REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1907 179 
its nymphal skin floating on the surface, and, alighting on the first 
support that offers, sheds its skin again, and the subimago stage is 
ended. Then it flies for a little while, the males dancing up and 
down in a little swarm, as in other species, and the females coming 
out to meet*them. It probably lives in all but a few hours of adult 
life. I have frequently watched the swarming until it was entirely 
obscured by darkness. Specimens of this species emerging from 
the hatchery troughs at Saranac Inn deposited their eggs in little 
clusters of 200 to 300 upon the window panes. 
The nymphs of this little May fly abound wherever there are 
beds of waterweeds. They rest upon the silt covered bottom or 
cling to the stems of the plants. They cling closely and, being 
entirely covered with silt, are quite unobservable except when dis- 
lodged. Because they cling so closely they are not easily collected 
nor easily separated from the trash. That they exist in inconceiv- 
able vast numbers is demonstrated most readily by the use of a 
trap lantern. Our lanterns at the pier were sometimes almost 
choked with them and thousands besides were found upon the 
supporting post and upon the lantern itself. outside; and this con- 
dition of things has prevailed in every locality of the United States 
in which J] have run a trap lantern over still water. I have no 
doubt that these very minute nymphs, too small for proper food 
for the larger fishes, are of very great importance to young fishes 
and to the smaller species. They are scarcely mentioned hitherto, 
however, in the literature of the fish food. 
Only two other insects were found; a half grown nymph of a 
dragon fly of the genus Aeschna, that was eaten by fish number 
3, and a water skater, by fish number 5. | 
Of the crustaceans eaten, all were Entomostraca. But three 
were Ostracods, and these were eaten singly. Copepods were eaten 
abundantly by the smaller fishes of lot three, sparingly by those of 
larger size. J was unable to determine any of them. Apparently 
there were but few species. The great importance of Copepods as 
food for young fishes has been abundantly demonstrated hitherto 
through the labors of others. Nevertheless, the conditions that 
make for their abundance are scarcely at all understood. Cladocera 
were eaten as a rule very sparingly, only one fish (number 12) 
_ having eaten any great number; it had eaten almost exclusively a 
species of Bosmina. The others so sparingly eaten belonged to the 
genera Alona and Chydorus, 
