Evening star., 1953-03-18
Scientists Studying Life
High in Jungle 7 Treetops
New Species Being Found
In Teeming Tropie Moross
BY Thomos R. Henry

By Thomos R. Henry
A new realm Of natural history IL
being opened to science-the jungle
roof.
There are two primary abodes Of
living things, the earth and the sea.
There Is third that is neither sea nor
earth. This is the wind-swept green
platform on stills 100 to $50 feet above
the ground which has its own kinds Of
plants and animals concerning whose
ways Of life little is known because there
have been no easy means Of observation.
The rain forest canopy which extends
In broad, broken circle around most
Of the world in the tropics now Is being
penetrated by observers for the first
time. In the New World good start
has been made in Panama both by the
Gorgas Memorial Institute and by the
Army Medical Department. Platforms
are being built in the swaying treetops
In which observers spend entire days,
catching what living things they can,
photographing others, and observing
what can neither be caught nor photo
graphed.
Gorgas Memorial scientists compare
this rain forest to the sea. The canopy
is the wind-tossed surface. Here, in
both sea and forest, life Is more prolific.
AS one goes deeper and deeper in the
ocean the amount and variety Of living
things becomes less and less. The floor
Of the jungle is almost like the sea floor
relatively devoid of life.
Life at Heights.
The jungle trees grow straight for
100 to $50 feet, devoid Of branches or
foliage until near the tops. Thus there
is little possibility of abundant life be-
tween top and bottom. Relatively little
grows on the forest floor. The scene is
almost like that Of a well-kept park.
Hence there is little food for animals.
Experiments have shown that the
amount Of sunlight on the ground is
only about 50th of that received on
the treetopS.
Naturally. the larger forms Of life
the mammals and birds-are fairly well
known and the observers do not expect
to discover any striking new species.
The dominant mammals are the big,
black, fierce and ugly howler monkeys
that have definite, well-circumscribed
clan areas and an intricate system Of
"roads" In the treetops. Most danger
Gus is the tamandua, little golden ant
eater" that can rip open big wildcat
with q single quick move of its Scimitar.
like claw. Most Of the birds have been
at least photographed in the past.
Still scores Of new species are being
found and described by the treetop OBJ
servers. They are mostly insects-ter-
restrial ants, beetles. sandflies, spiders.
etc.-and minute frogs, toads and
snakes.
-Four Of the treetop observatories now
are being maintained through the Re-
public OF Panama, mostly near the
Canal Zone. in efforts to determine and
classify the life Of this still-unknown
realm. the most difficult Of all for man
to penetrate.
The Army's strangest sentry posts
are platforms in high treetops.
There. soldiers Of the 25th Medical
Detachment Of the Caribbean Conn
mand, or civilians In the Army,s employ,
stand their watches around the Panama
Canal Zone.
They are not looking for enemy
planes swooping out of the, clouds.
Their duty is to roll up their pants
legs and be bitten by insects of the
high rain forest. They are armed not
with rifles or bayonets but with tiny
glass walls containing rubber bands
soaked with chloroform. Whenever an
/. insect bites-or before it bites II DOS
sible-they are supposed to clamp the
open mouth Of the vial on top of It.
The Job Of these sentries now man.
ming six treetop posts-two in the Blue
Mountains near the Canal Zone, two
In great swamp on the Atlantic Coast
and two IN other strategic points-is to
stand guard against possible disease
carrying insects. They are veterans at
the job. During the war in the Pa
ciflc they served in the Philippines on
much the same kind of work. After
the war the unit, now under command
Of 1t. Col. Franklin Blanton, q pro-
fessional entomologist. was reactivated
Tor work in the Caribbean area.
Another ON Ground.
While the sentry in the treetop ia
capturing and counting the insects that
bite him, another is engaged at the
same job on the ground. AT the end of
each hour the bugs caught by both are
counted and put in separate bottles.
AS rule the sentry aloft has about 10
times the catch Of the man on the
ground.
Perhaps Of more significance, in the
long run, than the watch over the
abundance and behavior Of disease
carrying insects Is the vast amount Of
information concerning the life Of the
rain forests being gathered for science.
Thousands Of specimens are sent to
the Smithsonian Institution in Wash
ington, where the collections have been
found to contain scores of hitherto un-
known species. It probably will be
years before all these can be identified
and described.