Insects, etc., of Caledonia Creek. 77 



The distinguished naturalist Reaumur gives so interesting and wonderful an 

 account of the appearance of these insects on one occasion, near the river Marne, 

 in France, that we transcribe it here : The myriads of Ephemerae which filled 

 the air over the current of the river, and over the bank on which I stood, are 

 neither to be expressed nor conceived. When the snow falls with the largest 

 flakes and with the least interval between them, the air is not so full of them 

 as that which surrounded us was with Ephemerae. Scarcely had I remained in 

 one place a few minutes, when the step on which I stood was quite concealed 

 with a layer of them from two to four inches in depth. Near the lowest step, 

 a surface of water, of five or six feet dimensions every way, was entirely and 

 thickly covered by them, and what the current carried off was continually 

 replaced. Many times I was obliged to abandon my station, not being able to 

 bear the shower of Ephemeras, which, falling with an obliquity less constant 

 than that of an ordinary shower, struck continually, and in a manner extremely 

 uncomfortable, every part of my face, — eyes, mouth and nostrils were filled with 

 them."* 



From their number, habit of flight over the surface of the water, and liability 

 to be blown therein, the Ephemeridae constitute an important part of the food 

 of many of our fishes ; consequently their frail forms are often imitated by the 

 fly-fishermen, by which to lure the trout from his retreat. Of the forty-four 

 species of insects given by Ronald in his Fly-fishers' Entomology, eighteen 

 belong to this family. 



Some of the EphemeridcB, in their preparatory stages, live in burrows in the 

 mud of the banks, "divided internally into two canals, each having a separate 

 opening externally, and uniting internally at the extremity, so that the insect 

 can crawl in at one hole and out of the other, without being obliged to make 

 the awkward turn it would have to do in a straight hole " (Westwood, loc cit., 

 p. 29). Others of the family, which are of a stronger build, live at large in the 

 water, and are quite active in their movements. 



To illustrate this interesting family, in fig. 6 of plate 5, Hexagenia bilineata 

 (Say) is given. This is the Palingenia bilineata of Hagen's Synopsis of the 

 Neuroptera of North America, p. 41, where its habitat is given as British 

 North America, Penn., Mel., Dist. Colum. and Mo. The example figured was 

 captured at Schenectady, N. Y., in the month of June. 



I was unable to comply with the request of your board, that I would visit 

 Caledonia and make an examination of the fauna of the creek, during the sum- 

 mer, when the insect life would be at its height, and the mature forms easy to 

 be collected for their identification. 



On the first of December, I visited the State Hatching-house, and examined 

 the ponds and the portion of the creek in the immediate vicinity. The season 

 was too far advanced for an abundant insect fauna, and the weather, unfortu- 

 nately, proved very unfavorable for the collection of such forms as were present. 

 In the afternoon of my arrival, I noticed three species of Neuroptera on the 

 wing, much to my surprise. One of these, a Phryganid, C ' hilosligma coagulata, 

 kindly determined by Dr. Hagen, was quite abundant, flitting about in the 

 occasional sunshine, although the temperature was but a few degrees above the 

 freezing point. A pair of these was taken in copula ; the other two species will 

 be noticed hereafter. A species of Diptera, somewhat smaller than the common 

 housefly, was also captured on the wing (see page 81). 



The following day, December second, proved exceedingly unfavorable for my 

 examinations ; a severe snow storm, continuing throughout the day, with the 



* Introduction to Entomology : Kirby ami Spence. Phila., 184H, p. 197. 



