TECHNICAL BULLETIN NO. 673 MAY 1939 THE DISTRIBUTION OF INSECTS, SPIDERS, AND MITES IN THE AIR BY P. A. CLICK Assistant Entomolo^ist Division of Cotton Insect In^^estigations Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUREJWAVSHINGTON, D. C. somi )r sale by the Superintendent of Documents, Washington, D. C. Price 25 ccntt Technical Bulletin No. 673 May 1939 UNJIED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AQRIQULTURE WASHINGTON, D. C n THE DISTRIBUTION OF INSECTS, SPIDERS, AND MITES IN THE AIR ' By P. A. GLICK Assistant entomologist, Division of CMçtn Insect Investigations, Bureau of Ento- mology hndWlant Quarantine 2 CONTENTS Page Pasrt Introduction 1 Meteorological data—Continued Scope of the work '_l_^ Absolute humidity 101 The collecting ground ""' '" g Vapor pressure 102 Airplane insect traps ...... 6 Barometric pressure. _. .1 104 Operation and efläciency of the traps ' 8 Air currents---._._ "" log Seasonal distribution of insects 9 Light intensity "" 122 Altitudinal distribution of insects 12 Cloud conditions _ 126 Day collecting 12 Precipitation . _" 128 Night collecting 16 Electrical state of the atmosphere 129 Notes on the insects collected * 16 Effects of the Mississippi River flood of 1927 \Yinged forms _ 59 on the insect population of the air ISO Size, weight, and buoyancy _ 84 Seeds collected in the upper air __.. 132 Wingless insects 87 Collection of insects in Mexico 133 Immature stages _ 90 Sources of insects and routes of migration 140 Insects taken alive 91 Aircraft as insect carriers.-.-.. 141 Meteorological data _ 93 Collecting insects in the upper air 142 Temperature _.. 93 Summary 143 Dew point _ 98 Literature cited.... "* 146 Relative humidity . ' 100 INTRODUCTION Knowledge regarding the height to which insects may ascend has hitherto been obtained chiefly from observations made on mountains, where the insects, after all, were near terra firma; and from lighthouses, 1 Submitted for publication May 18, 1938. 2 The collecting of insects by airplane was first made possible by L. O. Howard, and the late W. D. Hunter, under the supervision of B. R Coad. The work was continued under the direction of C. L. Marlatt while ini^?norí,'®io?í *5? S?""?^" of Entomology FC. Bishopp, acting in charge of Cotton Insect Investigations ]S}ulr^u } 2 'T • V • Harned, m charge of the Division of Cotton Insect Investigations, and R. C. Gainer of the Tallulah, La , laboratory. Acknowledgments are due to R. H. Flake, W. L. Bowes, M. D. Kearney H; JtZ^^'-^- Young, C. A. Bennett, and the late pilot, G. C. McGinley, for assistance in the construe^ tion of the airplane insect traps; and to the pilots who flew the airplanes that were used, G. C. McGinley ííHíií-cF^-^?®' 5- b ¥^^?®";.^°^ ?.• ?• Thomas. Appreciation is also extended to Franklin Sherman III Robert Spmks, Robert Täte, C. F. Rainwater, Albert Sherwin. J. W. Holley. R. G. Long, and especialljP to J. M Yeates, for their assistance in the manipulation of the traps on many of the flights and in recording the meteorological data. Most of the specimens that were collected were separated as to orders by C F Kainwater and the writer before they were mounted and sent to various specialists for further determina- tion. Most of the material was mounted by P A. Woke. The insects taken during the first 2 years of collecting, however, were prepared and mounted by the specialists in the Division of Insect Identification 01 tne Bureau. Naturally the identification of the immense numbers of mangled insects that were collected ^Al^ laborious undertaking. For its efficient performance thanks are due to C F. W. Muesebeck, in charee of the Division of Insect Identification, and to Harold Morrison, formerly in charge ofthat Division, of this Bureau, who made arrangements for handling the major portion of the material. The specialists who Identified the insects in the various orders are as follows: Araneida, E. A Chapin,'H. E. Ewing. Irving Fox 107703- 2 TECHNICAL BULLETIN 67 3, U. S. DEFT. OF AGRICULTURE monuments, high buildings {25f, and forest lookout stations {75). To collect insects thousands of feet above the earth's surface was quite a diflFerent problem to handle, and to accomplish this it was necessary to await the development of a method of observing or collecting them while in flight in some form of aircraft, and thus study, as it were, the "plankton'' of the air. The collection of insects in the upper air has been under considera- tion for many years. In the winter of 1924, at a meeting of the New York Entomological Society, there was a discussion of insect migra- tion. At this meeting there were present L. O. Howard, then Chief of the Bureau of Entomology, the late W. J. Holland, E. P. Felt, Frank E. Lutz, Charles Leng, William T. Davis, W. T. M. Forbes, A. J. Mutchler, George P. Engelhardt, and others. Li the course of the discussion the value of obtaining information on the dispersal and migration of insects and of determining the heights to which they flew was emphasized, and everyone present was urged to give some thought and attention to the problem of getting this information, and in contriving some device whereby insects could be collected in the air high above the earth's surface. The use of airplanes was naturally suggested for this work, but no suggestions were made as to what kind of collecting device might be used on the airplanes. The writer had not the remotest idea at that time that he would ever have the opportunity to work along this line. Late in the spring of 1925, however, he was transferred from what was then the Federal Horticultural Board to the Bureau of Entomology, and sent to Tallulah, La., where airplanes were being used in dusting experiments for the control of the boll weevil and mosquitoes. This equipment being available, it was suggested by Dr. Howard that someone on the staff of the Tallulah laboratory should work out a means of using an airplane to collect insects in the upper air. B. E. Coad, who was in charge of the laboratory at that time and the logical person for directing this work, asked the writer to present some plan whereby P W Oman, W. L. McAtee, and Wm. T. Davis; Coleóptera, A. Q. Böving, M. W. Blackman, E. A. Chapín H S. Barber, W. S. Fisher, L. L. Buchanan, and J. C. Bridwell; Lepidoptera, August Busck, Cari Heinrich, Wm. Schaus, and the late F. H. Benjamin and H. G. Dyar; Hymenoptera, S. A. Rohwer, R A Cushman A B Gahan, L. H. Weld, C. F. W. Muesebeck, Wm. Mann, Miss Grace Sandhouse, M R Smith, and H. H. Ross; Diptera, Alan Stone, the late J. M. Aldrich, J. R. Malloch, C. T. Greene, G.'H.*Bradley, W. V. King, E. P. Felt, and D. G. Hall; Siphonaptera, F. C. Bishopp. The seeds collected at various times in the upper air were identified by the late F. V. Co ville, S. F. Blake, the late A. S. Hitchcock, and Mrs. Agnes Chase, all of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Appreciation is extended to Mabel Colcord, in charge of the library of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantipe, for many suggestions and for help in obtaining bibliographical references, and to Paul M. Gilmer for thé interpretation and preparation of the meteorological data. The writer also wishes to thank the staff of the Tlahualilo Agricultural & Colonization Co., Tlahualilo, Durango, Mexico, for the preparation of a landing field and their kindness and consideration in offering their assistance and hospitality, at the time the air- plane collections oí insects were made in Mexico. Those especially to be mentioned are Thomas Fairbairn, general manager, U. C. Loftin, and W. Ohlendorff, field managers of the company. In order to have a better understanding of the meteorological conditions, which were of paramount impor- tance in the study of the insect population of the upper air, it was necessary to consult various workers of the Weather Bureau of the U. S. Department of Agriculture. The wiiter is especially indebted to C. F. Marvin, former Chief of the Weather Bureau, who personally arranged introductions and assistance, as well as gave valuable suggestions and information; to W. J. Humphreys, meteorological physicist, for his interest, time, and valuable assistance given personally, in the explanation and interpretation of the mete- orological data used in this study; to W. E. Hurd, of the Marine Division; to R. T. Lindley, in charge of the climatological station at Vicksburg, Miss., who cooperated in checking meteorological records for com- parison with those of the Tallulah laboratory; and to W. R. Gregg. Chief of the Bureau, for his many helpful suggestions. The writer had the opportunity of visiting England and the continent in December 1937 While there he interviewed C. B. Williams, head of the department of entomology, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, near London, and B. P. Uvarov, entomologist of the department of entomology, British Museum of Natural History. All references to their publications used in this report were personally checked by these eminent entomologists. The writer also met John A. Freeman of London, who has done important work in collecting insects with kites, both in the United States and in England. In England Mr. Freeman worked under the direction of A. C. Hardy, of the department of zoology and oceanography, University College, Hull, who has published several papers and reports on collecting insects in the upper air with kites, and on insect dissemination. In Paris the writer met Lucien Berland, ento- mologist of the Museum National D'Histoire Naturelle. » Italic numbers in parenthesis refer to Literature Cited, p.