1894.] Proceedings of Scientific Societies. | 547 
in February and as late as May, but disappear entirely in the summer 
months. During this brief period the eggs that are to produce the 
succeeding generation are laid and their life work being ended the 
beetles die. 
To determine the localities I examined the border of the salt meadow 
at various points, usually accompanied by Mr. Davis. South of Oak- 
wood a narrow peninsula of upland juts out into the meadow and there, 
on March 18th, the beetles were plentiful; theslight rise of ground was. 
littered with boards, logs and fragments of bark, carried far inland by 
unusual tides, and almost every piece sheltered a Bryazis. They did 
not extend more than ten feet from the meadow and they avoided 
those boards which were within a few feet of the meadow and con- 
stantly damp. On March 25th we searched the border of the meadow 
west of Richmond. The tides reach these meadows only by way of the 
Fresh Kills and the wreckage is sparse, perhaps becoming stranded be- 
fore it reached so far inland. No Bryavis were found. On April 1st 
I visited the strip of sandy upland that stretches into the meadow south 
of the water company’s wells at New Springville. The conditions 
existing near Oakwood are here repeated and Bryaxis was found in 
some numbers. On the same day I crossed the turnpike and visited 
the meadows east of Chelsea, but there is an absence of any sharp 
dividing line between meadow and upland at that point; no suit- 
able shelter is formed and no Bryaxis were found. On April 8th Mr. 
Davis, Mr. Walter Granger and I examined the meadows at Watcho- 
gue very thoroughly but found no large number of beetles. The day 
was, however, unfavorable and may have affected the result. During 
this period Mr. Davis twice visited the original locality at the trestle 
and found the beetles in numbers. This locality is particularly favor- 
able; the operations of the railroad company have caused a quantity 
of soil to be thrown up in hillocks and ridges which afford the necessary 
retreat from high water and at the same time a lodging place for the 
chips and bark that shelter the beetles. 
As the result of these observations, repeated in different years and at 
widely separated localities, I think I am justified in stating that Bry- 
axis abdominalis is abundant from February to May at the border of 
the salt meadow all around Staten Island ; living not on the meadow 
or near enough to feel the influence of its dampness, but under wood or 
bark cast by the tide upon the upland. 
These beetles are quite small and Mr. Craig kindly prepared a 
specimen for exhibition under the microscope. 
The form of the antenne, the single tarsal claw and the sculptured 
abdomen of the male are the characters specially noteworthy. 
