1 



February, '15] FERNALD: NEEDS IN ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 37 



But another surprise was yet in store. An inquiry from the shore 

 in Southeastern Massachusetts about a burrowing insect attacking 

 persons out berrymg in midsummer led to the discovery that this 

 trouble was caused by the larva of a mite, and attention was at once 

 directed to the southern ''jigger" and an attempt w^as made to ascer- 

 tain the northern distribution limits of this Acarid. The data were 

 decidedly meagre, but the southern shore of Lake Erie and somewhere 

 along the New Jersey coast were the most northern points from which 

 reports of attacks either by the jigger or some other similarly acting 

 pest were received. A scrutiny of records of mammals, birds, plants, 

 etc., captured in Southeastern Massachusetts was then undertaken 

 to see if it would throw any hght upon the conditions existing in that 

 region, and as no collections of insects of any extent seemed to have 

 been made there, it was planned to take up the subject by spending 

 time in that territory for the distinct purpose of collecting. 



The results thus far have been most interesting though not entirely 

 conclusive. Numerous mammals, birds and reptiles abundant farther 

 south but not found north of New York or even Central New Jersey 

 occur here. Numerous southern plants not recorded from elsewhere 

 in New England are found on Nantucket where the flora has received 

 particular attention, and some are present on the mainland. The 

 insect collections support the view that this part of the state has a 

 decidedly southern aspect, and taken all together we find a strip here 

 that is not only upper Austral but to some extent, lower Austral as 

 well. Meteorological observations show that this portion of the state 

 in many regards has summers comparable with those much farther 

 south and that the winters are usually mild as compared with those 

 only a few miles farther north, and some theory to explain these facts 

 is, of course, in order. 



An examination of the records of the United States Fish Commis- 

 sion, which has for many years maintained a station at Woods Hole 

 in this district has thrown some light on this subject. According to 

 most of our maps the Gulf Stream on its way north apparently leaves 

 any close proximity to our coast about at Cape Hatteras, swinging 

 strongly to the northeast. The observations of the United States 

 Coast Survey and Fish Commission, however, show that this is not 

 entirely correct. A study of water temperatures during a series of 

 years indicates that the real western margin of the Gulf Stream is 

 found not very far east of Nantucket, and also that it varies, in some 

 years being much closer to the land than at others. Occasionally, in- 

 deed, it comes so near the land that southern floating animals such as 

 the Portuguese Man-of-War are swept up Vineyard Sound, inside the 

 islands, in the current, and other forms belonging much farther south 

 may be brought in the same way. 



