43 



eggs in stems of plants or under the leaf-sheaths of grasses (Forbes, 

 '05 : 143, 145, 148, 216). The mode of oviposition in these Orthop- 

 tera raises the question whether or not they are able to pass their com- 

 plete life cycle within this habitat. Are the species which oviposit in 

 the soil able to endure submergence during the wet season of the year, 

 or must they each year re-invade this habitat from the more favorable 

 adjacent regions? The sciomyzid fly is a regular inhabitant of such 

 situations, for an allied species, Tetanocera picHpes Loew, has been 

 found by Needham ('01 : 580) to be aquatic, breeding on colonies of 

 bur reed (Sparganium), and Shelford ('13a: 188, 284) also finds 

 plumosa in wet places. 



The flower spider, Misumena, captures its prey direct, frequenting 

 flowers where its prey comes to sip nectar. 



With more perfect drainage the character of this habitat would 

 change; a more varied growth of vegetation would probably devel- 

 op ; and the relative abundance of the various kinds of animals would 

 also change. The present imperfect drainage is more favorable to the 

 accumulation of vegetable debris than if the habitat was connected 

 with a stream which could float it away. The periodical drying hastens 

 decay, and the deep cracks in the soil become burial places for various 

 kinds of organic debris. 



2. Colony of Wild Rye, Blymus virginicus submuticus. Station I, c* 



Wild rye is a swamp grass. This colony was located about half a 

 mile north of the colony of slough grass (Station I, a) and about 222 

 feet south of the first east and west cross-road north of Charleston. 

 For a/ general view of this grassy habitat see Figure i, Plate II. In 

 length this habitat extends about one third the distance between two 

 consecutive telegraph poles, or about 65 feet. The conditions of the 

 habitat are in general similar to those in the colony of Spartina. The 

 black soil was very dry and much cracked when examined, late in Au- 

 gust. Though a few plants of Asclepias sullivantii grew here among 

 the grass, it was a dense, almost pure stand of wild rye, which reached 

 a height of about three and a half feet. 



Only a very few collections were made here, and these were for 

 the sole purpose of determining the general composition of the asso- 

 ciation. 



These collections, Nos. 153, 180, and 181, were as follows: 



'Animals were not studied at Station I, h, and therefore the location will not be 

 discussed here. 



