160 MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE. 



being met with near the surface during spring and 

 winter, and were found by Ed. Forbes to have 

 been most abundant from about three hours after 

 noon till night-fall, " sparkling in the water like 

 needles of glass." 



These are the winged insects of the sea, remind- 

 ing us, in their free circling movements and crepus- 

 cular habits, of the gnats and moths of the atmo- 

 sphere ; they shun the light, and if the sun is 

 bright you may look in vain for them during the 

 life-long day, — as days sometimes are at sea ; a 

 passing cloud, however, suffices to bring some 

 Cleodorce to the surface. It is only as day declines 

 that their true time begins, and thence onwards the 

 watches of the night may be kept by observing the 

 contents of the towing-net, as the hours of a summer 

 day may be by the floral dial. The Cleodorce are the 

 earliest risers ; as the sun sets, Hyalcea gibbosa ap- 

 pears, darting about as if it had not a moment to 

 spare ; for its period is brief, lasting only for the Me- 

 diterranean twilight. Then it is that Hyalcea trispi- 

 nosa and Cleodora subula come up. Hyalcea triden- 

 tata, though it does not venture out till dusk, retires 

 early, whilst some species, such as Cleodora pyra- 

 midata, are to be met with only during the mid- 

 night hours and the darkest nights. This tribe, 

 like a higher one, has its few irregular spirits, who 

 manage to keep it up the whole night through. All, 

 however, are back to their homes below before dawn 

 surprises them. 



