464 



SCIENCE 



[N. S. Vol. XLI. No. 1056 



scales of these few species of Coal Measures 

 Amphibia are suiSciently fish-like to be of 

 service in the derivation of the Amphibia from 

 the fishes. One would think that they might 

 be, and it is the intention of the writer to de- 

 scribe and illustrate these structures fully; 

 clearly distinguishing between scales, osseous 

 scutes and ventral scutellae. These latter may 

 be scale-like, but are always confined to the 

 myomeres of the abdomen, thorax and throat. 

 That some of the ventral scutellse have a scale- 

 like arrangement is certain, but this arrange- 

 ment can be accounted for on other grounds. 

 The writer is confident that the ventral 

 scutellffl have an entirely difFerent origin, onto- 

 genetically and phylogenetically, from true 



eoy l. moodie 

 Universitt of Illinois, 

 Department op Anatomy, 

 Chicago 



the cotton worm moth in 1912 



An enormous migratory flight of the cotton 

 worm moth, Alabama argillacea Hubn., was 

 recently reported by Dr. A. P. Saunders^ as 

 occurring at Clinton, IST. Y., on October 10, 

 1912, the moths swarming into town about 

 3 A.M. He states also that two or three days 

 earlier a large invasion of the moths occurred 

 at London, Ontario. 



It is therefore of especial interest to note 

 that another huge swarm, probably of the same 

 wave of migration, appeared at Hanover, N. H., 

 two days later than at Clinton, N. T., viz., 

 the early morning of October 12, 1912. Win- 

 dows and doors of business houses that had 

 been brightly illuminated during the night 

 were literally covered in the morning with 

 these handsome brown moths. 



The facts, so far as they go, seem to warrant 

 the conclusion, or at least the hypothesis, that 

 a great wave of these insects from the cotton 

 growing Gulf States was moving in a north- 

 easterly direction at the rate of about 80-100 

 miles per night. This would require an aver- 

 age rate of flight of only 8-10 miles per hour. 

 Continuing on the same course at the same 

 rate the wave would have reached Augusta, 



1 Science, January 8, 1915. 



and perhaps Bangor, Me., on October 14, 

 though it is quite possible that the rather heayy 

 rain that fell in New Hampshire on the night 

 of the 12th and 13th may have delayed the 

 flight or changed the direction of its course. 

 Records from that region will be awaited with 

 much interest. Clinton, N. T., is roughly 300 

 miles due east of London, Out., lat. 43° N. 

 Hanover, N. H., is about 160 miles northeast 

 of Clinton, and 43° 42' N. The part of the 

 wave front that passed through London, Ont., 

 presumably passed considerably to the north 

 of Clinton, if the moths were guided at all by 

 the prevailing winds of October 9 in that 

 vicinity, and traveled, as would be expected, 

 in a northeasterly direction over the length of 

 Lake Ontario. 



In a case of this kind, in which winged 

 creatures wander far from their native habitat, 

 it is natural to suppose that the wind has 

 played a prominent part in the dispersal, as 

 when an occasional murre is driven inland by 

 the storms of winter. So far as I have been 

 able to learn, however, from a somewhat super- 

 ficial examination of the records of the weather 

 conditions of the time, I have found no evi- 

 dence of any notable atmospheric disturbance 

 sufficient to account for this apparently large 

 and extensive migration. In Ontario and the 

 northeastern states the moths would seem to 

 have encountered only moderate southwest 

 winds, followed on the 10th-12th by un- 

 settled weather and variable winds of no great 

 velocity. 



It is impossible at present to say whether 

 light, which has such a powerful control over 

 the movements of butterflies and, to a more 

 limited extent, of moths, was or was not an 

 important factor in this case, but it is a matter 

 worth considering. 



This migratory wave seems to have passed 

 to the north of Massachusetts, if one may 

 judge from the scanty data at hand, though 

 Professor Fernald- has reported that earlier in 

 the season (Sept. 21-25, 1912) a few of these 

 moths were taken in that state. He mentions 

 a large invasion in 1911, during the last week 

 in September, and another on October 17, 1914, 



^ Science, November 27, 1914. 



