

 transparent these creatures were rendered 

 visible by their shadows only. 



This ended the day's collecting. I re- 

 turned to the hotel, and in the evening 

 looked over my specimens, each lot of 

 which were collected separately in small 

 vials of alcohol. They were all transferred 

 to fresh vials of alcohol, and carefully 

 cleaned from sand and other impurities. 



The following day we resolved to visit 



