NOTES ON THE INSECT FAUNA OF SOMERSET CO., MAINE

Extract

The following notes and observations were made during a twoweeks' stay in this county, ending on August 29th. The greater portion of our collecting was done in the neighbourhood of King & Bartlett Lake, and along the road leading out to Eustis. This section of Maine, if not the entire State, is anything but an “entomologist's paradise.” The country is mountainous and covered for the most part with a dense growth of spruce, pine, birch, etc. Very little land in the entire county is under cultivation, so that those insects which we naturally look for in such places are almost entirely wanting. Many beautiful lakes are to be found in this part of Maine, but here again the entomologist is doomed to disappointment, as the water of the lakes is of an icy coldness, and very few aquatic insects are seen. The nights are invariably cold and but few insects are attracted to light. In a heavilytimbered country, such as we find in Somerset Co., Maine, it would naturally be supposed that the fallen trees would yield au abundance of insect life, particularly Coleoptera.