May 25, 1912 
FOREST AND STREAM 
GG 3 
Field Work at Valley Stream, N. Y. 
By W. G. BOWDOIN 
T he Department of Entomology of the Brook¬ 
lyn Institute of Arts and Sciences held a 
field meeting on Saturday, May ii, under 
the leadership of George P. Engelhard!, assistant 
curator of entomology at the Children’s Museum, 
visiting Valley Stream, Long Island. The object 
of the trip was to give a demonstration of the 
various methods of collecting insects and of ob¬ 
serving birds in the field. 
In the somewhat moist woods at Valley Stream 
were found many insects. One of the first was 
one of the click beetles which as wire worms 
feed upon the roots of grasses and grains. The 
click beetles are also known as snapping beetles, 
spring beetles, skipjack and elaters. They are 
not considered friendly by the farmer. Next 
came some of the skippers, so-called on account 
of their peculiar mode of flight. They fly in the 
day time, darting suddenly from place to place. 
When at rest they usually hold the wings erect 
in a vertical position like butteiflies. 
Several ladybugs were found. They feed upon 
aphids, other small insects and the eggs of in¬ 
sects. Then came some low bushes upon which 
the autumnal leaves of last year still clung. Prof. 
Engelhardt approached these bushes and after 
carefully opening his umbrella and holding it 
under them he beat with a birch stick, whereupon 
several insects fell into the opened umbrella. 
This is one collecting method. Among the fallen 
insects was a queen of the social wasps. This 
mother or queen had wintered and was on the 
point of starting ? fresh colony. She builds her 
nest of paper, which she makes from vegetable 
substances worked up with her mandibles and 
moistened with her spittle. Her first hatches are 
small undeveloped females or “workers” which 
form the vast majority in all insect communi¬ 
ties. They enlarge the original comb by adding 
fresh cells around it and aid the queen in feed¬ 
ing the young. A wasp’s nest may ultimately 
hold several hundred inmates. Other wasps 
found were the white-faced wasps and the 
polistes which build open nests. Some bumble 
bees were also observed. These insects perform 
service in cross fertilization. The clover crop in 
Australia, for example, was a failure before the 
introduction of the bees who accomplished the 
before impossible fertilization. 
A four-spotted sap beetle was next found. 
Then some Hemiptera, or true bugs. This family 
includes the squash bugs that are now so very 
destructive. We found many chestnut trees killed 
by the blight. From these trees the bark is dis¬ 
intergrating, and when lifted many insects are 
found underneath. Some black carnenter ants 
were found on these chestnuts I.aro'e gallery 
svstems are often constructed bv such ants in 
trees, which aids in the ult'mate removal of dead 
wood. A little further on some much smaller 
ants were observed. On bemg disturbed they 
began straightway to carry out the eggs, which 
were in some cases larger than the carrying ants. 
Some of the ants have the power of ejecting their 
poison (formic acid) to a considerable distance. 
It is exceedingly irritable. One of the com¬ 
mensal beetles, which looks like an ant and lives 
unmolestedly with them, was also picked up. 
Another find in connection with the chestnut 
trees were some of the bark beetles. The space 
between the bark and the tree proper, as may be 
imagined, is not very great. These beetles, there¬ 
fore, are very flat. The larva of this insect are 
THE AUTHOR PUTTING INSECT INTO CYANIDE BOTTLE, 
rhotograph by J. J. Schoonhover. 
also characterized by extreme flatness. One of 
the spiders, not generally classed as a true in¬ 
sect just because he happens to have eight legs 
instead of the usual six, was found under some 
loose bark. This particular spider had just fin¬ 
ished hibernating. 
One of the hister beetles next found a refuge 
in one of the cyanide bottles. It was black and 
very highly polished. This beetle has a gigan¬ 
tic relative living in Senegal. The one found by 
the party gained its nutriment from excrement 
and decaying woods. 
The tendency on the part of inexperienced in¬ 
sect collectors is toward the gathering of large 
and spectacular specimens. This is, however, a 
mistake, since most of these found are well 
known. The treasures lie' rather among the 
smaller examples where it is still sometimes pos¬ 
sible to discover a new species. The man who 
turns to the collecting of insects as a pastime 
is sure of much that is interesting in the occu- 
palipn. For example, some beetles stimulate 
death when disturbed. They make off when left 
to themselves and are quickly out of sight. Now 
and then in turning up fallen leaves, rocks, pieces 
of wood or other matter in the field, a snake, a 
salamander or a newt is encountered. 
In passing one of the chestnut stumps the track 
of one of the land snails was seen. Such a snail 
in crawling exudes a kind of slime that marks 
its trail with a very brilliant iridescence. Some 
of Ihe prehistoric snails crawled across certain 
muds in a similar fashion, and the mud being 
transformed into stone we have in geological 
cabinets the tracks of worms and snails, but the 
worms themselves have long ago disappeared. 
Some slugs were seen. One of the angle worms 
came into view when some of the mast and fallen 
leaves were scraped away. These worms do 
much work in il.“ way of soil fertilization. A 
single true mosquito was in evidence. The ob¬ 
served specimen seemed rather weak or at least 
gave no demonstration of the fine work that 
some of its family will do later on. 
A metallic beetle was found under some bark. 
Then the larva, which burrows into the bark, 
was turned up, also one of the parasites that lay 
their eggs in the larva as a host was the final 
find in the life history of this entomological unit. 
On the banks of a rather large and swiftly 
flowing stream crossed by a rustic bridge many 
aquatic forms of natural history life were found. 
One of the water spiders was skating merrily 
over the surface. Some young eels were cap¬ 
tured. Several forms of the nests of the caddice 
flies were found free floating. Some of these 
were built of fragments of partly decayed wood, 
others of grass laid crosswise, and still others 
of small stones or grains of sand. One of the 
isopods belonging to the crab family was brought 
to land. Fishing also resulted in catching a fresh 
water snail with extended foot that was quickly 
drawn in and concealed by means of the oper¬ 
culum, some fresh water sponges that resembled 
moss that had survived from last year, some of 
the vegetation that makes a balanced aquarium 
possible, some water cresses and sow bugs. 
One of the ways of collecting in brooks and 
streams is to remove a stick from the water and 
let it lie in the sun. When the stick dries, the 
beetles, if any are on it, will start to run, when 
they can be caught. Drowning out, as it is called, 
is another way. This consists in throwing the 
stream water with the hand upon the bank which 
tends to make the hidden insects show signs of 
life and movement. “Sweeping” is another col¬ 
lecting method used in the fall. It is accom¬ 
plished by means of a butterfly net of stronger 
material than ordinarily used. 
A number of birds were identified by the party. 
These included several specimens of the gor¬ 
geous scarlet tanager, both male and female, 
wood thrush, black and white creeper, warbler, 
song sparrows, catbird, kingbird and brown 
thrasher. 
On the way home some hanging cocoons of the 
prnmethea moth were found and gathered. The 
largest beetle found on the trip was also met 
with in thd person of the carabus beetle which 
feeds on the cut worms that are such foes to the 
agricultural worker. 
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supply you regularly. 
