Typua Insects: THEIR EcoLoGicaL RELATIONSHIPS 471 
Parker (1910) speaking of the plants used for food by the Indians, 
says: ‘“‘ The roots of the cat-tail were often used. Dried and pulverized 
the roots made a sweet white flour useful for bread or pudding. Bruised 
and boiled fresh, syrupy gluten was obtained in which corn meal pudding 
was mixed.” 
Muskrats are very fond of the rhizomes of the cat-tail, and in the cat-tail 
swamps the muskrats are accordingly found in large numbers. The 
leaves of the cat-tail are used to some extent in the manufacture of 
barrels. On account of their spongy structurg, the dried leaves, placed 
between the staves, expand greatly when moistened, thus making the 
barrels water-tight. The leaves are .also used for chair bottoms. 
(Dudley, 1886). ; 
The rich starch content of the plant is especially concentrated in the 
rhizomes, where the cells of the rhizome core (Plate XLV, 57 and 60) are 
completely filled with small starch granules. This is true of the rhizomes 
in their dormant or winter conditions (Plate XL, 13). If, however, 
one examines the cells later in the season, after the plant has attained a 
growth of several feet, the cells are found to be only partially filled with 
starch granules, much of the starch having been used up in the rapid 
early growth of the plant (Plate XL, 15). This fact, showing that 
they have a much greater concentration of starch during the dormant 
season than during the growing season, has a direct bearing upon the 
possible uses of the rhizomes, and any attempts made for the utilization 
of the starch should be made on the dormant rhizomes. The possibility 
of utilizing the Typha plant as a source of food has been discussed by the 
author in another paper (Claassen, 1919). 
THE INSECT FAUNA OF TYPHA 
The insects which are found on cat-tail have not hitherto been studied 
asa group. Most of them have been recorded as inhabiting cat-tail, but 
very little has been published on their detailed life histories and ecological 
interrelations. ; 
The following discussion includes only those insects which have been 
found on cat-tail and studied during the course of this investigation. It 
includes six species of Lepidoptera, two of Coleoptera, eight of Hemiptera, 
five of parasitic Hymenoptera, and four of Diptera. 
