385
MAY, r93.+THE CANADIAN ENTOMOI.OGISTII6

Excerpt from Canadian Entomologist, I\[ay, 1934.

NOTES ON SOME UNCOMMON CRANE-FLIES FROM THE
WHITE MOUNTAINS, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

DuringBY CHARLESP. ALEXANDER,Anr,herst,Massach,usetts.
the past decade a considerable amount of work has been done oncollecting and studying the crane-flies, Tipulidae, of New England. Johnson's
basic list of the Diptera of this area (List of the Diptera or Two.Winged Flies.
Occas.PapersBoston Soc. Nat. Hist., YII; rgz) recorded 264 nominal species,of which seven have been removed as being synonyms or as being based on
mis-determinations. In the intervening years, 73 additions have been made tothis list, bringing the correctedtotal to date to 33o species.
Some of the most interestingof theseadditionshave been made on thePresidential Range of the White Mountains, New Hampshire, particularlv at
high altitudes on Mount Washington. A few brief facts concerning this area
may give a clearerappreciationof the recordsof Tipulidae to be discussed.
Mount Washington has been defined by several earlier writers as being"an arctic island in the temperate zone." Itis located at 44o, l'5' N. latitude,
yet has virtually the same climate as northern Labrador, at 60o, or more thanrooo miles to the northeastward. Numerous physical factors are involved in
the production of the climate of the alpine zone,the determinationof the upper
limits of tree-growth, and the fiual compositionof the insect fauna.
The rainfall on the summit and higher levels of the mountain totals asmuch as 80 inches, or virtually twice that of th,e surrounding lowlands. Muchof this precipitation falls as snow, which is blown by the almost universal
westerly and north-westerly winds into one or another of the gulfs and ravines
on the lee side of the range, more especiallyinto the Huntington and Tuckerman'sRavines. In the latter, on the southeastside of the mountain, the snour drifts

r17

THE CANADIAN DNTONIOLOGISTLXVI

reach a depth of hundreds of feet and persist as a uriuiature glacier and finallyas a snow-arch until mid-July or even later. The U. S. Signal Service has madea study of the wind velocity and has deterrnined that cotnpared rvith the readingat sea-coast ( Portland, Maine) there is an increase of nine or ten per cent invelocity for each one hundrecl feet of elevation. This tremendous sweep ofu,ind, at tinres reaching alntost to tornado proportions (to z3r miles per hour),bv removing the snow covering, permits deep freezing of the soil and a subsequent'fhesettling oi cold air in the glacial ravines,
clry-killing of plant life in rvintersuch as Tuckernran's, chills the surroundings and seriottsly af fects forest grorvtlt,'fherlroreover being largely responsible for late spring and early fall frosts.
culnrination of all of these unfavorable factors has definitely lintited the tiniberline, this being at a slightl_r'higher altitucle on the easterly slopes than on theu,esterly. Above the linrits of tree-growth is fell-field, a rocky flat or plateau.
the vegetation consisting of a diversified flora of drvarf size, tvitl-r an abundauceof lichens ancl nrosses. The Alpirre Garden, above the rims of Huntington andTuckerrtran's Ravines, anrl Bigelou-'s Las'n. ol1 the col lletrveen the cone of\\tashington and Iloott Spur, are examples of fell-fields ou the Presidential Range.
'Iipulidae
so far cliscoveredat and above 5ooo feet on N{ount \VashTheington are all Arctic or Huclsonian fortns, or else are entletttic species,not lttrorvn
elsewhere.
.\ ferv of the rare species that were secrlrecl in r93z and 1933 ttray bebriefly.
cliscusserl
r. Tipula (Schunt,mclia) idci Alexander. I{norvn frour the Hudsonian zonein C)ntario ancl Quebec. A nrale talien on the Tuckerman Trail, zToo ieet, July4, 1933. by ltr. Walter Harrison. A second male by- the writer at z8oo feet,Jtrly 7, 1933.
2. Tiltutu (Orconttsa) ncbulifcnuis Alexarrder. I(nou'tr frottr Labrador andthe Hudsonian zone of North Gaspe. Quebec. A nrale along Carriage Road, 47oofeet, by l{abel M. Alexander. Julv 8, 1933. A seconcltnale fottnd itt nrv coffee
cup i1 the Lakes of the Clou<ls hut, gooo feet. otr the night of Jull' 8, 1933.
3. Nepln.otonrultenuntbru Alexander. Described frotrt the high stttrrnritsof
Mount Washington and nearltv peaks. and still known onlv frotn this inrntediate
vicinity. Very abttnclant on tnornitrg of July 9, 1933, on slopes of Monroe andWashington, above gooo feet. A teneral specinrenrvas founcl just emerging fromits pupal skin that protruded frorn a cushion of. Diofcnsia. This is the trrost
comnron ancl characteristic crane-flv of the alpine suntnrits of the Fresidential
fange.
4. Dicronota (Rhalthidolalris) fctiolottt. ('Alexander). Described fron'r theI{u<lsonian zone of the Rockv Nforrntains, Colorado. Later found ttntler sinlilar
T{udsonian conditions ol1 cliffs along the north shore of Gaspe. Eastern Quebec.
A prale takerr just at sunrrnit of headrvall of Tttckerttratr's. altitude .5ooo {eet,Atrgust 24, 193".
(Osten Sacken). Origirrally c{escribed
5. Petlicie (Nasi,tarnello\ ht,ltcrborct
fronr a single male specinrentaken in I,abrador. The only other published record
was of a snrall series of nrales, taken Jul1' '1. tSZ.5,hy Mr. George Dittttuock,.a.tthe Canrp of the Canrbridge Entotrtological Club, otr Charrcller Riclge a shortflistance below the Half-wav IIouse on }{ount Washirrgton. Tlris canrp has been

MAY, 1934

TIIE CANADIAN

II8ENTONIOI,OGISTand figured by Ernerton(Psyche,3r:I-6, fig.r;
well describedrg24).

This specieshas always been one of the rarest and most desirable of all
American crane-flies. A slightly more detailed account of its re-discovery on
the Mountain in 1933, and of the finding of the hitherto unknorvn, almost rvingless female, may be of interest.
Our party, consisting of Mr. \\talter Harrison, botanist and naturalist,
and of Mrs. Alexander and rnyself, \\'as progressing slowly up the Tuckerman'Irail,when at 27oo feet my wife capturecla fine male of a Tipulid new to her,
and which upon examination proved to be the lost P. hyperborea. I at once
began sweeping all the herbage and shrubber_valong the mountain streanrs, but
Itefore I was able to find a single specimen, X[rs. Alexander had located tl-rreeor four more, all rnales. In the dense balsanr forest at about 38oo feet, between
Herrnit I,ake and the floor of the ravine, rve finally found a dozen or so nrales.
The forest floor is strewn rvith great boulclers, thickl,r' carpetecl rvith mosses
and lycopodia, and u'ith an abnndance of Chioqr:nes,Orolis, Acetosella, Clintonia, and other characteristic Canadian and low Hudsonian plants. Characteristic breeding birds of this spot lvere hermit thrush, rvinter wr.en, and blackpoll
rvarbler. The specirltensof. h,t,perboreafound that day lvere all males, all behavine quite differently fronr dn1'other menrber of this tribe (Pediciini) in theirhabits of searching for the females. Those found lvere crawling continually
abottt over the prostrate rotting logs. progressing hy u fluttering ntotion, partwalking. part flying. They \\-ere so sluggish or intent that they were nrost
readily captured by merely picking rvith one's fingers. Only rarely did they takeflight, and then low over the grounrl. This habit is enrinently characteristicofmales in the crane-fly gellera Tilrulo. and l.itnnolrh'ilahaving subapterousfernales,
and we at once becarnesttspiciousthat the unknown female might prove to beflightless. The follou'ing dar'. Julr' 4. wc confirrned this idea by finding a rnale
in copula with a still teneral female. In this sex the wings are greatly reduced
but still showing the characteristicvenation of the subgenus.
As a sunrlrarv, rve found the specieson these two days at altitudes ofbetween 27oo and 4ooo feet, along this trail and a side trail to the Lion's Head.
It seems certain that the immature stageslive beneath the thick layers of moss.
possiblv in the saturated rvood of prostrate logs. The males are always most inevidence where there is a dense carpet of rnossesand shiny clubmosses. On
July 8, Mrs. Alexander found still another nrale, being buffeted by tl-re rvind
along the Carriage Road at 42cn ieet. It shorrld be noted that only one othergentrs of Tipulidae (Chionea), in northeastern Nonth America is subapterousin
either sex.
In addition to the above. nrention nright be made to trvo other Tipulidae,
both still known onlv frorn trnique tvpes taken in the White Mottntains. Constant search in recen't years has failed to reveal these trvo flies.
Tipula (Oreomyza) insionifico Alexander. Alpine Garclen, Sept. 2r, rgrg:
collector unknown (Boston Society Natural History).
Dicranota (Eu.di,cranota) ltallida Alexander. White Nfountains, collected by
Nforrison, presunlably in 1874 or 1875 (United States National I\{useum).