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.
1. Ameiurus melas (Raf.). Rare, only in main stream. 2. Catostomus commersonii (Lac.). Common, main stream and tributaries. 3. Catostomus nigricans Le S. Taken only in a small tributary. 4. Moxostoma aureolum (Le S.). In a small tributary. 5. Cyprinus carpio L. Only in main stream. 6. Campostoma anomalum (Raf.). Everywhere. 7. Chrosomus erythrogaster Raf. In two small tributaries. 8. Pimephales promelas Raf. In main stream only. 9. Pimephales notatus (Raf.). Everywhere. 10. Semotilus atromaculatus (Mitch.). Everywhere.
Mr. A. J. Pieters, Assistant Botanist in the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, has written an interesting and useful article[[1]] 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.
[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 TABANIDÆ.
James S. Hine.
The habits of flies belonging to the family Tabanidæ, commonly called horse-flies or gad-flies, furnish much material for study and observation. I take this opportunity to record some of the notes which I have taken in the last few years while endeavoring to collect and study the local species of the family. Although the eggs, larvæ and pupæ of many species have been studied, what I have to say in this paper pertains wholly to the adults. Members of the family are usually taken by every entomologist who does general collecting, but as a usual thing males are seldom taken; in fact this sex is so poorly represented in collections that no key has been published for identifying the males of our American species. The student must use the key to the females as far as possible and guess at the rest. In very many cases the male is not even described, so that sometimes, when the sexes are unlike, they can be associated only by observations in the field. By careful collecting and observation we have procured practically all of our local species in both sexes, and the derived benefit, satisfaction and enjoyment have paid us fully for our time and pains.
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.