2 



Perhaps the most striking peculiarity of the adults is 

 their quiet coloration. Hardly a single example of really 

 brilliant colors was noted during the entire season, and 

 this absence was especially apparent among the damsel 

 flies where ordinarily there is such a rich variety of hues. 



They were all, dragons and damsels alike, dressed in 

 rather sober reds and browns or grays and blacks, with 

 little of the iridescent and metallic colors. 



Another unexpected character was the entire absence of 

 the larger species of both dragon and damsel flies. Not 

 a single representative of such genera as AnaXj AescJina, 

 Gomphaeschna, Boyeria, Macromiaj Gomphus, or lAhellula 

 was seen during the season, and practically the same may 

 be said of the damsel genera Galopteryx, Heterinay Argia, 

 and Lestes. A single specimen of Eeterina hipartita has 

 been reported from the Island by Carpenter (Journal 

 Jamaica Institute, II, p. 261), but has never been seen by 

 others. Calvert's new genus Ortholestes is one of the 

 larger damsel flies, but Lestes spumarius is only of 

 medium size. 



On the other hand the smaller species were everywhere 

 in evidence; the tiny dragons Trithemis justiniani and 

 Micrathyria aequaUs, together with the small damsels 

 Ceratura capreola and Micronympha ramhurii were es- 

 pecially abundant. 



Another remarkable fact in connection with these 

 Odonata is that they show almost exclusive neotropical 

 affinities. 



There is not a single neartic or sonoran dragon fly in 

 the list, and only a few that are sonoran as well as 

 neotropical. There is but one species peculiar to Jamaica, 

 Ortholestes clara; six are confined to the West Indies, 

 viz : Trithemis justiniani^ Macrothemis celeno, Dythemis 

 rufinervis^ Scapanea frontalis^ Micrathyria didyma, and 

 Lestes spumarius. The other eighteen are found on the 

 mainland of South, Central, or North America, with the 

 preponderance decidedly in favor of the first mentioned. 



