Read Ebook: The Ohio Naturalist vol. II no. 2 December 1901 by Ohio State University Biological Club

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Aecidium porosum Peck. On Vicia americana Muhl. Lakeside, Ottawa Co., O. May 17, 1901. Coll. W. A. Kellerman.

"Aecidium album Clinton, spots none; peridia scattered, short, white, the margin subentire; spots subglobose, white, about .0008 inches in diameter." Report on the State Museum, State of New York, 26:78. 1873.

"Aecidium porosum, Pk. Spots none; cups crowded, deep-seated, broad, wide-mouthed, occupying the whole lower surface of the leaf to which they give a porous appearance; spores orange-colored, subangular, .0008-.001 inch in length." Botanical Gazette, 3:34. April, 1878.

NOTES OF TRAVEL IN PORTO RICO.

ROBERT F. GRIGGS.

Along most of the north side there stretches a low, coast plain, out of which rise numberless, small, steep hills. This plain, everywhere well watered, is in most places very fertile, but in the vicinity of Vega Baja it becomes a sandy waste. This sand desert is one of the most peculiar places it has ever been my fortune to visit. There is no grass , neither are there large trees. Everywhere are low bushes not much more than ten feet tall. The sand beneath them is bare in many places, but is covered in others with various forms of herbage, most of which, instead of being composed of desert forms, as would be expected, is made up of the most typical water-loving plants, among which, Sphagnum and Utricularia are noteworthy. Imagine, if you can, a sphagnum bog shading into loose sand in a distance of only ten feet with no change in level. The explanation of this peculiar fact is, however, not hard to find. The rainfall is so copious that wherever there is any means of holding it, the hydrophytes take hold and spread, themselves acting as water holders when once started, while in other places the water quickly soaks into the sand and leaves it as dry as ever.

The plain on which this sand desert is located is separated in most places from the sea by low hills. It is very level and was probably once covered with water out of which projected many rocky islands--the limestone hills of to-day. These hills are a very characteristic feature of the country. From an incoming vessel they are plainly seen projecting like saw teeth all along the coast; from an eminence back in the country they appear to have no system or regularity whatever, but stick up anywhere sharp and rugged as though shaken out of a dice box onto a board. Further inland they are closer together with no plain between, though in other respects like those of the coast. It is as though they were eroded when the sea stood lower than it does to-day, perhaps very much lower; then the valleys were filled up during a period when the sea was slightly higher than at present, whence it has receded and left the island of to-day. They are covered with a characteristic jungle, rising conspicuously out of which is the "Llume" palm whose graceful stem, only about half a foot thick at the base, attains a height of a hundred feet, tapering till it is only three or four inches thick at the top. It is nearly white and at a distance entirely invisible, so that the crown of leaves looks as though it were floating around in the air above the surrounding vegetation.

Further inland the limestone hills give way to others of red clay. The clay, like the limestone, is very deeply eroded. In most places it is so continually washed down that the sides of the hills stand always at the critical angle and are ready to slide from under the feet of the explorer. Indeed it would be impossible to climb them were it not for the numerous bushes everywhere standing ready to lay hold on. Here abound ferns, Melastomaceae and other plants of humid regions. Tree ferns are very common; the largest belong to one species of Cyathia. Its beauty is simply beyond description. Imagine, you who have never seen it, a trunk thirty feet tall surmounted by a crown of a dozen or fifteen great leaves made up of a score or two pinnae of the size and grace of ordinary ferns and you have the components--not the ensemble--of the tree fern.

This red clay region is the land of coffee. Everywhere the novice thinks the hillside covered with jungle, which turns out to be only poorly kept coffee plantations. The coffee region is coextensive with the range of several plants. Two or three species of the pepper family, with large peltate or round leaves, are found only here; and with one or two exceptions the Melastomaceae occur only in this wet country. They are a very large group of plants common throughout the tropics, but represented in the northern states by the common Rhexia. Its members may be known anywhere by their three-nerved leaves, many of which are beautifully patterned and marked so that even among other tropical plants they are conspicuous for their beauty.

When we cross the summit we come upon a different sort of vegetation; cacti take the place of tree ferns, and instead of wet jungles we have dry scrub brush full of spiny and thorny shrubs with almost every sort of prickle one can think of. One who has never encountered them can scarcely appreciate the abundance and effectiveness of tropical thorns. These thickets of brush extend over most of the undisturbed portion of the south side. Everywhere through them there are scattered cacti of several sorts; but near Guayanilla, a few miles west of Ponce, these become relatively much more numerous so as to form a veritable cactus desert. Only here is the largest form present. It is a large Opuntia with a bare stem and long arms radiating in one or two whorls near the top. Besides it there are several species of Cereus and another small Opuntia similar to the common prickly pear, together with a species of the same group cultivated for its fleshy branches which are eaten. All through this dry region agaves or century plants are very common. There seem to be several species, but they are such terrors to botanists that it is hard to tell anything about them.

From this brief sketch it will be seen what a diversified flora Porto Rico offers to the student. There are opportunities for several ecological studies of surpassing interest, and on the systematic side the work has only been begun. At present there are scant facilities for the student, but with the fuller occupation of the island by American government and customs, we may hope that some of our enterprising universities will establish there a school of tropical agriculture and botany, fields now white for the harvest but almost without workers.

Washington, D. C., October 30, 1901.

SALAMANDERS TAKEN AT SUGAR GROVE.

MAX MORSE.

On May 25, 1901, Prof. Hine, while collecting in the hills at Sugar Grove, Fairfield County, O., found a salamander under a piece of pine log on the slope of a hill, about a hundred yards from water. It was, for the time, put in a jar along with several individuals of Desmognathus fusca Raf., which were taken in, or within a few feet of the rivulets which flow down the valley. Aside from this specimen taken on the hillside, all the specimens were found not farther than a half dozen feet from the water. When the collections were examined in the laboratory it was found that the single specimen just mentioned differed in many respects from the others. This led to investigation and it was found that it corresponded closely with the description of D. ochrophaea Cope. Thus, the posterior portion of the mandible was edentulous; no tubercle in canthus ocelli; belly paler than in any of D. fusca taken; length nearly three-fourths of an inch shorter than the others; a light bar from eye to corner of mouth; tongue free behind; parasphenoid teeth separated behind. The specimen was kindly examined by Dr. J. Lindahl, of the Cincinnati Society of Nat. Hist., who is acquainted with the form. He agreed that it corresponded with the description of Cope. Whether the characters as given above are sufficient to place the specimen under ochrophaea is a matter hard to decide. Cope gives the range of ochrophaea as "in the Alleghenies and their outlying spurs." Dr. Lindahl has a specimen from Logansport, Ind., taken November 10, 1900.

FISHES TAKEN NEAR SALEM, OHIO.

E. B. WILLIAMSON.

The present short list is published, not because of any records of special interest, but in order that a record may be made of the fish known certainly from the headwaters of Beaver Creek. In the case of fish the most logical and significant way to indicate distribution is certainly by streams, and a very small contribution to the ichthyology of the above named stream is here presented.

About three-fifths of Columbiana County is drained by Beaver Creek, one-fifth by the Mahoning River and streams leaving the county to the west, while the remainder enters the Big Yellow and Little Yellow Creeks. Beaver Creek is practically confined to Columbiana County, though it empties into the Ohio River in Pennsylvania at Smith's Ferry, just above the state line. The relation of Beaver Creek to the Mahoning River is interesting, the two being in general, arcs of concentric circles with the Mahoning outside. A person going directly west from Salem crosses Middle Fork of Beaver Creek first, then the Mahoning, and the same is true if he goes directly north or directly east. South-west of Salem the small streams empting into the Mahoning have not been seined. From one of these Herman McCane has taken a specimen of Ichthyomyzon concolor which is preserved in the Salem High School collection with the other species here recorded. All the other streams in close proximity to Salem are part of the system of the Middle Fork of Beaver Creek, with the exception of Cold Run, which flows almost directly south into the West Fork of Beaver Creek, the stream thus formed soon being augmented by the waters of the North Fork.

Seining has been done only near Salem in small tributaries and where Middle Fork has an average width of not more than ten or twelve feet. Mr. Albert Hayes, Mr. J. S. Johnson and Mr. F. W. Webster have helped me draw the seine. Mr. Webster has also given me many valuable suggestions as to suitable localities.

MR. A. J. PIETERS, Assistant Botanist in the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, has written an interesting and useful article on the plants of western Lake Erie. This report should be read by all who are interested in the hydrophytes of Ohio, or in the flora and fauna of Lake Erie. In addition to some introductory remarks, the paper treats of the plants in Put-in-Bay, in Squaw Harbor, near Gibraltar Island, in Hatchery Bay and in the open lake, and the plants of East Harbor. The swamp vegetation is also discussed, including the plants in the Portage River swamps and in the swamps about Sandusky Bay. The ecological conditions and the ecological adaptations of the flora are treated quite fully, and at the end are given alphabetical lists of the plants studied, including angiosperms, stoneworts and desmids.

JOHN H. SCHAFFNER.

Footnote 1:

A. J. PIETERS. "The Plants of Western Lake Erie, with Observations on their Distribution." Bull. U. S. Fish Commission, 1901, pp. 57-79. Pls. 11-20.

COLLECTING TABANIDAE.

JAMES S. HINE.

In the first place the mouthparts of the two sexes are different--the male lacks the mandibles which are present in the female. This makes it necessary for them to procure their food from different sources, the male obtains his from flowers, while the female lives by puncturing the skin and sucking the blood of warm-blooded vertebrates. Thus it is evident that during the time spent in procuring food the sexes cannot remain together. From an economic standpoint the female most concerns the student and she is often taken for study without an attempt being made to procure the male.

At this point I can say collect females around horses, cattle and other animals, and males on flowers; but this is not enough, for knowing the general habits of insects we are certain that there is a common ground where the two sexes may be found together. One finds this common ground in the vicinity of water, where their transformations take place and where their eggs are laid, also in various other places, which we shall take occasion to discuss as we proceed.

The females of all our local species of Chrysops with Tabanus pumilus and nivosus come buzzing around the collector in numbers, and at such times may be taken easily with a net. Other species of Tabanus come near enough that the sound of their wings is recognizable, but are so active that it is almost impossible to procure them.

During the time the female is ovipositing the male is often sitting near by on the foliage. At Georgesville, Ohio, June 4th, I observed C. moechus ovipositing on foliage overhanging a mill-race; soon after specimens of the male sex were observed resting on the upper leaves of the same plant on which females were ovipositing. In a few minutes collecting, a dozen or more specimens of each of the sexes were procured. The only males of C. indus I have ever taken were procured at Columbus, on the border of a small pond, where the females were ovipositing.

The sexes of many species of Tabanus often alight on the bare ground of paths or roads that run through or along woods. At Cincinnati, June 10th, in company with Mr. Dury, we procured large numbers of the sexes of different species resting on some furrows that were plowed around a woods to prevent the spread of fire. We also took the same species resting in paths and roads that ran through the woods. Some of these same species were also taken from low-growing foliage in sunny places among the trees. At Medina, Ohio, males and females of T. vivax and trimaculatus were taken while resting in a road that ran through a dense woods.

One of the best places I have ever found to get the sexes of Chrysops and Tabanus is in the tall grass that skirts the marshes of Sandusky Bay. This grass is the Phragmites of botanists and grows to a great height by July 1st. On July 6th, at Black Channel, when the wind was high I went into a patch of this grass that was so dense that I could not use a net to advantage. Here I saw an abundance of flies and found that by approaching them very slowly I could readily pick the specimens off with my fingers. The male and female of T. stygius, nivosus, C. aestuans and flavidus and the male of T. affinis and bicolor were taken in this way. I found that this same species of grass afforded excellent collecting wherever found, but most material was procured when the wind was high. On the same date and near the same place the male of C. flavidus was taken from the flowers of the common spatter-dock, and this and aestuans were procured by sweeping in the adjacent low-growing herbage. R. C. Osburn informs me that he has had excellent success in collecting Tabanids from tall grass near water in his experience.

Tabanus sulcifrons Macq. is an abundant species in northern Ohio during the latter part of July and all of August. So common that by actual count twenty-eight specimens were taken from a cow in ten minutes, while a few that alighted on the animal during that time were not procured. August 1st of the present year I was at Hinckley, Medina County, and spent the day taking observations on this species. In the morning about nine o'clock I went to the border of a woods where I had often observed the species before. Here males and females were found in abundance crawling over the trunks and foliage of trees, on the fence along the woods and flying about generally. One pair was observed in copulation on the fence, and I am of the opinion that the presence of so many flies in the locality at the time is explained on the ground that it was the general mating place of the sexes. On several occasions I have made observations which lead me to believe that the sexes of various species of the family copulate among foliage often high up in the trees. As Tabanids are not easily procured with a net from the surface of a rough rail, I tried the experiment of picking the specimens off with my fingers and found that it was surprisingly successful, if the movement toward them was made very slowly until just ready to touch them when the fingers were gripped quickly. Near a watering trough where a herd of cattle drank daily I found males in numbers resting on the ground where the turf had been tramped off. Along Rocky River I observed both sexes fly down to the water and dip several times in succession and then away to alight on a stone on the bank or disappear from sight altogether.

On July 29th I rode from Sandusky to Cleveland by boat. Although we were from two to five miles off shore all the time, males and females of T. sulcifrons often came on board and alighted on the canvas and rigging of the boat. From this it is evident that this species at least may fly for some distance over water.

We have taken Goniops chrysocoma on several occasions. It has a habit which is of value to the collector. At Hinckley, Medina County, I took several females and observed that they have the habit of stationing themselves on the upper side of a leaf, where by vibrating their wings rapidly and striking the upper surface of the leaf at each downward stroke, make a rattling noise which can be heard plainly several feet away. At Vinton last spring Mr. Morse and myself identified the characteristic sound of the species and were guided by it to procure specimens.

I have taken the male of Pangonia rasa on blossoms of sumac at Medina, Ohio, in August.

OBSERVATIONS ON INSECTS.

JAMES S. HINE.

AGROMYZA SETOSA Loew--The larvae of several species of the genus Agromyza are known to mine the leaves and stems of various plants. Cabbage, potatoes, corn, clover, strawberries, verbenas, chrysanthemums and sunflowers are among the cultivated plants from which various species of the genus have been reared; while plantain, round-leaved mallow, golden-rod, aster, cocklebur, rag-weed and wild-rice are given as their food-plants. In some cases a single species of fly has been reared from a half dozen or more different plants. Agromyza setosa Loew, as determined by Coquillett, was reared in numbers from leaves of wild-rice, Zizania aquatica, at Sandusky during August of each of the years 1900 and 1901. Professor Osborn studied the species and its work in 1900, while my observations were made a year later. Although I include the notes taken by both of us, many points are needed before a detailed account of the habits and life history of the species can be given.

The eggs are conspicuous on account of their abundance and white color, and are deposited chiefly on the upper surface of the leaves of the food plant.

The larvae upon hatching bore into the leaf and feed beneath its upper covering. When full grown they measure about 6 mm. in length, are white, or greenish on account of chlorophyl taken in with their food, and are furnished with strongly chitinous mouth parts. The mines which they make in the leaves are irregular in width and extend for varying lengths on one side or the other of the mid-rib. These variations in extent are usually explainable from the fact that a variable number of larvae occupy the different mines. The work of the larvae is apparent from the first on the upper side of the leaf, and may be seen beneath after a few days because of the fact that the parts beneath the mine sooner or later turn yellow.

The pupa is to be found either in the mine or clinging to the surface of the leaf. It is brown in color, with two prominences anteriorly where the attachment with the leaf is effected, and is contained within the last larval skin so that the legs and wing-pads are at no time visible from the outside.

BIBIO ALBIPENNIS Say--Larvae observed in colonies under fallen logs, and boards which were lying on the ground. Specimens taken April 4th pupated May 5th and the adults appeared May 13th. The adults were unable to fly for several hours after they emerged on account of their wings remaining soft. I observed the first males flying out of doors on the 23d of May.

CHRYSOPILA ORNATA Say--Larva about an inch and a half in length, white in color, cylindrical, with an enlargement at the posterior end bearing a number of fleshy elongations which are about the length of their basal breadth. Found under rotten wood May 1st. Pupa brown, last segment armed with six spinose teeth, the two on the ventral side arising from the same base, the remaining abdominal segments furnished with a circlet of spines near the posterior third. The adult emerged the 18th of June.

Six Colleges well equipped and prepared to present the best methods in modern education. The advantages are offered to both sexes alike.

The following list of departments will suggest the organization of the institution:

Agriculture, Agricultural Chemistry, American History and Political Science, Anatomy and Physiology, Architecture and Drawing, Astronomy, Botany, Chemistry, Civil Engineering, Clay Working and Ceramics, Domestic Science, Economics and Sociology, Education, Electrical Engineering, English Literature, European History, Geology, Germanic Languages and Literatures, Greek, Horticulture and Forestry, Industrial Arts, Latin, Law, Mathematics, Mechanical Engineering, Metallurgy and Mineralogy, Military Science, Mine Engineering, Pharmacy, Philosophy, Physical Education, Physics, Rhetoric and English Language, Romance Languages, Veterinary Medicine and Zoology and Entomology.

Catalogues will be sent upon application. After examining the catalogue write for specific information to the President

Dr. W. O. THOMPSON, Columbus, Ohio.

SPECIMENS DESIRED FOR

The large mushrooms, Puffballs and other Fungi; Abnormal growths and interesting specimens of shrubs and trees. Also herbarium specimens of Algae, Fungi, Mosses and Ferns as well as flowering plants. Address

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