BULLETIN OP THE BROOKLYN ENT. SOC. 19 



NOTES ON A TRIP TO FLORIDA. 



BY GEO. D. HULST. 



After a trip of a few weeks to the south, and a residence during 

 the month of April about ten miles North of Enterprise Fla., and 

 after consulting with several who have collected in various parts 

 of Florida during the whole season I am able to make the follow- 

 ing statements. 



1. The months of June, July, and August are by far the best 

 months for collecting Lepidoptera. — The single brooded species 

 prevail as a rule in June. — "Very many species however are double 

 or many brooded, and increase greatly in numbers, and often in 

 size, as the season advances. Catocalae are most plentiful in the 

 latter part of May and during June. 



2. The immediate neighborhood of an old town is always the 

 best collecting ground. Fire burns over a large portion of the 

 unused lands each year away from the towns. And the growth 

 of trees is so large, and where the fire spares, the undergrowth is 

 so dense, that search for larvae is difficult, and the chasing of the 

 imagines is impossible or vain. 



3. The so called "Hummock lands," (the fertile land, covered 

 with a dense growth of various woods), afford a much better field 

 for collecting than the high pine lands. The latter are burnt over 

 every winter, and have absolutely, no underbrush. The ground 

 has a covering only of wiry grasses and scattered plants generally 

 perennial. — But the Hummock lands are very unhealthy during 

 the summer season. 



My own success was but very little. I was in the pine woods 

 two miles from any undergrowth. And the Hummock lands af- 

 forded few specimens possibly, since last fall the St. Johns river was 

 ten feet higher than ordinary, and some four feet higher than ever 

 known before, the great bulk of the river bottoms were covered 

 and of course butterfly life was destroyed. Compared with ordi- 

 nary experience in the North after the beginning of May, my ob- 

 servations led me to the following summaries : 



Butterflies and moths were very scarce. 



Beetles were scarce, but there was a promise of an abundance of 

 wood-boring beetles later in the season. 



Dragon flies, Ant lions, Roaches and Ants were very plentiful, 

 and grass hoppers were in great variety. 



