B AN I STE R I A

A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF VIRGINIA

L

Y

Number 8

ISSN 1066-0712

1996

BANISTERIA

A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF VIRGINIA

ISSN 1066-0712

Published by the Virginia Natural History Society

The Virginia Natural History Society (VNHS) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the dissemination of scientific information on all aspects of natural history in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Membership in VNHS includes a subscription to Banisteria. Annual dues are $15.00 (per calendar year); library subscriptions to Banisteria are $30.00. Subscribers/members outside the Linked States should add $3.00 for additional postage.

Checks should be made payable to the Virginia Natural History Society. Membership dues and inquiries should be directed to the Secretary-Treasurer; correspondence regarding Banisteria to one of the co-editors. Banisteria is a peer-reviewed journal.

Editorial staff: Banisteria

Co-editors

Joseph C. Mitchell, Department of Biology and School of Continuing Studies University of Richmond, Richmond, Virginia 23173

Richard L. Hoffman, Virginia Museum of Natural History,

Martinsville, Virginia 24112

Associate Editors Botany

Thomas F. Wieboldt, Department of Biology,

Virginia Polytechnic Instiaite <Sc State University,

Blacksburg, Virginia 24061

Parasitology

Ralph P. Eckerlin, Natural Sciences Division,

Northern Virginia Community College,

Annandale, Virginia 22003

Entomology

Alfred G. Wheeler, Jr., Department of Entomology Clemson LJniversity Clemson, South Carolina 29634

Production Consultant Carl W. Hoffman

1103 Tyler Avenue, Radford, Virginia 24141 Banisteria No. 7 was published on 10 May 1996.

Cover: Magnolia virginiana Linnaeus. Original drawing by John Banister, sent to Bishop D. H. Compton in 1689; figure 90 in folio in Sir Hans Sloane’s MS 4002 in the British Museum. This and other Banister drawings were provided by Joseph and Nesta Ewan.

BAN ISTERIA

A JOURNAL DEVOTED TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF VIRGINIA

NumberS, 1996

Table of Contents

Liverworts and Hornworts of the Virginia Piedmont

David A. Breil . 3

Records of .Anurans from Greensville County, Virginia

Richard L. Hoffman and Joseph C. Mitchell . 29

Odonata 1 aken in Malaise Traps, with Special Reference to Virginia

Oliver S. Flint, Jr . 37

Shoreline Flora of the Blackwater River in Southampton and Isle of Wight Counties, Virginia

J. Christopher Ludwig . 44

Type Locality and Distribution of the Crab Spider Xysticus emertoni Keyserling (Araneida: Thomisidae)

Richard L. Hoffman . 47

The Columbia Union College Biological Station in Highland County, Virginia

Lester H. Harris, Jr . 50

Shorter Contributions

Plagiognathus repetitus Knight, a Pine Barrens Plant Bug New to Virginia (Heteroptera: Miridae)

A. G. Wheeler, Jr . 52

Deletion of the Spider Therulion montanum from the Virginia Fauna (Araneida: Lheridiidae)

Richard L. Hoffman . 5 3

Winter Records for the Snapping Turtle, C lielydra serpentine j, in Virginia Joseph C. Mitchell and Katie Barrish . 54

Predation of Marbled Salamander (Aniby.vtonui opacum [Gravenhorst]) Eggs by the Milliped Uroblaniulus jersey i (( ausey)

Joseph C. Mitchell, Kurt A. Buhlmann and Richard L. Hoffman . 5 5

ILe Water Strider Limnnpnriis dissents (Drake &r I Iarris) (C lerridae) Added to the Heteropteron Fauna of Virginia Richard L. Hoffman . 56

Miscellanea

Book Reviews . 57

Reports . 61

Announcements . 63

BANISTER1A

NO 8, 1996

VNHS Officers

President: C. Barry Knisley, Department oi Biology, Randolph-Macon College, Ashland, Virginia 23005

Vice-President: Thomas J. Rawinski, Division ol Natural Heritage, 1500 E. Main Street, Suite 312, Richmond, Virginia 23219

Secretary-Treasurer: Anne C. Lund, Department ol Biology, Hampden-Sydney College, Hampden-Sydney, Virginia 23943

Councilor: Richard J. Neves, Department oi Fisheries & Wildlife, Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University, Blacksburg, Virginia 24061-0321

Councilor: Norman J. Fashing, Department of Biology, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, Virginia 23185

Councilor: Judith E. Winston Virginia Museum of Natural History Martinsville, Virginia 24112

Banisteria, Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

Liverworts anti Hornworts of the Virginia Piedmont

David A. Breil

Department of Natural Sciences Longwood College, Farmville, Virginia 23909

INTRODUCTION

Years of pleasurable work with the liverwort flora of the Virginia Piedmont have led me to write an illustrated guide to the regional species of these too often ignored plants. My intention has been, in this manner, to make the citizens of this pygmy plant world understandable and accessible to naturalists who may have been discouraged from their study by the lack of a means of identification. Because of its focus on a small geographic region, it has been possible to utilize simple diagnostic characters which may not be applicable to the various taxa in their broader context. Heretofore the liverwort flora of this region has been treated only superficially or neglected entirely, perhaps because of a misconception that agricultural overdevelopment or hot dry summers have milit¬ ated against local diversification of these plants which require sustained conditions of humidity and moisture for survival.

Liverworts and hornworts are well-represented in Virginia with approximately 1 50 sjiecies dispersed through all of the topographic regions. Tire Piedmont flora is actually substantial, with about 60 species in 40 genera, and additional species will surely he found with future field work (e.g., several southern species known from North Carolina (Hicks, 1992) but still unrecorded from Virginia).

Tire earliest instate collections were made in the mountains of southwestern Virginia by William S. Sullivant and Asa Gray and the results of their forays were nqxrrted in “Mosses of the Alleghenies” (Sullivant, 1846). In the latter part of the 19th century Anna Vail and John K. Small collected liverworts, identified by Alexander Evans of Yale l diversity, in the vicinity7 of Marion (Small 6>c Vail, 1893).

Thomas Kearney, a vascular plant taxonomist, conducted a botanical survey of the Dismal Swamp in 1901, incidentally

picking up six species of liverworts (Patterson, 1949). During the 1930s, M. L. Fenrald made a number of collecting trips to southeastern Virginia, accompanied by Bayard Long of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia. Mr. Long collected many bryophytes, including 34 hepatics of which A nthnceros adscerulms was found for the first time north of South Carolina (Patterson, 1951).

Hepatics were collected around the Mountain Lake Biological Station during the decades of 1940-1970. .Aaron J. Sharp of the University of Tennessee was the first of many bryologists to conduct field courses on these plants at the station. His collections for the summer season of 1940 alone included 80 different species, 61 of them leafy, 19 rhallose (Sharp 1944). At different intervals, Paul M. Patterson, Rudolf M. Schuster, David A. Breil, and Susan Smdlar also taught courses at Mountain Lake and added substantially to our knowledge of the Hepaticae of southwestern Virginia. While formal regional lists of these collections have not been published, some have been documented in generic revisions and in notes on distribution and ecology.

[Tiring the summer of 1944, Irma Schnooberger and Frances Wynne (1944) collected bryophytes including 31 hepatics in the Blue Ridge Mountains of the Shenandoah National Park. Lire majority of their finds were widely distributed boreal species.

H. H. litis (1950) reported a number of hepatics for the vicinity of Fredericksburg, Virginia, including the first state records for southern species of leafy Hepaticae. ITiis pajx^r is also significant in recording the first comprehensive collection of bryophytes from the Piedmont section ofVirginia.

LXiring the mid 1950s, Rudolf Schuster and Paul Patterson foraged for liverworts in the Dismal Swamp and in the mountains of southwestern Virginia. Jointly they

4

BANISTERIA

NO. 8, 1996

reported (Schuster & Patterson, 1957) 16 taxa new to the Virginia Coastal Plain and a similar number for , the mountains. .All but five of the liverwort species were leafy.

Since coming to Longwood College in 1968, 1 have collected bryophytes throughout the state with primary emphasis on the plants of the central and southern Piedmont. The accumulated material forms the basis of the following treatment.

THE VIRGINIA PIEDMONT

The Piedmont Topographic Province extends in a NE - SW direction throughout the length of Virginia and is about 96 km wide at the northern end, broadening to about 192 1cm wide along the North Carolina border. Tire eastern edge of the Piedmont is formed by the Fall Line, a series of rapids occurring in rivers (James, Rappahannock, Potomac, Appomattox and Roanoke) draining to the east. Eire western boundary of the Piedmont is marked by the base of the Blue Ridge Mountain escarpment, about 300 m elevation. The Piedmont is underlain by ancient crystalline rocks mainly covered by residual soils which are somewhat acidic (pH 5.0 - 6.0). Tire area is hilly, with elevational differences not usually exceeding 15 m. Occasional resistant ridges or monadnocks occur as solitary outliers of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Precipitation averages about 45 inches (114 cm) per year occurring throughout tire year except during the drought season during late summer, usually August.

Braun (1950) described the outer Piedmont as occurring in the pine-oak region of the Eastern Deciduous Forest. Mature upland deciduous forests are composed of populations of oaks (white, red, post, Spanish, chestnut, scar¬ let), hickories (sweet pignut, pignut, shagbark, mockernut), and mixtures of other hardwood species (red maple, sweetgum, tulip poplar, ironwood, beech, black gum, dogwood, sourwood), often with old successional pines scattered throughout. North slo[>e forests are dominated by American beech with white oak, red or Horida maples, tulip poplars and ironwood. Successional community stages range from old fields to conifer forests (loblolly, Virginia scrub, red cedar), and some hardwood types ( including sweetgum and tulip poplar). Wetland communities include small streams (with hazel alder, sycamore), rocky river shorelines, floodplain forests (with river birch, sycamore, willow oak, American elm, box elder) and grassland marshes. Most reservoirs, lakes and ponds were created in the last hundred years but strongly influence the vegetation of this region. Microhabitats of soil hummocks, rock ledge, rocky ravines, logs, stumps, tree trunks and roots are especially important to the liverworts

with the greatest diversity always being found in the more moist shaded areas.

THE SURVEY AREA

Tire Virginia Piedmont has been virtually unsurveyed for the presence of bryophytes prior to this study. The central axrd southern part of the Virginia Piedmont from Louisa county in the northern part to the North Carolina border was utilized. A buffer zone of about one Piedmont county to the east and west was maintained in order to diminish the direct influence of plants from the mountains and the coastal plain. The counties included in this study are .Amelia, Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Huvanna, Goochland, Halifax, Lunenburg, Louisa, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, and Prince Edward (see Figure 88, p. 28).

BRYOPHYTE CHARACTERISTICS

Bryophytes consist of hornworts, liverworts, and mosses, all of which are small (normally less than two inches long) and have a similar life cycle. Hornworts (anthocerofes) generally occur on the soil and are flat, dark green thalloid plants producing narrowly cylindric saprophytes. Liverworts have two growth forms: thalloid (flat, scale-like, ribbon-shaped, sometimes branched) and leafy: with stem and leaves, occurring in all habitats but most commonly on tree trunks and roots. Leafy liverworts may be confused with mosses but differ from mosses in leaf and sporophyte structure. Leafy liverworts have leaves in two or three distinct rows, each leaf possessing two or more lobes that lack midribs. Moss leaves occur in more than three rows and have singly pointed unlobed leaves with midribs. lire sporophytes of liverworts are short-lived and produce black cylindric or ovate s{>orangia (capsules) which split info four valves to release the spores. Mosses usually develop persistent green to brown sporophytes with sporangia that are ovate, cylindric, spherical, or oblong and allow' the escape of spores through the release of a terminal cap.

KEY TO THE SUBDIVISIONS

la. Plants thallose, each cell with a single large chloroplast

bearing a central pyrenoid; sporophytes linear .

. Anthocerotae

lb. Plants thallose or leafy, each cell with several small

chloroplasts, pyrenoids absent; sporophytes producing stalked spherical or ovoid capsules . Hepaticae

BREIL: LIVERWORTS

Anthocerotae (Homworts)

Key to Genera

la. Sporophytes erect, narrowly cylindric, several times

longer than enclosing collar of tissue at base (Fig. 1) .

. Anthoceros

lb. Sporophytes barely emerging from the thallus collar

(Fig. 2) . Notothylas

Hepaticae (Liverworts)

Key to Genera

la. Plants thallose, thallus simple, lobed or branched . 2

lb. Plants with stem and leaves . 15

Plants thallose

2a. Thallus surface almost obscured by ovoid sheaths surrounding sex organs or sporophytes (Figs 23, 24) ....

. Sphaerocarpos

2b. Thallus surface not obscured . 3

3a. Midrib distinct, cordlike, remainder of thallus thin (Figs

12, 14) . 4

3b. Midrib indistinct, often covered with rhizoids or scales, tapering to margins . 5

4a. Hairs emerging from margins of thallus; on trees and

rocks . M etzgeria

4b. Hairs lacking; on organic soil . Pallavicinia

5a. Thallus margins rounddobed, black-spotted at bases; gemmae produced on dorsal surface or in flask-like

structures (Fig. 19) . Blasia

5b. Thallus margins straight or wavy, not round-lobed . 6

6a. Plants aquatic, floating or submerged in quiet water,

often stranded on shore . 7

6b. Plants terrestrial . 8

7a. Thallus heart-shaped, thick, often in rosettes, with long-

toothed ventral scales . Ricciocarpus

7b. Thallus linear, with open forked branching, lacking scales . Riccia, in part

8a. Thallus 1.5 cm or less in diameter, rarely of slender

branched ribbons . Riccia, in part

8b. Thallus 1.2 - 6.5 cm long, broadly ribbon-like, some¬ times branched . 9

9a. Plants with green gemmae cups on upper surface (Fig.

7) . Marchantia

9b. Plants lacking gemmae cups . 10

10a. Pores and net-pattern present on upper surface (some¬ times indistinct); scales on lower surfaces (Fig. 8) . 1 1

10b. Pores or pattern on surface of plant lacking; lower surface lacking scales . 13

1 la. Thallus very large, 1 - 3 cm wide; a distinct net-like

surface pattern developed around pores .

. Conocephalum

lib. Thallus smaller, less than 0.8 cm wide; surface pattern present but not distinct; plants often in rosettes . 12

12a. Thallus 5-8 mm wide; epidermal cells with thin walls and large trigones; capsules of elevated receptacles

lacking white, scale-like fringe . RebouUa

12b. Thallus up to 3 mm wide; epidermal ceUs with thin waUs, lacking trigones (the epidermis must be mounted separately on slide and examined); capsules fringed by white scales (Fig. 4) . A sterella

13a. Lower surface densely covered with brownish rhizoids along center line; sporophytes developing from a flap or low cup-like structure near apex of thallus (Figs. 17,18)

. PeJlm

1 3b. Lower surface sparsely covered with rhizoids (or absent); sporophytes developing from lateral branches . 14

14a. Plants 3-10 mm wide, sparingly branched; yellowish

green; always on wet rotten logs and stumps . Aneura

14b. Plants less than 2 mm wide, abundantly branched; deep green; on wet rock, soil or moist rotten logs ....Riccardia

Plants leafy, with stem and leaves

15a. Leaves composed of hair-like filaments 1-2 celT wide, or leaf blades fringed with long hairs; underleaves similar

to leaves (Figs. 30, 32, 34, 36) . 16

15b. Leaves entire, lobed or toothed, but not with marginal hairs . 19

16a. Plants delicate, less than 1 mm wide; leaves divided nearly to base into 2-4 slender filaments, 1-2 cells wide

at base; underleaves of filamentous segments . 17

16b. Plants robust; leaves divided to middle or beyond into 2-5 lobes, the lobes soon divided into many hair-like segments . 18

BREIL: LIVERWORTS

7

17a. Plants pinnately branched; underleaves 2-3 lobed with 1

or more lobes often very short . Kurzia

17b. Plants irregularly branched; underleaves of (3V4 well- developed, filamentous segments . Blepharostonui

18a. Leaf blades 6-10 cells wide at base; cells with large

trigones; plants normally reddish-brown . Ptiluhum

18b. Leaf with very little blade, lobes 1-4 cells wide at base, divided into filaments; cells thin walled, without trigones; whitish-gjeen . Trichocolea

19a. Stems lacking underleaves, or under leaves so small as to

be inconspicuous . 20

19b. Stems with conspicuous underleaves (Figs. 37, 53, 70, 83,87) . 33

20a. Leaves with lobules (the lobule a smaller portion of the leaf folded back against itself, thus complicate-bilobed)

(Figs. 50, 67, 72,78) . 21

20b. Leaves without lobules thus, leaves entire, toothed, lobed or indented at apex . 24

21a. Lobule located above (dorsal to) the leaf, the leaf mar¬ gins usually toothed; on soil (Figs. 50, 51) . 22

21b. Lobule located below (ventral to) the leaf, the leaf margins entire or toothed; plants on roots, rocks or trees (Figs. 71, 72, 77, 87) . 23

22a. Leaves elongated and pointed at apex; lobules strajv shaped, directed towards the stem tip; gemmae sharply

angular . Diplophyllum

22b. Leaves broadly ovate to round, barely longer than wide; lobules ovate to rectangular, pointing at an oblique angle to the stem; gemmae ovoid, smooth . Scapanui

23a. Lobules rectangular to rounded; rhizoids on lobule; leaf cells and keel of lobule smooth; perianths flattened; plants large (Fig. 67) . Rcukda

23b. Lobules ovate or reduced to a very narrow fold; rhizoids on stem; leaf cells and lobule papillose; perianths inflated, plants minute (Fig. 7 2) . C ololejeunea

24a. Leaves wavy and irregular in shape, frequently pro ducing small distant hairs along margins; perianth broadened outward, bell-shaped; stem hairs purple (Fig.

9) . Fossombronia

24b. Leaves regular, rarely wavy, lacking marginal leaf hairs; perianths spherical, cylindrical, or flattened contracted or closed at the apex; stem hairs colorless, pink, or brown . 25

25a. Leaves toothed along margins or leaf apex 2-4 lobed .

. 26

25b. Leaves entire, round, rounded-rectangular, or ovate,

occasionally shallowly notched at tips . 30

26a. Leaf margins toothed all around (sometimes entire margined) . Plagiochila

26b. Leaves 2-4 lobed, the lobe tips sharply pointed . 27

27a. Leaves 2-3 lobed, the lobes toothed on margins .

. Lophozia

27b. Leaves 2 lobed, the lobes not toothed along margins .... . 28

28a. Leaf lobes drawn into a fine hairpoints, each several single cells in length; the deeply concave leaf resembling

a billowing sail (Fig. 57) . Nowellia

28b. Leaf lobes acute to obtuse, never drawn into a hairpoint; leaves mostly flat to moderately concave ... 29

29a. Leaves attached transversely to stem; plants minute; cells

with small oil bodies (Figs. 63, 65) . Cephaloziella

29b. Leaves inserted obliquely on stem; plants larger and

easily seen; cells lacking oil-bodies (Figs. 58, 60) .

. . . C ephabzia

Figures 1-13. 1. Anthoceros laevis subsp. caroliniana. Thallus with erect sporophyte, X3. 2 Notothylas orbicularis. Thallus with

emergent sporophytes (mature), X3 3-4. Asterella tenella. 3. Thallus with receptacle, male organs behind, X5. 4 Detail of female receptacle showing papery sheaths around sporophytes, X7 5. Reboulia han.ispha.mca. Thallus with elevated female receptacle bearing sporophytes beneath, male pad behind receptacle, X3. 6-7- Marchantia polymorpha. 6. Habit with female receptacle and gemma cup, X2. 7- Gemma cup, gemmae within, X4 8. Conocephalum amicum. Dorsal surface of thallus, X3. 9-10. Fossombronia brasiliensis . 9. Ventral surface, X6. 10. Spore, X280. 1 1 . Fossombronia wondraczckii. Spore, X2 80. 12. Metzgeria conjugata . Ventral

surface of thallus, XlO. 13. Met zgeria crassipilis. Ventral surface of thallus bearing gemmae and rhizoids on wings, XlO.

BREIL: LIVERWORTS

o

30a. Stems producing long white leafless branches from the lower surface (a long leafy stem must be examined);

leaves mostly orbicular (Figs. 84, 86) . Odontoschisma

30b. Stems not developing white branches from lower surface; leaves mostly rectangular to rounded-quadrate (orbicular in some species of Solenostmrui) . 31

31a. Perianths tapered toward a narrow ciliate mouth; bracts beneath perianth ciliate at tips; plants often dull

reddish-brown (Figs. 44, 45) . Jarnnsonielh

31b. Perianths not tarred toward mouth and not ciliate; bracts not ciliate; plants green . 3 1

32a. Leaves rectangular on mature sboots; leaf cells with bulging trigones; perianths smoothly cylindric, abruptly

constricted to a smooth beak (Fig. 47) . Jungermannia

32b. Leaves circular, elliptical, or ovate; perianths cylindric, longitudinally creased (Figs. 40, 42, 48) . Solenostoma

33a. Leaves producing lobules, the lobules rectangular, strap¬ shaped, or like a smooth Viking helmet (Figs. 69, 71,

78) . 34

33b. Leaves not producing lobules . 37

34a. Underleaves distinctly bilobed for 1/3 to 1/2 their length, lobule helmet-shaped (occasionally strap-shai>ed)

. 35

34b. Underleaves entire (sometimes notched at apex), round or broadly ovate in shape . 36

35a. Leaf apex mostly rounded; plants green to shades of red-

brown . Frullania

35b. Leaf apex pointed; plants black-green (Fig. 82) ... Jubula

36a. Lobule strap-shaped, sometimes recurved on margins, extending parallel to the stem; each cell with several small oil-bodies (Fig. 85) . Porella

36b. Lobule rectangular, extending parallel to leaf margin and broadly attached to it; one (rarely' 2) large oil-body(s) in each cell . Leucolejeunea

37a. Leaves 3-toothed at apex; underleaves multitoothed

(Fig. 37) . Bazzania

37b. Leaves entire or bilobed; underleaves bilobed . 38

38a. Leaves entire (sometimes barely indented at apex) .... 39

38b. Leaves broadly bilobed (a few often entire) (Fig. 52) .

. Lophocolea

39a. Leaves rectangular but rounded at the comers, broadly

rounded at the apex; near or in water . Chiloscyphus

39b. Leaves ovate-pointed (often bidentate at apex); on soil (Fig. 38) . Gdypogeja

Annotated Species Accounts

1. Aneura Dum.

Plants thalloid, deep green, 3-10 mm wide, lacking a midrib although thickened in the center. Dioecious; male plants with many elongate antheridial branches arising laterally from thallus; female plants developing erect sporophytes within a fleshy, warty, translucent calyptra.

Annum pingms (L.) Dum. (Figs. 20-21) Pioneers on moist rotten logs and stumps, less commonly on tree roots and humus in swamps and shaded margins of ponds and streams. Buckingham, Prince Edward counties.

2. Anthoceros L.

Thalloid plants 0. 5-3.0 an broad, in green rosettes or clusters, the margins and upper surface smooth to mffled, lacking a midrib or scales on lower surface; cells each with a single large chloroplast with a central pyrenoid. Monoecious (our species);

Figures 14-28. 14-17- Pallavicinia lyellii. 14- Female plant, X7- 15. Male plant, a ntheridia beneath flap, X7- 16. Sporophyte within perigynium on female plant, X7. 17. Pcllia cpiphylla. Monoecious thallus, sporophyte at tip with antheridial bumps behind it, X7. 18. Pellia necsiana. Female thallus with emerging sporophyte, X5 . 19. Blusia pusilla. Thallus with 2 kinds of gemmae and embedded clumps of blue-green bacteria, X7- Thallus, X9. 20-21. Aneura pinguLs. 20. Male plant, x4- 21. Female plant with sporophyte, X4- 22. R iccardia multifidu. 25-24- Sphacrocarpus texanus. 25. Female thallus with dorsal, occluding peri gym a (each later with a sporophyte), X7. 24 Male thallus, with small male organs, X7. 25-26. Riccia hunhenariana suhsp. sullwantii . 25. Dorsal view of

thallus with embedded sporophytes, X7. 26. Lateral view of embedded sporophytes, Xl7. 27. Riccia sorocarpa. Thallus with

embedded sporophytes, X5. 28. Riccia memhranacea . Thallus, X6.

BREIL LIVERWORTS

11

anther id ia and archegonia develo[red in open cavities beneath the upper surface. Sporophyte resembling a single elongated horn, erect, long exserted beyond an enclosing collar from thallus tissue at base.

la. Spores yellow . A. carolinianits

lb. Spores black . (A. punctatus)

1. Anthoceros carolmianus Michx. (Fig. 1) Also known as Anthoceros laevis subsp. carolinianus, dark green, thalioid plants occurring in rounded clumps on mineral soil along ditches, streambanks and in old cornfields; fmiting from late fall through spring. Plants small in this area. .Amelia, Buck' ingham, Cumberland, Prince Edward counties

2. {Anthoceros punctatus L.) .Also known as Asprromitus punctatus, dark green thalioid plants, dichotomously lobed, occurring in disturbed habitats such as gardens, pathways and ditches, fruiting in winter and spring. Monoecious. Widely distributed through the influence of man’s activities thus expected in gardens.

3. Asterella Beauv.

Plants thalioid, elongate, 2-3.5 mm broad, simple or forked, margins thin, wavy, often purple hut green if growing in shade; the upper epidermal cells lacking trigones, the surface indistinctly net-patterned; the lower surface with rhizoids and two rows of crescent-shaped scales. Monoecious; antheridia clustered on upper surface immediately behind the elevated umbrella-like receptacle bearing archegonia and, eventually, papery sheathed sporophytes.

Asterella tenella (L.) Beauv. (Figs. 3, 4) Occurring on wet sandy soil in fields, roadside ditches, boulder crevices, rocks along streams; often with Riccia and Anthoceros species. Buckingham, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Prince Edward counties.

4. BazzaniaS. Gray

Farge, dull green leafy liverwort, 3A mm wide, forking at the tips and producing white, minutely leafy shoots in axils of the

underleaves, heaves densely overlapping, trapezoidal, the apices terminated by 3 (4) shallowly triangular lobes; lobules absent. Underleaves distant to adjacent, large, wider than stem, the margins multitoothed. Not seen with reproductive structures.

Bazzcinia trilobata (F.) S. Gray. (Fig. 37) Occurring in moist shaded habitats over vertical granitic or gneissic rock, shaded banks on peaty soil; along rivers or hemlock bluffs. Campbell, Fluvanna, Halifax, Prince Edward counties.

5 . Blasia F.

Plants thalioid, pale green, lobed, occurring in mats and forking more or less repeatedly to form rosettes; the thallus center thickened, often with a faint whitish line; rounded lobes with dark blotches at base; lower surface with pinkish scales; upper surface producing two kinds of multicellular gemmae: (1) clusters of star-shaped gemmae and (2) smooth elliptical gemmae within long-necked, flask-shaped structures. Retxrrted dioecious but not seen with sexual structures.

Blasia pusilla F. (Fig. 19) Thalli occurring on moist eroding loamy slopes. Prince Edward County.

6. Blepharostoma (Dum. emend Findb.) Diun.

Plants delicate, filamentous, 0.7-0. 8 mm wide, in pale green mats or strands among other bryophytes. Feaves inserted transversely on stems, divided into four filamentous lobes nearly to base; underleaves similar to leaves, 3- or 4-lobed. Monoecious. .Antheridia in axils of leaves along stem; perianth cylindrical, contracted towards the ciliate mouth, terminating a stem or branch.

Blepharostoma tnchophylhon (F.) Dum. (Figs. 29,30) With other bryophytes or in thin mats on moist shaded rocks; logs, tree bases. Campbell, Huvanna, Prince Edward counties.

7. Calypogeja Raddi

Pale green to green medium sized leafy hepatics, occurring singly or loosely intertwined in thin mats; shoots simple or

Figures 29-43. 29-30. Blepharostoma trichuphyllum. 29. Shoot, dorsal surface, X 12. 30. Leaf, X64 31-32. Ptilidium pukherrimum.

3 1. Shoot, dorsal surface, Xl 5. 32. Leaf, X3 5. 33-34. Kurzia sylvatica. 33. Shoot, ventral surface, X98. 34. Leaf, X202. 35-36.

T richocolea tomentella. 35. Plant, ventral surface, XlO. 36. Leaf, X36. 36. Bazzania trilobata. Shoot, ventral surface, Xl3. 38-39.

Calypogeja fissa. 38. Shoot, ventral surface, Xl6. 39. Leaf tips, X99. 40-41. Solenostoma gracillimum. 40. Male plant, antheridia in axils of upper leaves, X23. 40. Leaf marginal cells, X93. 42-43. Solenostoma hyalinum. 42. Shoot, X23. 43. Leaf marginal cells, X99.

12

BANISTER1A

NO. 8, 1996

sparsely branched, branches ventral. Leaves ovate, broadly pointed, the apex bilobed or bidentate, less commonly entire. Lobules absent; underleaves conspicuous, entire and slightly notched or bilobed, frequently with a lateral tooth on each outer margin; rhizoids abundant from base of underleaves; unicellular gemmae sometimes produced on outer margins of leaves and at apex of erect branches. Plants monoecious, the male branch short, ventral, with 4-6 pairs of overlapping hracts. The female inflorescence on a short ventral branch, developing a sporophyte within an ovoid fleshy perigynium rather than a leafy perianth as in other leafy hepatics.

la. Leaves entire, blunt or narrowly rounded at tips;

underleaves rounded, less than 1.3 times as wide as long, with lobes not strongly spreading, their lateral margins evenly rounded, only occasionally toothed; plants robust, 2.5 to 4 mm wide . C. muellenana

lb. Leaves frequently bidentate or sharply pointed at apex;

underleaves broad, 1.5 to 2.0 times as wide as long, with spreading lobes which have a single tooth; plants smaller, 1.5 to 2.5 mm wide . C.fissa

1 . G aiypogeja fissa (L.) Raddi subsp. neogaea Schust. (Figs. 38, 39) On roadside banks or moist clayey soil of ditches or shaded roadside embankments. Buckingham, Campbell, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Prince Edward, Spotsylvania counties.

2. C aiypogeja muelleriana (Schiffn.) K. Mull. On thin soil or humus in ravines, over shaded rocks, humus on steep slopes, peaty soil. Lunenburg County.

8. Cephalozia (Dum.) Dum.

Small leafy plants (0.3 - 0.8 mm wide), in thin mats or mixed with other bryophytes; stems with a translucent outer cell layer; sparingly branched, the lower stem surface with rhizoids throughout; leaves ovate to round, deeply bilobed, distant to slightly overlapping; lobules and underleaves absent. .Asexual reproduction by clumps of gemmae formed at tips of erect branches. Monoecious (our species). Male inflorescence on short branches, with 2- 14 pairs of closely overlapping leafy hracts; perianths on short branches, ovate, obmsely 3-keeled, the apex constricted, toothed.

la. Leaf lobes three to five cells wide at base; cell? at base of leaf 40 - 60 p long . G connwens

lb. Leaf lobes five to nine cells wide at base; cells at base of leaf 15 05 p long . 2

2a. Leaf bases conspicuously extending down stem; leaf

often with two lobes crossing; cells thinwvalled .

. C. lunulifolia

2b. Leaf bases not or only slightly extending down stem;

leaf lobes not crossing; cells slightly to strongly thick- walled . . C. catemdata

1. Cephalozia catemdata (Hub.) Lindb. (Figs. 60, 61) In

moist woods or swamps on moist rotten logs. Often

associated with Ncrwellia curvifoha and Odontoschisma denudation. Buckingham, Campbell Ruvanna, Prince Edward counties.

2. Cephalozia connivens (Dicks.) Lindb. (Fig. 62) On shaded moist silty soil along paths, sometimes on moist rotten logs, often with other bryophytes. Campbell County.

3. Cephalozia lunulifolia (Dum.) Dum. (Figs. 58, 59) Occur¬ ring in woods on humus, peaty or sandy soil, sometimes on rotten logs. Ruvanna, Prince Edward counties.

9. Cephaloziella (Spruce) Steph.

Minute plants resembling Cephalozia, but without an outer stem layer of large celLs; leaves bilobed with cells containing minute oil-bodies; underleaves absent or minute and narrowly triangular. Perianths and associated bracts large compared to the normal leaves.

la. Plants sterile, i.e., sexual structures usually absent;

underleaves of robust shoots present, often large; leaf cells thick-walled, some with spines . C. byssacea

lb. Plants usually fertile, with perianths and male branches;

underleaves minute or absent on sterile shoots . 2

2a. Leaf lobes ovate-triangular, 6-9 cells wide at base of mat¬

ure sterile shoots; leaf cells thin-walled . C. hampeana

2b. Leaf lobes 4-6 cells wide on sterile shoots; leaf cells mostly thick-walled . G rubella

1. Cephaloziella byssacea (Roth.) Warnst. (Figs. 63, 64)

Dioecious but usually sterile; plants green to brown; on wet

BRE1L: LIVERWORTS

13

seepage on granitic boulders or often mixed with other bryo phytes such as Scapania nemorosa, Dicranum, or Poly trichum. Campbell, Nottoway counties.

2. C ephaloziella hampeana (Nees) Schiffn. - Monoecious; green to brownish plants growing over humus or logs, usually in swamps or other wet areas. Prince Edward County.

3. Cephaloziella rubella (Nees) Wamst. (Figs. 65, 66) Mono ecious; green to reddislvtinged hepatics growing on peaty or sterile soil or rock, often with Solenostoma or protonema of the moss Pogonatum. Prince Edward County.

10. Chiloscyphus Corda

Green to pale-green leafy liverworts, the shoots T3 mm wide, irregularly branched; leaves squarish, rounded on the corners; underleaves as wide as the stems, the lobes elongate and triangular with often a thread-like tooth on either side. Monoecious. Antheridia occur in axils of leaves in small cup- like pockets next to the stem on the dorsal surface. Hie perianth occurs on a short ventral branch that is obscurely lobed and toothed.

These hepatics possess characters similar to those found in the genus Lophocolea, a taxon which has been transferred to Chiloscyphus by Engle and Schuster (1984).

Chiloscyphus pallescens (Ehrh.) Dum. (Fig. 5 3) Rat patches on moist shaded soil, on rock along streams, or in other wet areas. Amelia, Buckingham, Prince Edward counties.

11. Cololejeunea (Spmce) Schiffn.

A minute, yellow green species with freely branched, zigzagging stems ; leaves triangular to ovate, the cells with conical papillae on the outer leaf surfaces; lobules well developed, ovate, papillose, with a conspicuous tooth on free margins; underleaves absent; rhizoids developing sparsely along the lower surface of the stem. Monoecious; antheridia occurring at bases of bracts along the stem; large, 5-keeled perianths occur at tips of branches, resembling gas-filled balloons with a terminal beak .

Q>lolejeunea buhUecomiae (Aust.) Evans. (Fig. 72) In small patches on tree bark, roots, and rock in shaded moist habitats. Buckingham, Ruvanna, Mecklenburg, Prince Edward counties.

12. Conocephalum Wiggers

The largest thallose species, 2-3 inches long, and short

branched, occurring in deep green patches; abundant white rhizoids and 2 rows of large scales develop on the lower surface; upper surface with a conspicuous net-like pattern, each unit containing a single open pore leading to a green chamber beneath; gemmae cups and gemmae not produced. Dioecious. Male plants with a slightly elevated “pad” at the tip of the thallus in the spring. Female plants produce an elevated, umbrella-like, receptacle bearing archegonia (later, sporophytes) beneath. This plant is known as the “fragrant liverwort” because of its sweet, spicy odor.

Conocephalum conicum (L.) Underwood. (Fig. 8) Occurring over rocks, wet sandy soil, and logs, usually along streams. Buckingham, Cumberland, Ruvanna, Mecklenburg, Prince Edward, Spotsylvania counties.

13. Diplophyllum Dumort.

Small leafy plants occurring in green to reddish brown patches, seldom branched; leaves close, complicate-bilobed, the larger blade pointed outwardly, the smaller blade (lobule) pointed toward the stem tip, both lobes finely toothed; angular green gemmae often densely produced at stem apices. Monoecious; male bracts in a series along the stem, similar to leaves. Perianths on short to long branches, ovate, creased lengthwise, and contracted to a tooth-fringed mouth.

Diploplv/llum apiculatum (L.) Underwood. (Fig. 51) Common on peaty banks, soil and rocks, especially along road cuts in forests or in partial shade, often occurring with Scapania, and “pigeon wheat moss,” Diphyscium. Appomattox, Bucking¬ ham, Campbell, Ruvanna, Mecklenburg, Prince Edward counties.

14. Fossombronia Raddi

A thallose liverwort with deeply lobed wings resembling irregularly shaped leaves, the “leaves” producing spaced marginal hairs; stem rhizoids purple; lobules and underleaves lacking. .Antheridia and archegonia on upper stem surface near the tips of stems or branches. False bell-shaped perianths develop at the base of the sporophyte revealing the spherical black capsule. Most distinctions between species are based on spore ornamentation. Hie plants are seasonal, often appearing with “pygmy mosses” on moist clayey soil.

Fossombronia brasiliensis Steph. (Fig. 9,10) Monoecious; occurring singly or in greenish patches on moist, clayey, compact soil in old fields, along streams or in swamps, often with Riccia species or Sphaerocarpos. Cumberland, Prince Edward counties. Fossombronia rwrulracz.ek.il (Corda) Dum.

14

BANISTERIA

NO. 8, 1996

may be present. It differs mainly in spore ornamentation, the spores having essentially parallel ridges (Fig. 11).

15. Frullania Raddi

Plants leafy, dark green, reddish, or brownish, highly branched, in thin mats closely attached to substrate; leaves entire, overlapping, producing a helmet-shaped lobule next to the stem from the underside of the leaf; occasionally some lobules flattened into a creased, strap-shaped “tongue” paralleling the stem; underleaves large and bilobed. Male branches with closely overlapping bracts in pairs; female perianths large, lantern-shaped and beaked at apex. Asexual reproduction, when present, occurs from dropped leaves which are able to develop into new plants.

la. Leaves with a distinct oblique line of colored cells

(ocelli); plants usually reddish brown .

. F. tamansci subsp. asagrayana

lb. Leaves lacking ocelli; plants green to brownish red . 2

2a. Some or all of lobules flattened, forming straps rather than sacs; cell walls lacking trigones and intermediate

thickenings . Frullania inflata

2b. Lobules sac-like or helmet-shaped, rarely flattened; cells with large swollen trigones and walk with knot-like thickenings . 3

3a. Under leaves 2.5-4 times as wide as the stem; leaves

strongly curving away from stem when moist; plants

frequently brownish red . . . F. ericoides

3b. Underleaves 1 - 2 (3) times as wide as main stem; leaves only standing slightly away from stem when moist; plants nonnally green . 4

4a. I aider leaves slightly broader than long, with several teeth above midleaf; lobule sacs compressed near the mouth; plants not usually producing gemmae on leaf

margins nor dropping leaves . F. bnttoniae

4b. Underleaves slightly longer than wide with margins entire or a single tooth on either side; lobules not com¬ pressed at mouth; leaves often developing gemmae or falling away from stem . F. eboracensis subsp. virginica

1. Frullania brittoniae Evans. (Figs. 73, 74) Dioecious; in patches on the bark of trunks and branches of trees in hardwood forests. Flalifax County.

2. Frullania eboracensis Gott. subsp. virginica Schust. (Figs. 77- 79) Dioecious, usually with perianths; occurring on bark of hardwood trees in oak forests but also along wooded streams and occasionally on red cedar trunks. Buckingham, Char¬

lotte, Fluvanna, Mecklenburg, Prince Edward counties.

3. Frullania ericoides (Nees) Nees (Figs. 80, 81) Dioecious; found in a variety of somewhat open areas, on bark of hardwoods, red cedars, downed logs. ( Frullania squarrosa) Appomattox, Buckingham, Cumberland, Halifax, Prince Edward counties.

4. Frullania inflata Gott. (Figs. 75, 76) Monoecious; in or near wet areas on trees, granite boulders and moist rotten logs in swamps, beech-maple slopes. Buckingham, Cumberland, Nottoway, Prince Edward counties.

5. Frullania tamarisci (L.) Dum. subsp. asagrayana (Mont.) Hatt. (Fig. 83) Dioecious; found on shaded boulders and rock faces; sometimes on tree trunks in humid shaded forests. Appomattox, Buckingham, Campbell, Cumberland, Prince Edward counties.

16. Jamesoniella (Spruce) Schiffn.

Plants leafy, large, greenish to reddish-brown (in sun), growing in patches, 2-3.5 mm broad, sparingly branched with erect growing tips erect; rhizoids numerous along stems; leaves entire, squarish, rounded at comers, somewhat overlapping; cell walls thin with small trigones; lobules lacking. Finder- leaves lacking or very small and narrowly triangular. Di¬ oecious. Male plants producing short male branches with several pairs of bracts. Female plants producing cylindrical perianths, compressed near tips and producing cilia, perianths surrounded by ragged bracts at base. No asexual reproduction.

Jamesoniella autumnalis (DC) Steph. (Figs. 44-46) On shaded granite boulders and decaying logs, rarely on humus and rich soil near wooded streams. Amelia, Nottoway counties.

17.Jubula (Steph.) Evans

Plants dark green, leafy, medium sized, 1-2 mm broad, branching irregularly pinnately in prostrate mats; leaves overlapping, complicate-bilobed, the blade rounded and abruptly sharp-pointed at apex; lobule helmet-shaped, resembling those of Frullania, but much smaller; stylus absent; underleaves 2-3 times the width of stems, bilobed for 1/2 their length; rhizoids few from underleaf bases. Monoecious. Male branches with 4-5 sac-like bracts, overlapping; perianths lantern-shaped, large, constricted at apex to a small beak.

Jubula Pennsylvania i (Steph.) Evans (Fig. 82) On wet rocks in and along streams. Appomattox, Campbell, Huvanna counties.

BREIL LIVERWORTS

18. Jungennannia L.

Plants leafy, medium-large, in flat green patches, 2- 2.5 mm wide, the stems sparingly branched bearing pale brownish (with age) rhizoids to apex; leaves entire, somewhat over- lapping, mostly rectangular and often notched slightly at apex; cells with bulging trigones; lobules and underleaves absent. Monoecious. Antheridia in the swollen bases of bracts im¬ mediately below the terminal perianth; perianth large, tubular, abruptly contracted at apex into a small beak in a flat or shallow depression. Asexual reproduction rare, by gemmae at tips of erect, small-leaved shoots; gemmae 2-celled, thin-walled.

Jungermannia leiantha Grolle. (Fig. 47) .Also known as Jungennannia lanceolata; on soil or moist rocks in wet areas along streams, ditches, or in mixed oak forests; sometimes found with JamesomeUa autumnalis. Buckingham, Prince Edward counties.

19. Kurzia Martens

Small filamentous plants often resembling large algae, green to brown, 0.5 mm wide and pinnately branched; leaves divided to base into 3-4 filaments; underleaves like leaves but slightly smaller. Dioecious. Antheridia in the axils of bracts on short lateral branches. Perianths on a short ventral branch, large, cylindrical tapering to a short ciliate mouth .

Kurzia sylvatica (Evans) Grolle. (Figs 33, 34) In patches in shaded sites over peaty soil or in ravines; often with species of Caiypogeja, C ephalozia, or O dontoschisma prostratum. Buck¬ ingham, Campbell, Fluvanna, Lunenburg, Prince Edward counties.

20. Leucolejeunea Evans

Medium sized leafy hepatics in yellow green patches, sparingly branched, the shoots ca. 1 mm wide; leaves complicate- bilobed, blades ovate, entire, slightly overlapping, each cell with a single large “grape-cluster” oil-body; lobules large, oblong with a folded keel about 1/3 the leaf length; underleaves distant and round, about twice as wide as the stem, bearing rhizoids at the base near attachment. Mon¬ oecious. Male branches short, lateral, with tightly over-lapping bracts; perianths on short lateral branches, ovate with five weak keeL abmptly contracted to a tubular beaked mouth.

Leucolejeunea clypeata (Schwein.) Evans. (Fig. 88) In patches on granite boulders and base of trees (oak or hemlock) in

15

shaded sites. Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Fluvanna, Nottoway, Prince Edward counties.

21. Lophocolea (EXim.) Dum.

Pale green leafy plants in prostrate mats, occasionally branched. Leaves mostly bilobed, slightly overlapping; leaf cells thin-walled containing a few granular oil-bodies; lobules lacking; underleaves thin and transparent, bilobed, usually wider than the stem, often with a lateral tooth; rhizoids restricted to underleaf bases. Antheridia at base of bracts along the stem (if plants dioecious) or in sac-like bracts beneath the perianths. Perianths tubular, sharply 3-keeled, toothed at their tips. FFiere is the possibility that L bidenta (1.) Dum. will occur here (Schuster 1980, vol. 4) on moist soil. It is dioecious and the leaf lobes end in three to seven celL in a row.

Engel <Sc Schuster (1984) merged this genus with Chibscyphus because of several intermediate species found in the southern hemisphere. It is more convenient to maintain Lophocolea as a discrete genus, which is the option I have adopted here.

Lophocolea heterophyUa (Schrad.) Dum. (Fig. 52) Also known as Chiloscyphus profundus; monoecious, usually with perianths; on moist rotten logs often as a pioneer or with odier mosses, occasionally on rock or soil at the base of trees. Ibis liverwort may produce either entire leaves that may be slightly notched at the apex, or deeply bilobed leaves. Small, juvenile plants are invariably bilobed with rectangular leaves. Appomattox, Buckingham, Charlotte, Cumberland, Fluvanna, Nottoway, Prince Edward counties.

22. Lophozia (Dum.) Dum.

Plants small, compact, green to brownish, relatively unbranched, bearing numerous rhizoids, the branch tips erect. Leaves concave, rounded but mostly bilobed, closely overlapping, with very thick walled cells; underleaves and lobules lacking. .Asexual reproduction by means of reddish- brown gemmae attached to the leaf margins and often eroding them. Monoecious; antheridia in toothed bracts beneath the perianths; perianths cylindrical, emergent, bearing numerous folds in the upper portions with short teeth near the opening.

Lophozia bicrenata (Schmid.) Dum. (Figs. 55, 56) In small patches on moist soil on banks and road cuts; very rare, locally. Buckingham County.

16

BANISTERIA

NO. 8, 1996

23. Marchantia L.

Plants thallose, bright green, large, to 1 cm wide, several centimeters long, forking to form short branches, occurring in patches; upper surface with pores throughout, each within a faint net-like unit, producing conspicuous cups bearing greenish egg-like gemmae within; lower surface blanketed with colorless hairs and six rows of scales, not always obvious. Dioecious. Male thalli with terminal umbrella-like receptacles containing embedded antheridia. Female thalli with similar receptacles bearing short sporophytes dangling beneath nine or ten radiating limbs.

Marchantia potymorpha L. (Figs. 6, 7) moist, partially shaded soil especially on burned over ground (from forest clearing), wet ditches or other disturbed areas. Appomattox, Nottoway counties.

This is the classic example of a liverwort used to illustrate all liverworts in college textbooks.

24- Metzgeria Raddi

Plants small, thalloid, translucent-green, strap-shaped, the margins with numerous marginal hairs, the midrib linear, distinct, with thin see-through thallus wings and often, disk- like multicellular gemmae arising from the margins or the upper or lower surfaces; branching irregular, often by terminal forking. Monoecious or dioecious. Sexual branches from the lower surface of the plants, highly reduced as rounded or flattened sacks containing sex organs. Metzgeria species normally occur in mats on rocks or tree tninks as pioneers.

la. Gemmae disk-like, attached to upper surface of the

thallus; marginal hairs single . M. crassipihs

lb. Gemmae, if present, attached to the margins of the

thallus; marginal hairs in pairs . M. conjugate

1. Metzgeria conjugata Lindb. (Fig. 12) Monoecious and usually fertile; on vertical sides of moist shaded boulders in woods. Appomattox, Charlotte counties.

2. Metzgeria crassipilis (Lindb.) Evans. (Fig. 13) Dioecious, usually sterile; on sides of moist to dry boulders in hard¬ woods, often with Leucolejeunea clypeata. Buckingham, Prince Edward counties.

25. Notothylas Still.

Deep- green to yellowish- green thalloid plants occurring in small circular patches, the margins irregularly lobed; cells each

with a single chloroplast. Monoecious, sex organs embedded in the upper surface of the thallus. Sporophytes distinctive, short, cone-shaped and flattened against the surface, each surrounded by a collar of thallus tissue.

Notothylas orbicularis (Schwein.) Sull. (Fig. 2) On moist shaded, compact soil along rivers, swamps, mud puddles, ditches, often with Riccia and Anthoceros ; fall and springtime. Prince Edward County.

26. Nowellia Mitt.

A small, delicate, green to brownish leafy liverwort occurring in intertwined mats, shoots 0.4-0. 8 mm wide with occasional branches; leaves distinctive, each resembling a billowing Viking sail, ovate and deeply bibbed with lobes drawn out into long hair points. Dioecious but occasionally mon¬ oecious. Antheridial bracts in terminal spikes on branches; perianths large, ovate, mostly three-angled in cross-section, the mouth fringed with short cilia, on short branches.

Nowellia curvifoha (Dicks.) Mitt. (Fig. 57) Almost exclusively on moist barkless logs in forests, often with C ephabzia catenulata and Lophocolea heteropkylla. Appomattox, Fluvanna, Lunenburg, Prince Edward counties.

27. Odontoschisma (Dum.) Dum.

Plants leafy, medium-sized, green to reddish, Branching occas¬ ionally from lower stem surface with white leafless shoots; leaves round to elliptic, occasionally notched at apex and over¬ lapping; leaf cells thick-walled with large trigones; oil-bodies large, segmented, 2-5 per cell; lobules lacking; under-leaves absent or very small and variable but distinct on ascending branches. Dioecious but often sterile. Perianths large, ovate, obtusely 3-keeled with slightly compressed ciliate mouths.

la. Leaves with a conspicuous thickened border (best seen

under the dissecting microscope); plants green, not producing gemmae on erect shoots; leaf trigones large but not bulging . O. prostratum

lb. Leaves lacking a thickened border, plain; plants pale

green to reddish, erect sterile shoots producing clusters of gemmae at tips of ascending branches; leaf trigones large and bulging . O. demulatum

1. Odontoschisma demulatum (Nees) Dum. (Ligs. 86, 87) On moist rotten logs in shady forests, rarely on humus over base of trees. Campbell, Fluvanna, Lunenburg, Prince Edward counties.

BREIL- LIVERWORTS

17

2. Odontaschisma prostration (Sw.) Trev. (Figs. 84, 85) On moist peaty soil or humus on embankments in shady forests, often with Calypogeja fissa or mosses. Buckingham, Fluvanna, Lunenburg, Prince Edward counties.

28. Pallavicinia $. Gray

Thin, green, ribbon-like thallose plants, 2-3.5 mm wide, sparingly branched with a central, conspicuous, thickened midrib contrasting conspicuously with the much thinner, broad thallus wings; rhizoids developing from the lower surface of midrib. Dioecious. Reproductive organs on upper surface. Antheridia developing on either side of midrib partially covered by toothed scales. Female plants with a large, erect, centrally located perigynium above the midrib; pengynium ovate with a slightly constricted ciliate mouth, surrounded at the base by a fringed collar.

Pallavicinia lyellii (Hook.) Carruth. (Figs. 14-17) On humus, in wet areas, along streams, sometimes moist decaying logs, over rootstocks of ferns. Amelia, Nottoway, Prince Edward, Ruvanna, Spotsylvania counties.

29. Pellia Raddi

Green thallose plants 4 - 8 mm wide, branched irregularly or forked, rarely simple; thallus margins wavy, apices distinctly notched; brownish rhizoids developing along the thickened center of thallus on lower surface; no distinct midrib or scales. .Antheridia in wart-like projections on the upjier thallus surface; archegonia and sporophytes in cup- or flaj vlike enclosures near the apical notch. Sporophytes produced in the spring.

la. Plants monoecious, antheridia developing within low

conical warts behind the apical female flap, which lacks a fonvard wall (visible with a hand lens) . P. epiphylla

lb. Plants dioecious; male and female thalli in separate

clusters; the female involucre flafvlike, but with a low’ forward wall . P. n eesiana

1. Pellia epiphylla (Dicks.) Dum. (Fig. 17) Monoecious; on damp, often sandy or consolidated sand along margins of streams, frequently’ associated with Conocephalum conicum, A trichum, and P. neesiana. Buckingham, Cumberland, Ruv¬ anna, Nottoway, Prince Edward, Spotsylvania counties.

2. Pellia neesiana (Gott.) Limpr. (Fig. 18) Dioecious; on moist compact soil along rivers and streams, often in solitary

patches. Buckingham, Campbell, Ruvanna, Lunenburg, Prince Edward counties.

30. Plagiochila (Dum.) Dum.

.A coarse, dark green leafy hepatic, 2-6 mm wide, sparingly branched; leaves ovate rounded, distant to moderately overlapping, margins normally toothed but occasionally entire; lobules absent; underleaves minute and incons¬ picuous. Dioecious. Male and female plants occur in separate patches but it is uncommon to find either in a reproductive condition.

Plagiochila asplenioides subsp. porelloides (Torrey ex. Nees) Schust. (Fig. 54) On moist rocks or roots at waters edge, frequently loaded with sand; occasionally, plants submerged during flooding. Buckingham, Campbell, Cumberland, Prince Edward counties.

3 1 . Porella L.

Robust, green leafy plants, 1.8 - 4.0 mm wide, attached at base to substrate, pinnately branched, the branches often ascending; leaves elliptic to broadly ovate, curled around the stem when dry, spreading when moist, the margins curled; lobules tongue shaped, attached to {xxsterior margin of leaf and paralleling the stem; underleaves tongue-shaped, large, entire, rounded at apex. Dioecious and frequently fertile. Male plants with androecia in short lateral branches, button- like. Female plant with inflorescences terminating short branches, the perianths ovate, flattened, the apex constricted but not forming a beak.

la. I aider leaves narrow, flat, not wider than stem; lobules narrow, strap-shaped, not wider than stem .... P. pinnata

lb. Underleaves much broader than stem, concave, the

margins recurved; lobules ovate, large, concave, much wider than stem . P. platyphylla

1. Porella pinnata L. (Fig. 70) In loose patches attached to roots, tree bases and rocks along streams at water level, occasionally trailing in streams often submerged. Buck¬ ingham, Prince Edward counties.

2. Porella platyphylla (L.) Pfeiff. (Fig. 71) Species includes P. platyphylloulea; in loose patches with ascending branches; on boulders or bark of hardwoods in mixed-oak or hardwood swamp forests. .Amelia, Buckingham, Prince Edward, Spotsylvania counties.

18

banisteria

NO. 8, 1996

BREIL: LIVERWORTS

19

32. Ptilidium Nees

Plants leafy, medium sized, 1-2 mm broad, in reddish-brown mats, pinnately branched; leaves densely overlapping, divided into two or three (to five) principal lobes, fringed with hairs that are 4-5 cells in length; underleaves large, bilobed, fringed, similar to leaves; lobules absent. Dioecious. Male plants with terminal spikes on leading stems or brandies, of 4 - 5 pairs densely overlapping, ciliate bracts; sporophytes rare; perianths cylindrical, longitudinally folded at apex, constricted, the mouth ciliate; inconspicuous and terminal on main stems.

Ptilidium pulcherrimum (G. Web.) Hampe. (Figs. 31, 32) In reddish-brown interwoven mats on soil along streams that are shaded, sometimes on logs or rocks. Fluvanna, Spotsylvania counties.

33. Rad ula Dum.

Plants leafy, medium sized to large (0. 8-2.5 mm broad), irregularly pinnately branched, the branches often widi smaller leaves, in yellowish to olive-green patches; leaves rounded, entire margined, adjacent to overlapping, com- plicate-bilobed, the smaller portion forming a squarish or kite- shaped lobule attached for 2/3 its length to both leaf and stem; rhizoids often attached to center of lobule; leaf cells normally wadi a single large slightly granular oil body; underleaves absent. Androecia formed of several (2-5) pairs of tightly overlapping bracts, each containing a single anther- idium; perianths elongate, compressed at tips although rounded at base, squared off at mouth, and formed at tips of stems and branches. Asexual reproduction by fonnation of flat multicellular disk-like gemmae on margins of leaf or, by dropping entire leaves (which regenerate new plants) while the lobules remain attached to the stem.

la. Plants small, 0. 7-1.0 mm wide; leaves somewhat sickle

shaped, tending to drop off leaving mature stems denuded . R. obconica

lb. Plants robust, 1. 2-2.5 mm wide; leaves not or only slightly sickle<shaped, not dropping off; asexual repro¬ duction by disk like gemmae on margins R. complanata

1. Radula complanata (L.) Dum. (Figs. 67, 68) Monoecious and usually fertile, the antheridia occur in bracts beneath the perianth; on bark of trees and on rock,. Lunenburg, Prince Edward counties

2. Radula obconica Sull. (Fig. 69) Monoecious. On boulders in shaded w'oods, sometimes on tree trunks in yellowish parches. Buckingham, Charlotte, Lunenburg counties.

34. Reboulia Raddi

Light green thalloid plants, 5-8 mm wide, with a narrow purple margin, diallus forking and forming rosettes or [latches; die upper surface developing inconspicuous [xires and almost no net-like pattern, the epidermal cells with conspicuous trigones; lower surface purplish, with two row's of purple to maroon scales. Monoecious. Antheridia in a small, slightly elevated curved pad just behind the stalk of the much elevated umbrella-like female receptacle; sporophytes develop beneath the lobed female receptacle not surrounded by papery sheatlis.

Reboidia hemisphaerica (L.) Raddi (Fig. 5) In tightly attached patches on soil and over rocks, occasionally on open soil in fields. Campbell, Buckingham, Prince Edward counties.

35. Riccardia S. Gray

Small, narrowly and somewhat pinnately branched, deep green thalloid plants lacking a midrib; cells with 1-3 large oil- bodies when collected fresh; occurring in permanently wet sites; asexual reproduction by 2- celled gemmae. Monoecious or dioecious. Male branches usually linear with two row's of sunken but conspicuous antheridia. Female branches short but distinct, surrounded at tip by short finger-like scales; sporophyte erect, surrounded by a fleshy, warty calyptra of translucent cells. I have collected three species of this plant in the Coastal Plain and mountains and strongly suspect that they are in the Piedmont, thus they are included (in parentheses).

Figures 44-57. 44-46. Jaincsoniella aulumnalis. 44 Shoot, X20. 45. Perianth, Xl2. 46. Leaf cells with oil-bodies, X 1 1 5 . 47. Jungermannia leiantha. Shoot with perianth and male bracts below, xl 2. 48-49. Solcnostnma crenuliforme. 48. Shoot, dorsal view, Xl 4 49. Leaf cells with trigones, Xl30. 50. Scapania ncmorea. Shoot, dorsal view, complicate-bilobed leaves; gemmae at apices, X23. 51. Diplophyllum apiculatum. Shoot, dorsal view, X3. 52. L ophocolea heterophylla. Shoot, ventral view, X26. 53. Chiloscyphus pallescens. Shoot, ventral view, x7. 54- Plagiochila asplenioides, subsp. porclloides. Plant, ventral view, x2. 55-56. Luphozui bicrenaia. Shoot with gemmae, X27. 56. Leaves, X23. 57 . Nowellia curvifolia. Shoot, X24-

20

BANISTERIA

NO. 8, 1996

la. Thabus regularly 2-3 pinnateiy branched, the terminal

branches narrow, 1/4 to 1/2 mm wide, with a thin clear border 24 cells wide (1 cell thick) . R. multifida

lb. Thallus once pinnateiy branched, palmately or,

irregularly branched; branches unbordered or border less than 2 cells wide . 2

2a. Thallus pinnateiy branched, the terminal branches over 1/2 mm broad, usually on wet rocks or wet stream

banks . (R. chamedryfolia )

2b. Thallus irregularly to palmately branched; on moist rotten wood or organic soil . 3

3a. Branching irregular; thallus branches 0.3 - 1.0 mm

wide, the branches broadened at tips . (R. latifrom )

3b. Branching usually palmate to semi-pinnately branched,

the branches narrowed at tips, 0.2 -0.4 mm wide .

. (R. palmata)

1. ( Riccardui chamedryfolia (With.) Grolle.) Monoecious; male and female branches occurring in pairs, small. (On soil, humus and wet rocks.

2. ( Riccardui latifrons (Lindb.) Lindb.) Monoecious; male and female branches close but not in pairs; normally occurring on moist rotten logs in swamps.

3. Riccardui midtifida (L.) S. Gray. (Fig. 22) Monoecious; a highly variable species with at least two subspecies sometimes recognized; occurring on sandy to gravelly moist soil and rocks. Prince Edward County.

4. ( Riccardui pabmata (Hedw.) Carruth.) Dioecious; male plants with elongate branches (longer than in other species); on moist shaded rotten logs and, rarely, on humus.

36. Riccia L.

Thallo id plants dichotomously branched, in complete or partial rosettes on soil. Thabus with a lengthwise groove on upper surface or merely formed at apex; air chambers beneath surface narrow and erect or broad and open, chambers opening by inconspicuous pores to the surface; the lower part of the thabus with colorless rhizoids; scales on our species nidimentary or lacking. Monoecious or dioecious. Sex organs sunken in the thabus. Sporophytes dark, rounded capsules, embedded in the thabus and sometimes protniding from the lower surface. Sjxires are important taxonomic species indicators; they are released with the gradual disintegration of the thabus. Plants tend to be seasonal,

appearing locally in late fab, winter and into spring.

la. Branches linear, repeatedly forking; plants aquatic

(occasionally stranded on shore) . (R. fluitan s)

lb. Branches short and broad (0.4-0. 7 mm wide), forking

once or twice; terrestrial . 2

2a. Thabus with broad visible internal air-chambers

through surface; upper surface sometimes sponge like

with age . 3

2b. Thallus with narrow vertical air chambers between

green tissue walls; spores with a pattern of net-like ridges . 4

3a. Thabus 24 mm broad; spores with acute prickles .

. . . R. membranacea

3b. Thabus branches narrower, 0.8 - 1.4 mm wide, rarely

purplish on margins; spores with a net like pattern .

. R. huehenanana subsp. sullivantii

4a. Thabus margins, at least towards apex, with distinct short, stout hairs; branches 1.5 - 2.5 mm wide, the tips

each with a broad groove on upper surface .

. . R. heyrichiana

4b. Thabus margins lacking hairs; segments 0.8- 1.5 mm wide, the tips with a narrow, deep groove .... R. sorocarpa

1. Riccia beyrichiana Hampe. Monoecious; plants in partial rosettes, thabi with a distinct groove at tip. ( On moist soil along ditches and in old fields. Buckingham County.

2. ( Riccia fluitam L.) - Monoecious but usually sterile while aquatic. Suspended in masses just beneath the surface of ponds and pools, occasionally stranded. Expected here.

3. Riccia huebenariana subsp. sullivantii (Aust.) Schust. (Figs. 25, 26) Also known as R. sullivantii ; monoecious; thabi notched at apices, sporangia bulge on lower surface; in rows of cultivated fields, soil of grassy ditches, or with sedges along pond shores. Buckingham, Prince Edward counties.

4. Riccia membranacea Gott. & Lindenb. (Fig. 28) Mon¬ oecious; broad, flat thabi, lacking an upper groove; sporangia bulge below; on moist compact soils along river floodplains or streams. Prince Edward County.

5. Riccia sorocarpa Aust. (Fig. 27) Monoecious; thabi form small thick rosettes; sporangia bulge on upper surface and are numerous; on soil in old fields; soil embankments along shaded, moist roadsides. Nottoway, Prince Edward counties.

BREIL: LIVERWORTS

21

37. Ricciocarpus Corda

Thalli green, wedge shaped, thick, 2 - 7 nun wide, often with deep purple margins; forking once or twice; upper surface firm, the groove deep and sharp throughout thallus; lower surface producing toothed, sword-shaped scales; aquatic plants with numerous purple, elongate scales; terrestrial forms with pinkish shorter scales. Monoecious. Sex organs sunken into upper groove. Sporangia embedded in upper surface and rupturing with decay of thallus.

( Ricciocarpus natans (L.) G ird a) Floating on the surface of quiet pooh and ponds, sometimes stranded on the shore. These are ephemeral and are expected here.

38. Scapania (Dum.) Dum.

Green to reddislvhrown leafy hepatics occurring in mats on moist sandy soil. Plants sparsely branched, large, 1.5-5. 5 mm hroad; leaves entire to toothed all around, often developing 1- 2 celled gemmae on leaf margins; leaves touching to over¬ lapping, complicate-bilobed, the upper lobe (lobule) smaller than the lower, the lobule extending across the stem, hiding the stem. Dioecious. The leafy male bracts along the branches (intercalary); perianth terminal on stems, flattened and squared off at the mouth.

la. Leaves strongly spinose-toothed; tooth cells 2-5,

elongate; base of lobules decurrent; lobule keel strongly curved; gemmae brownish, l-celled . $. nemorea

lb. Leaves entire to remotely toothed, teeth l-celled, not elongate; lobules not decurrent, lobule keel straight;

gemmae greenish, 2-celled; in or near water .

. S. undulata

1. Scapania nemorea (L.) Grolle. (Fig. 50) Also known as S. nemorosa; on moist sandy soil over rocks, on wet soil along streams, often intermixed with other bryophytes. Appom¬ attox, Buckingham, Fluvanna, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Prince Edward counties.

2. Scapania undulata ( L.) EHim. On moist sandy soil or rock along streams, often mixed with other bryophytes such as Trichocolea tomentella and Thuidium delicatulum. Mecklenburg, Iunenburg counties.

39. Solenostoma Mitt.

Plants leafy1, in green to reddish ringed parches, rarely branched. Leaves round to elliptic, attached to stem obliquely to almost transversely, clasping at base; lacking lobules and underleaves; rhizoids covering the lower surface of the stem. Monoecious or dioecious. Androecia with male bracts occurring along stem with age, not on separate branches. Perianths developing at tips of stems, somewhat exserted beyond enclosing bracts, tubular but sharply constricted thus forming distinct folds near the mouth and narrowed to a small opening at the tip.

(Plants are not always defenninable without reproductive material. If entire leaved species occur on sandy soil over rocks in and along streams, they are probably' members of this genus if other sterile characteristics are observed.)

la. Leaves distinctly bordered, the marginal cells thick-

walled and swollen (features best observed under low power of the light microscope) . 2

lb. Leaves not bordered . 3

2a. Marginal cells 1-1.5 times as large as inner leaf celLs, trigones of leaf ceUs distinct, often bulging; rhizoids red

or puqde . 5. crenidifonne

2b. Marginal ceUs 1.5-3 times as large as inner leaf cells, trigones lacking; rhizoids colorless . S. gracillimum

3a. Cells with bulging trigones; leaves often wavy, perianths

narrowed to apex . S. hycdinum

3b. CeUs lacking trigones; leaves not undulate; perianths

narrowed or often open, beU-shaped, lobed . .

. . . S. fossombromoides

1. Solenostoma crenuUforme (Aust.) Steph. (Figs. 48, 49) Dioecious; along streams on shaded rocks; often with Scapania nemorea. Fligher elevations of Piedmont. Buck¬ ingham, Campbell, Prince Edward Counties.

2. Solenostoma fossombromoides (Aust.) Schust. Monoecious, concave male bracts develop below perianth; also in higher Piedmont areas over rocks thinly covered by soil along rocky streams.

3. Solenostoma gracillimum (Sm.) Schust. (Figs. 40, 41) Dioecious; a pioneer on disturbed soils of roadside banks and eroded paths in woods. Buckingham, Lunenburg counties.

BREIL: LIVERWORTS

23

4. Solenostoma hyalinum (Hook.) Mitt. (Figs. 42, 43) Dioecious; along streams that cut through rock outcrops on soil-covered rocks, usually toward higher elevations of the Piedmont. Campbell County.

40. Sphaerocarpos (Mich.) Boehm.

Strongly dimorphic thalloid plants occurring as rosettes on soil. Dioecious. Female thalli are clear green and bear clusters of erect, bottle-like ovoid perigynia constricted slightly toward the round apical opening, each developing a single sporo- phyte within and causing the perigynium to swell at base when mature. Male plants about 1/I0th the size of female plants, reddish to purple, bearing clusters of flask-shaped involucres with narrowed neck, each containing an antheridium. The male involucres do not obscure the thallus surface as do the perigynia of the female plants. Tire spores remain together in dark brown tetrads at maturity.

Sphaerocarpos texanus Aust. (Figs. 23, 24) In furrows of one to three year old fallow fields, less often on soil along stream embankments subject to seasonal flooding. Amelia, Prince Edward counties

4 1 . Trichocolea FXim.

Plants robust, in whitish green ciliate mats, three-pinnately branched, making shoots 1-4 cm wide. Leaves transversely attached, erect, the tips recurved, divided into four or five filamentous lobes almost to base, the lobes branched, multiciliafe, near the base of leaf becoming two to three cells broad. Lobules absent. Underleaves similar but smaller than leaves, divided into four filamentous lobes nearly to base, the lobes branching, ciliate. Dioecious, but not seen with perianths in this area.

Trichocolea tornentella (Ehrh.)Dum. (Figs. 35, 36) On humus along banks of shaded, cool streams in woods with diffuse light. Cumberland, Fluvanna, Mecklenburg, Prince Edward, Spotsylvania counties.

GLOSSARY

arulroecium - the collection of male reproductive organs, antheridia

antherulmm - the male sex organ which produces spenn apex - the tip of a stem, thallus, leaf, branch, perianth archegomum - the female sex organ which resembles a bowling pin and contains a single egg within the swollen base axil - the angle formed between the leaf and stem bidentate - twotoothed, used when discussing leaves bilobed - twolobed, having 2 parts or lobes bracts - modified leaves occurring beneath reproductive organs; on female branches, the first pair of leaves occurring below the perianth; on male branches, the modified leaves with antheridia in their axils cahptra - a tissue enclosure around the capsule or sporangium capsule - the sporangium, an enclosure containing spores ciliate - having many hairs on the margins complicate bilobed - a leaf folded back against itself tightly, one portion or lobe smaller than the other: the smaller lobe is known as the lobule, the larger lobe is the leaf dioecious - having male or female stmctures on separate plants dorsal - upper or outer surface; backside elliptical - in the shajx" of a stretched elongated circle epidermis - the outer layer of cells of stem or a thallus ex serted - extending beyond, as, an exserted perianth (extended beyond bracts at base) fertile - having reproductive stmctures filamentous - thread like fruit - a sporophyte or capsule

gemma cup - a cup-like structure producing gemmae within gemmae - single cells, cell masses, or modified buds, able to produce new plants a sexually' gynoecium - the collection of female organs, the archegonia hepatic - a leafy or thallose plant of the class Hepaticopsida in the division Bryophyta

invohicre - a thin, enclosing sheath developed from the thallus and formed around sex organs or sporophytes

Figures 58-72. 58-59. Cephalozia lunulifulia. 58. Shoot, X24 59. Leaf, X 1 1 2 . 60-61. Cephalozia catenulaia. 60. Shoot with perianth, X68. 61. Leaf, Xl64. 62. Cephalozia connivens. Leaf, X61. 63-64- Cephaloziella byssacea. 63. Plant, X44- 64- Leaf, Xl 84- 65-66. Qphaloziella rubella. 65. Plant, X3 8. 66. Leaf lobe, X222. 67-68. Radula complanata. 68. Sterile shoot with gemmae, ventral view, X27. 69. Fertile shoot with perianth and pairs of male bracts beneath. 69. Radula ohconica. Sterile shoot missing leaves, ventral view, Xl9. 70. Ptsrclla pinnaia. Shoot, ventral view, X?. 71. Porella platyphylla. Shoot, ventral view, X7. 72. Cololejeunea hiddlecomiae. Shoot, ventral view with inflated lobules, X69.

84

86

87

BREIL: LIVERWORTS

keel - the V-shaped line formed by the folding of a leaf, or folds occurring in the perianth; in the sense of a ship's keel lobe - a multicellular portion of a larger organ, clearly identifiable, as a leaf lobe or thallus lobe lobule - the smaller lobe of a complicated) ilobed leaf monoecious - the condition of both sexes, male and female, occurring on the same plant, sometimes together, some¬ times on separate branches

oil-body - a glistening organelle common in cells of leafy liver¬ worts and some thallose hepafics; there may be one or several and, for a particular species, the oil-body type may be simple or segmented (resembling a grape cluster), normally without coloration, but in some taxa brown or blue

(mite - egg-shaped

palmate - a branching pattern, radiating out like fingers from the palm of the hand

papillose - bearing small projections from the surface of leaf cells or the margins of some thalloid hepatics perianth - a leafy structure (of various shapes) that encloses the sex organs and, upon maturity, the sporophyte; evolution- arily develofxxl from the fusion of two or more modified, usually larger leaves; occurring only in leafy hepatics perigynium - a fleshy enclosing stmcture originating from the thallus; it grows up around the female sex organs and, when mature, the sporophyte; of various shaj)es; ana¬ logous to the perianth of leafy liverworts pinnate - feather-like or plumose, referring to the branching appearance of a liverwort in which branches are formed regularly on either side of the stem and become progress¬ ively shorter behind the stem a^iex pyrenoid - a small spherical starch-forming body attached to a chloroplast, found only in cells of hornworts receptacle - a fleshy pad of thallus tissue bearing antheridia or archegonia, usually sunken and often elevated on stnlks rkizoid' single-celled hairs (in hepatics) that attach the plant to the substrate

rosette - formed into a circle like the [X'tals of a rose simple - non branched

sinuous - with a wavy outline; usually the margin of a leaf or thallus

25

spike - a male branch in leafy hepatics; composed of densely overlapping bracts

sporophyte - a sfxue producing plant that develops with the female archegonium and, when mature, produces a capsule (or sporangium) containing spores sterile - not producing sex organs (antheridia or archegonia) or, a plant not producing perianths thallose - the shape of a thallus: flat, ribbon-like trigone - the juncture of walls of three or more cells forming a thickened area

ventral - the lower surface or “belly of some plant or plant organ

wings - the thallus margins on either side of the central midrib

LITERATURE CITED

Braun, E.L. 1950. Deciduous forests of eastern North America. Hafner Publishing Company. New York.

Engel, J.J. <Sc R.M. Schuster. 1984. .An overview and evaluation of the genera of Geocalycaceae subfamily Lophocoleoideae (Hepaticae). NovaHedwigia 39:385-465.

Hicks, M. 1992. Liverworts of North Carolina. Duke l adversity Press. Durham, NC. 562 p.

litis, H. H. 1950. Studies in Virginia plants. I. List of bryophytes from the vicinity of Fredericksburg, Virginia. Castanea 15: 38-50.

Kearney, F. FI. 1901. Report on a botanical survey of the Dismal Swamp region. Contributions of the U. S. National Herbarium 5(6): 321-550.

Patterson, P. M. 1949. Hie bryophytes of Virginia I. Bryophytes reported in the literature. Castanea 14: 1, 1-49.

Patterson, P. M. 1951. Hie bryophytes of Virginia III. Collections made in southeastern Virginia by Bayard Long. Rhodora 53: 1 17-128.

Figures 75-87. 73-74- Frullania brittoniae. 73. Shoot, ventral view showing underleaves and lobules, X 16. 74 Perianth, xl 1 75-76. Frullania in flata. 75. Shoot with explanate lobules, ventral view. 76. Leaf cells, Xl 54- 77-79- Frullania eboracensis. 77. Shoot, ventral view, Xl6. 78 Detail of leaf, inflated lobule, and underleaf, X33. 79. Stem partially denuded of leaves and lobules, X49. 80-81 Frullania ericoide: s. 80. Shoot, Xl6 81 Leaf cells with intermediate wall thickenings, X201 82. Jubula pennsylvanica Shoot, ventral

view. 83. Frullania tamarisci subsp. as agrayana. Shoot, ventral view, X38. 84-85. OdonloschLsma prostratum. 84- Shoot, dorsal view, x9.

85. Leaf cells with oil-bodies, X360 86-87. Odonloschisma denudatum. 86. Shoot, dorsal view, X9. Ascending shoot tip with

gemmae, X 16. 87. Leucolcjeunea clypeata. Shoot, ventral view, X34

26

BANISTERIA

NO 8, 1906

Schnooberger, I. & F. E. Wynne. 1945. The bryophytes of Shenandoah National Park, Virginia. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 42: 506-520.

Schuster, R. M. 1966 - 1980. vols 1-4. Tire Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America. Columbia University Press. New York, NY.

Schuster, R. M. 1992. Vols 5-6. The Hepaticae and Anthocerotae of North America. The Field Museum of Natural History. Chicago, Illinois.

Schuster, R. M. & P. M. Patterson. 1957. Noteworthy Hepaticae from Virginia. Rhodora 59: 251-259.

Sharp), A. J. 1944. Some Hepaticae from the Mountain Lake Region of Virginia. Bryologist 47: 29-36.

Small, J. K. <Sc A M. Vail. 1893. Report of the botanical exploration of southwestern Virginia during the season of 1892. Memoirs of the Torrey Botanical Club IV. 2. 93-211.

Sullivant. W. S. & .A Gray. 1846. Musci Allegheniensis. Columbus, Ohio.

CHECKLIST OF VIRGINIA PIEDMONT LIVERWORTS

A neura Dum . (Aneuraceae)

pingiiis (L.) Dum.
Anthoceros L . carolmuinus Michx.. (punctatus L.)	. (Anthocerotaceae)
Asterella Beauv . teneRa (L.) Beauv.	. (Aytoniaceae)
Bazzania S. Gray . trilobata (L.) S. Gray	. (Lepidoziaceae)
Blasia L . pnsilla L.	. (Blasiaceae)
Blepharostoma (Dum. emend Lindb.) Dum. . (Blepharostomacerae) trichophyllum (L.) [Aim.
Caiypogeja Raddi . fissa (L.) Raddi	. (Calypoeejaceae)

subsp. neogaea Schust. mneUenarui (Schiffn.) K. Mull.

Cephalozia (Dum.) EHim . catenulata (Hub.) Lindb. connivens (Dicks.) Lindb. lunulifolia (Dum.) Dum.	. (Cephaloziaceae)
C ephaloziella, (Spruce) Steph . by ssacea (Roth.) W amst. hampeana (Nees) Schiffn. rubella (Nees) W arnst.	.... (Cephaloziellaceae)
Chiloscyphns Corda . pallescens (Ehrh.) Dum.	. (Geocalycaceae)
C oblejeunea (Spruce) Schiffn . biddlecamiae (Aust.) Evans	. (Lejeuneaceae)
Conocephalum Wipers . conicum (L.) Underwood	.... (Conocephalaceae)
Diplophyllum Dum . apiculatum (L.) Underwood
Fossounbronia Raddi . bras iliens is Steph.	(Fossomnbroniaceae)
Frullania Raddi . brittoniae Evans eboracensis Gott. subsp virginica Schust. ericoides (Nees) Nees inflata Gott. tamarisci (L.) Dum. subsp asagrayana (Mont.) Hart.	. : . (Jubulaceae)
Jamesomella (Spmce) Schiffn . autumrudis (DC) Steph.	... (Jungermanniaceae)
Jubida (Steph.) Evans . Pennsylvania i (Steph.) Evans	. (Jubulaceae)
Jungemuinnia L . leumtha Grolle	. . . . (J ungermanniaceae)
Kurzia Martens . sylvatica (Evans) Grolle	. (Lepidoziaceae)

BREIL: LIVERWORTS

27

Leucolejeuned Evans . clypeata (Schwein.) Evans	. (Leieuneaceae)
Lophocolea (EXtm.) Dum . heterophylld (Schrad.) Dum.	. (Lophocoleaceae)
Lophozia (Dum.) Dum . bicrendtd (Schmid.) Cham.	. (Lophoziaceae)
Marchdntid L . pohmarp ha L.	. (Marchantiaceae)
M etzgeria Raddi . conjugatd Lindb. crassipilis (Lindb.) Evans	. (Metzgeriaceae)
Nototkylds Sull . orbiculdris (Schwein.) Sull.	.... (Anthocerotaceae)
Nawellid Mitt . curvifolia (Dicks.) Mitt.	. (Cephaloziaceae)
0 dontosekismd (Dum.) Dum . denudatum (Nees) Cham. prostratum (Sw.) Trev.	. (Cephaloziaceae)
Palldvicinid S. Gray . heliu (Hook.) Carruth.	. (Pallaviciniaceae)
Pellia Raddi . epiphylla (Dicks.) Ehim. nees uina (Gott.) Limpr.	. (Pelliaceae)
Plagiochila (Dum.) Dum . (Plagiochilaceae) asplenioules subsp. porelloules (Torrey) Schust.
Porelld L . pinnata L. pldtyphylld (L.) Pfeiff.	. (Porellaceae)
Ptilidnan Nees . ptdeherimum (G. Web.) Hampe

Ratbtla Diim . (Radulaceae)

complanata (L.) Dum. obconica Sull.

Reboulia Raddi . (Aytoniaceae)

hemisphaerica (L.) Raddi

Riccardia S. Gray . (Arieuraceae)

(chdmedryfolia (W ith.) Grolle)

(Idtifrons (Lindb.) Lindb.) multifield (L.)S.Gray (palmata (Hedw.) Carruth.)

Riccia L . (Ricciaceae)

beyrichumd I lampe (fluitans L.) huebenariana

subsp. sullwantii (Aust.) Schust. membranacea Gott. & Lindenb. sorocarpa Aust.

Ricciocarpus Corda . (Ricciaceae)

(nd.td.ns (L.) Corda)

Scapanut (Dum.) Dum . (Scapaniaceae)

nemorea (L.) Grolle undulata (L.) Dum.

Solenostomd Mitt . (Jungermanniaceae)

crenuliforme (Aust.) Steph.

(fossombronioides (Aust.) Scbust.) gracillimum (Sm.) Schust. hyalinum (Hook.) Mitt.

Sphaer ocarpos (Mich.) Boehm . (Sphaerocarpaceae)

texanus Aust.

Tnchocoled Dum . (Trichocoleaceae)

tomentelld (Ehrh.) Dum.

28

BANISTERIA

NO. 8, 1996

Figure 88. Counties included in study area (shown by heavy black outline) showing locatioh

in Piedmont region of Virginia

Barustena, Number 8, 1996 € 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

:>>

Records ot Anurans from Greensville County, Virginia

Richard L. Hoffman

Virginia Museum of Natural History Martinsville, Virginia 24112

Joseph C. Mitchell

Department of Biology and School of Continuing Education, University of Richmond Richmond, Virginia 23173

Because of its location in southeastern Virginia, adjacent to the North Carolina state line and bisected by the Fall Zone into a western Piedmont half and eastern Coastal Plain half, Greensville County constitutes an important source area for biogeographic studies. Perhaps because of its location, 160 km inland from Virginia Beach and 96 km south of Richmond, the region has been generally overlooked by naturalists and collectors. One notable exception to this neglect was the renowned Harvard botanist Merritt Lyndon Fernald, who scoured parts of the county intensely during his search for rare plants during the 1930s and 1940s (e.g. Femald, 1937). However, from a zoological standpoint, the potential for discoveries has remained almost entirely untapped.

Since 1952, the first author has been collecting various kinds of animals in Greensville County. For most of that time excursions were short and sporadic, but following estab- lishment of the Virginia Museum of Natural History in 1989, a fairly regular inventory program has been conducted. A drift fence array was operated from May 1993 to July 1994, with frequent (two week or one month) pickups. .After removal of the pitfalls, a Malaise trap was installed to capture flying insects at the same site. In addition to the pitfall servicing visits, numerous one or two-day forays have been made by museum staff during the past five years, entailing routine hand-collecting as well as operation of blacklight traps at a number of localities. .Although the focus of this activity has been the collection of arthropods, opportunities to observe amphibians have been numerous. Because frogs are so often found by nocturnal road cruising and vocalizing

males are so audibly conspicuous, these amphibians have garnered the preponderance of this somewhat tangential attention.

During the months of May and June, 1990, the second author conducted inventories of terrestrial vertebrates in the vicinity of Skippers in the southwestern quadrant of the county, and obtained numerous sight and sound records for frogs in addition to specimens taken in pitfall operations. He had earlier (May 1984) accumulated records for reptiles and amphibians in the same general area.

On 29 - 30 May, 1960, W. Leslie Burger collected along several secondary roads west and northwest of Skippers. Presumably by road-cmising on the night of the 29th - on which date tropical storm "Brenda" passed through the region - Dr. Burger enjoyed a still unparalleled success with frog captures and obtained no fewer than 1 1 slides. This material was deposited for some years in the VPI&Sl reference collection, and later transferred to the American Museum of Natural History. Through the courtesy of R. G. Zweifel and M. W. Klemens, the second author was able to obtain the relevant collection data.

Although coverage of the entire county’ has been inadequate (the northern and western parts in particular receiving almost no attention), we believe that our collective information is of some importance in providing a fairly complete baseline catalog of the local frog fauna, one which is being impacted by ongoing development (agricultural, resi¬ dential, silvicultural). Additional, more systematic, surveys seem appropriate and urgent, not only for anuran species bur animals in general.

30

THE REGION

The major geographic features of Greensville County and the collection sites mentioned in the following account are represented on Figure 1 . Because the southwestern (south of US 58 and west of E95) and northern (north of US 58, west of E95) thirds are so disturbed by agricultural and logging activities, most work by RLH has been confined to the southeastern third: adjacent to the still forested floodplains of the Meherrin River and its major tributary, Fontaine Swamp. Collections and observations by JCM were made chiefly in an area southwest of Skippers and also to the northwest thereof, along Fontaine Creek, thus mostly on the Fall Zone itself.

NO. 8, 1996

hand clearing goes on apace almost everywhere in the county, and both suburbanization and farming are spreading south from Emporia along county routes 730, 622, and 625. Virtually all of the county roads are now macadamized and carry a substantial load of high-speed traffic around the clock. Not only is the habitat becoming severely fragmented, but migration between the isolates is fraught with danger as well any small animal on the pavement more than a minute or two faces certain death. It may occur in just a few more years that only the sections of the floodplains subject to annual inundation will remain forested. This is very unfortunate because the Coastal Plain biotopes here are the inlandmost in the state and biogeographically interesting on that account.

BANISTERIA

figure 1. Greensville County, Virginia, showing main highways, settlements, and collecting areas mentioned in the text. The

eastern edge of the "fall Fine (or Zone)" is indicated by the heavy dashed line.

HOFFMAN & MITCHELL- ANURANS

31

PRIMARY COLLECTING SITES

The numbered paragraphs correspond to numbers on the map (Figure 1).

1. Fontaine (or Fountain) Swamp. The lowermost several km of Fontaine Creek, east of US 301, constitute a true year- round swamp, up to 3 km wide in places, which merges into that formed by the Meherrin River as it approaches the North Carolina state line. It is accessible from county routes 624 and 624 which cross the lower third. The southern boundary is marked by the pronounced scarp of a terrace that stands about 20-30 m above the swamp level; definition of the northern side is much less distinct. Most of the original cypress ( Taxodium distichum ) has been logged out, leaving black gum ( Nyssa sylvatica) as the dominant emergent tree species. The higher regions are invested by pines (Pinus echiruita, P. Hie da), sweet gum ( Liquidambar styraafhui), beech (Fagus amencarux), and red maple (Acer rubrum). Co. Rt. 624 nins adjacent to the swamp at nearly water level for about 3.5 km.

2. VMNH pitfall site, 3 km east of Claresville, at the end of Co. Rt. 666. Beyond the end of state maintenance, the road continues as an access into privately owned land in the Meherrin River floodplain. There is a local mosaic of cultivated fields, pine woods, dense black gum swamp, and open areas occupied by water most of the year. The pitfall site is a small knoll high enough that it avoids inundation even during the highest spring floods. The eastern edge of this general area is the complexly meandering course of the river itself, entrenched about 3-6 m below the general level of the floodplain. In the last century the region had been substantially cleared and cultivated, with some dyking and channeling done to manage high water levels; more recently the surviving forest stands have been severely logged out except in the lowest and wettest places. Tire usual community of pine, sweetgum, and red maple is proceeding to recolonize the floodplain. The VMNH pitfall array coirsisted erf four plastic buckets sunk flush with the surface, arranged in a "Y" shape with one bucket at the center and the other three spaced from five to seven meters distant; all were connected by drift fences of sheet aluminum flashing 0.5 m in height. The contents were removed at approximately monthly intervals from May 1994 ter June 1995.

3. Garner's Millpond, located on the Piedmont in the extreme southwestern corner erf the county, is approximately 12 km SSW of Skippers, at the end of Co. Rt. 641. .About 0.7 bn in length, it is fonned by an impoundment of Beaverdam Creek.

4. Proposed site for Virginia Power generating plant, ca. five to ten bn SW of Skipjrers, a subtriangular area delimited by Co. Rts. 633, 632, and 621. Pitfall traps were installed in

oak-pine and bottomland hardwood forest types, considered to represent the dominant woodland habitat types. Three pitfalls were placed in oak-pine stands at both the north and south ends of the study area, and six pitfalls were installed in a transect along the western boundary of Fontaine Creek and the eastern boundary of Cattail Creek, in bottomland forest. These traps operated during the period 9 May - 18 June, 1990. This study was conducted by the second author in connection with a contracted biological inventory, and he had previously (1984) obtained data from the same region by manual and visual procedures.

Aside from these primary sampling areas, we obtained numerous individual records during road cruising chiefly in the southern half of the county, as specified in the following species accounts.

Annotated species list

1 . Bufo americanus americanus Holbrook.

In both call and cranial crest characters, the local population is clearly referable to this taxon rather than to Bufo terrestns. Lobey's maps for these two species (1985, p. 54) show Greensville County centered in a major hiatus for American toad records, which can now be corrected. Three adult males (VMNH 6766T3768) were collected at three points southeast of Emporia: on Co. Rt. 730 about 6 bn from the city limits, on Co. Rt. 666 about 1 bn east of Claresville, and on Co. Rt. 624 as it passes through Fontaine Swamp, on the night of 12 April 1995, during the first rainfall in six weeks. Many others were seen by road cruising on the same night. Two (AMNH 122615-16) were taken by Burger "within 3 mi. of Barley", presumably on Co. Rt. 629, on 29 July 1960.

2. Bufo fowleri I Imckley.

Common and widespread, this is the species most often seen on the road after dark. Males advertise during May-June near Claresville. Calling and clasping at JCM site 4, on Co. Rt. 621 SE of Brink, 3 May 1984 (5 specimens). Tadpoles in logging road nits, 9 May 1990. Metamorphs 14 June 1990. One immature specimen (VMNH 6583), 1.6 bn E of Claresville, 6 Oct.- 12 Nov. 1993.

3. Bufo quercicus Holbrook.

W. L. Burger obtained a single specimen (AMNH 122617) on Co. Rt. 627, 5 bn NE of Barley, on 29 July’ 1960. We have had no personal experience with this species, which must be scarce at this, its inlandmost locality in Virginia.

32

BANISTERIA

NO 8, 1996

4. Scaphiopus holbroola (Harlan).

One (USNM 135460) found on the road (Co. Rt.. 627, ca 6.8 kmSW of Emporia) after a thunderstorm, 3 May 1953 (RLH). Burger obtained three (AMNH 122387-89) further to the southwest and possibly on the same road ("within 3 mi. of Barley") on 29 July 1960. We have neither specimens nor sound records since then, despite plenty of midsummer road cruising during rainy weather.

5. Pseudacns tnseriata feriarum (Baird).

This is an extremely unpredictable species in terms of its spring activities. On occasions, RLH heard the calls along every road in the southeast third of the county, virtually never being out of earshot, when a week earlier or later the roadside ditches and flooded fields were mute.

6. Pseudacris crucifer (W led).

Ubiquitous, calling as late as mid-April, and again in late (October and early November, often during the day.

7. Hyla ckrysoscelis Cope.

ITiquitous, but not always vocalizing even when climatic conditions seemed optimal to a human observer. The call period seems to be from late April to mid-July. On two occasions small specimens (VMNH uncatalogued) were captured by Malaise trap (1.6 km east of Claresville).

8. Hyla cinerea (Schneider).

The green tree frog generally occurs in estaurine situations around the Chesapeake Bay and there are few truly "inland" records in Virginia (in contrast to the situation farther south). It had not been heard calling anywhere in the county prior to the summer of 1993, when many males were advertising in Fontaine Swamp. Capture was precluded by difficult access, but RLH obtained a single male (VMNH 6546) calling in a cypress/black gum swamp, near the intersection of Co. Rts. 730 and 624 on 14 June 1994. On 9 June 1995, males were calling here in large numbers, even from recently clear-cut areas. There is a large population at a pond about 0.5 km west of the intersection of Co. Rt. 624 and the North Carolina state line, but has not been recorded at the Rt. 625 crossing of Fontaine Swamp, only 2.5 km away, during many years of listening at that site.

.Astonishingly, a visit to the drift fence site 1.6 km east of ( Jaresville on 9 June 1995 disclosed cinerea calling in great

numbers from several separate sites, following a hot day (35° C) arid an evening thunderstorm. Ihe largest aggregation seemed to be in a permanent blackgum swamp, others from an open cattail (Typha latifolia) marsh half a mile away, with individuals and small groups generally distributed. .Again, on 7 August 1996, hundreds of males were calling at this locality, although not a single one was in voice at Fontaine Swamp where advertising males had been numerous in previous years.

How could such a large and viable population have been missed in previous summers (e.g., 3 June 1993, 10 June 1994), when light-trapping was being done at the same place, nearly the same time, and under similar climatic conditions, with all of the other associated frog species actively vocalizing? The Claresville population is about 9 km NNW of that in Fontaine Swamp, and suggests that this species may occur throughout the lower Meherrin River floodplain east of Co. Rt. 730 - [xissibly even upstream as far as Emporia. The Greensville populations appear to be by far the most inland known for this species in Virginia.

Ihe mating period seems to extend through May and June, hut calling is not continuous through this time. More than once, RLH monitored known population sites on warm nights prior to, during, or after thundershowers, and was met with silence although a week earlier or later, chonises were active.

9. Hyla femoralis Bose.

The pinewoods treefrog seems to be widespread in southern Greensville County but nowhere occurring in large colonies, and, to date, not found east of Co. Rt. 730 in the Meherrin floodplain. A fairly extensive population exists in the region ca 5-10 km southwest of Skippers, where heard calling and collected by JCM on 3 May 1984; others calling along Co. Rt. 632, where it passes through a pine plantation, 20 June 1989 (RLH)..

Hyla femoralis attains its inlandmost limits at this latitude, and occurs well up on the Piedmont in southern Brunswick County. On 20 June 1989 RLH captured three vocalizing males (VMNH 6403-6405) at an area recently demolished by logging along Co. Rt. 602, 1.6 km W of Triplet. Later that night he heard a large chorus in a pond beside Co. Rt. 603, 2.5 km SE of the intersection named "Fitzhugh" on the DeLorme Atlas, p. 31 (but "Poplar Mount" on the VDOT Bmnswick County map). This seems to he the inlandmost known Virginia locality for this species. No other populations were heard in the region despite a lot of road cruising during climatically optimal periods.

HOFFMAN & MITCHELL- ANURANS

33

10. Hyla squrrella Bose.

This is another treefrog that RLH missed for many years, until a large vocalizing population was located at Taylor's Millpond on 5 August 1993 (Hoffman, 1994). However, three decades earlier Dr. Burger had encountered a chonis "within 3 mi. of Barley" on 29 July 1960, and secured seven specimens (AMNH 123214-20). The species was heard calling along Fontaine Creek downstream from Co. Rt. 639 on 14 June, 1990 by the second author and C. A Pague.

An additional locality was added on 19 August 1994, when a small chorus of about two dozen advertising males was heard beside Co. Rt. 730, at its intersection with Rt. 629 (ca. 6.5 km SE of Emporia). These frogs were calling sporadically in late afternoon following a day of heavy rain. Most recently (9 June 1995) several dozen were calling in a newly plowed flooded field (actually a vast mudpuddle) beside Co. Rt. 730 near Bryant's Comer, in company with Bufo fowlen and Gastrophryne carolinensis. A male was captured and examined but immediately escaped, and local conditions (there being no shoulder on which to get the car off the pavement) prevented stopping long enough to obtain a voucher.

Both of these localities have been driven past for many years, without an audible trace of squirella being detected; later in the year they dry up completely and seem a poor choice for a breeding site.

1 1 . Acre crepitans crepitans Baird

Sporadic throughout the county, but not always distin¬ guished by the first author from Acris gryllns. Burger captured one specimen (AMNH 122718), 30 July i960, on Co. Rt. 629, 1.5 km SW of Skippers, and the second author both heard and captured specimens at the Virginia Power locality (our site 4) on the 1st and 3rd of May, 1984.

1 2. Acris gryllns gryllns LeConte.

The southern cricket frog is widespread in the south¬ eastern third of the county, calling from ditches, small ponds, and gum swamps. Vocalizing begins in mid-April and persists info August, during the day only as the summer wears on. A small voucher series was taken at Gamer's Millpond on 2 1 September 1994 (VMNH 6717-27), all specimens with the hind foot webbing and femoral strips exactly as stipulated for the species (e.g., by Conant & Collins, 1991). One (VMNH 6680) fell into a pitfall trap 1.6 km east of Claresville in the spring (25 March-25 May) of 1994. This site is about 100 m from the nearest w ater.

13. Gastrophryne carohnensis (Holbrook).

Narrowmouth toads are obviously common in the county, as suggested by the number which found their way info our pitfall traps located about 1.6 km E of Claresville. VMNH has 3 3 specimens taken during the period 28 April-6 October 1993-1994 with the great majority taken from mid- May to mid-June. Burger found a single specimen (AMNH 122297) 1.5 mi. SW of Skippers on Co. Rt. 629 on 30 July’ 1960. JCM removed a male from a pitfall trap 2.0 mi. SW of Emporia and another 3.0 mi. SSW of Skippers on 18 June 1990.

It is a remarkable fact that in spite of numerous visits made by RLH to Greensville County over several decades - before, during, and after thunderstorms, this species was heard calling only once prior to 1990 and even then (25 May 1989) only one male was vocalizing. But for some arcane reasons the evening of 9 June 1995 was apparently optimal for the species, and calling was heard along virtually all backroads between Skippers and Claresville, again at the drift site 1.6 km E of Claresville, and also along Co. Rt. 730 south to Bryant's Corner. On 30 May 1990 JCM heard about 10 vocalizing males in pooh in a clearcut area, 7.5 km SW of Skipjxrs, and saw fresh egg masses of this species. Collectively these data suggest that late May and early’ June is the time of maximum reproductive effort (as also implied by the peak of pitfall catches). Elsewhere in eastern Virginia, calling may extend well into August.

14. Rana catesbeiana Shaw.

Calling east of Claresville and at Garner's Millpond 7 June 1990 and 9 May 1991 and a single, very large female on Co. Rt. 625 in Fontaine Swamp on a rainy night (17 July 1993). Two specimens preserved from Site 4, 1 May 1984, by JCM; one seen on Co. Rt. 632, 3 May 1984-

15 .Rana clamitans melanota (Rafinesque)

Generally distributed but not abundant, calling through¬ out the summer. Several pitfall captures preserved (JCM) from the Virginia Power site, 1 May and 30 May 1984.

16. Rana palnstns LeConte.

Calling in black gum swamp 2 km east of Claresville, also at Garners Millpond, March-April, in small numbers. Not taken by Burger, and no material has been collected by either of us.

34

BANISTERIA

NO 8, 1996

17. Ram sphenocephala Cope [in recent literature as Ram utriculana Harlan].

lire species is generally distributed and common everywhere, calling as late as the end of May in 1989. Large numbers of recently metamorphosed specimens fell into the Claresville site pitfalls during the time interval 25 May-30 June 1994, apparently while dispersing from their transformation site.

Possible .Additional Local Species

In addition to the anurans heard and occasionally captured, we note the conspicuous absences of Rana virgatipes, Pseudacris ocularis, and Pseudacris brimleyi. Tire latter species is plotted on Tobey's map (1985, p. 60) for adjoining Sussex Co. and probably occurs in the northeastern fringe of Greensville. Possibly, the two local species of pseudacrids are competitive, and one excludes the other. The experience of RLH with brimleyi in Caroline County some years ago was that a single colony near Dawn was a tiny island in a sea of fenarum, emphatically verified by prolonged road cruising throughout a 16 km radius of the brimleyi site. Early season visits to Greensville County when both Pseiulacns triseriatu fenarum and P. crucifer were vocalizing en masse have so far been negative for brimleyi, with its simultaneous calling period. Possibly brimleyi is localized in the scarcely collected northern half of the county. The same may be said for P. ocularis, recorded from several sites in adjacent Southampton County to the east, and from Brunswick County to the west. Almost certainly, location of the specific biotope required by ocularis will disclose its presence in Greensville County.

Tire apparent absence of Ram virgatipes is similarly inexplicable, considering its inland occurrences farther north in Virginia, and the abundance of apparently suitable local habitat. One noteworthy observation that has been dramatically impressed upon us by recent field experiences in Greensville County is that populations of various species may exist at particular sites without vocalizing during one or more breeding seasons. .Another is that vigorous activity may be in progress at one site, but not at another - just a few miles away - which is known to have been a hotbed of clamor and tumult at other times. Lhe accounts for Hyla cinerea and Hyla squirella provide examples of whar to the human mind may seem flagrant behavioral inconsistency.

.An Unusually Diverse Breeding Congress

It is not unusual for several species of anurans to utilize a particular breeding site simultaneously, yet in four decades of

listening to frogs in Virginia by RLH, only once did he ever hear as many as eight species (half of the known Greensville County frog fauna) advertising at once from the same place. This event occurred beside Co. Rt. 625 about 100 meters north of the VA-NC state line, on the southern periphery of Fontaine Swamp, 25 May 1989. The site had been devastated a year earlier by a clear-cut operation that residted in a deeply- gouged and rutted wasteland of stumps, trunks, and slash, growing up with sweetgum, blackberries (Rubus spp.), and poison ivy (Rhus toxicodendron). Lhe depressions had filled with water and attracted frogs. It was not possible to penetrate the morass, but a half-hour period of listening provided a good idea of what species were vocalizing. Approximate rank order, based on calling frequency, was as follows: Acris gryllus (dozens calling), Hyla chrysoscelis (dozens), Bufo fowleri (many), Ram clamitans melanota (many), Ram catesbeiam (several), Ram sphenocephala (several), Hy la femoralis (only a few), and Gastrophryne caroUnensis (only one). These records were made on a warm, clear, very humid night after a hot day. No rain had fallen for at least a week. Recent visits to the site have been rather negative; it is both drying up and growing up, and only a few of the commonest species listed above were heard.

FAUNISTIC SUMMARY

Our present total of 17 confirmed species of anurans is apparently the greatest now recorded for any Virginia county or comparable city, using the maps in F. J. Tobey's atlas (1985) as resource. The City of Virginia Beach is there credited with 16 species, the City of Chesapeake with 14, Surry County with 15, and Fairfax, Charlotte, and .Alleghany counties with 12 each. In acmality Surry County may claim first place, since several very common species were not represented in Tobey's data, and when collected (if they have not already been taken) will raise the Surry total to 20 species or more, about the maximum to be expected for a Coastal Plain county.

.As is evident from the foregoing list, the Greensville County anuran fauna basically reflects two distribution patterns, one being that of species widespread over much of eastern l Anted States such as Bufo amencanus, Bufo fmvlen, Acris crepitans, Pseudacris triseriata, P. crucifer, Scaphiopus holbrooki, Ram catesbeiam, R. clamitans, and R. palustris. The second pattern is that of the classical "Lower Austral" life zone, and includes species which, if not actually restricted to the Coastal Plain, are at least most abundant there and may exist only sporadically on the Piedmont. Species in this category include *Bufo quercicus, *Hyla cinerea, H. chrysoscelis, H. femoralis, *H. squirella, Acris , gryllus , and Gastrophryne carolinensLs (species marked by an asterisk reach their inlandmost Virginia localities on the Fall Line belt south and west of Emporia; and

HOFFMAN & MITCHELL- AN! JRANS

35

H. femoralis extends only a few km further westward into Bnmswick County). If is a little surprising that the "American Toad" represented here is the northern B. americanns rather than the southern B. terrestris.

CONSERVATION STATUS

Documentation of amphibian, particularly anuran, population declines are being published at an alarming rate (e.g., Drost & Fellers, 1996; Gamradt & Kats, 1996; Laurance et ah, 1996). These reports and others demonstrate that amphibians worldwide are subject to a wide variety of perturbations (see reviews in Phillips, 1990, 1994; Livermore, 1992; Pechmann & Wilbur, 1994; Blaustein (Sc Wake, 1995; Stebbins <Sc Cohen, 1995). Declines in eastern North .Americ a have been less dramatic than those in the West. Habitat loss continues to be the most common cause of population declines in the East (Blaustein <Sc Wake, 1995; Means et al., 1996; Mitchell, 1996), although acid precip- itation is being documented as another important cause in some areas (Freda (Sc Chanson, 1985; Wyman, 1988; Rowe et al., 1992).

The increasing rate of habitat loss, fragmentation, agricultural expansion, logging, and suburbanization in Greensville County sounds a conservation alarm. Except for those species that can tolerate wide environmental conditions (e.g., Bufo fowleri, Hyla chrysosceUs), populations of most species will undoubtedly decline in this area. Declines in ephemeral and permanent wetlands, keystone resources for anurans, often accompany habitat alteration. If is of interest, however, that the most diverse chorus of frogs heard in Greensville County was in a recent clearcut with ephemeral pools in tire nits. This abundance is deceptive because the conditions favorable to those species are highly ephemeral and may last only one to three years, as the site undergoes succession (as in fact has been observed in the case cited here). The source for these frogs must be within one or two km of the breeding site (see Dodd, 1996, for distances traveled by anurans). If the habitats of these source populations are themselves eliminated, as is happening in some urbanized areas of the county, then populations of several sixt ies will decline regionally and choruses of such magnitude will no longer occur. We note that except for incorporated urban areas, all of the land in the county is in private ownership, and therefore liable to modification at any moment. So far, the survival of wooded natural areas, even in secondary or tertiary growth stages, is solely by default.

We are particularly concerned about the increasing rates of mortality of anurans on Greensville County roads. There are no quantitative studies of such mortality on paved roads in Virginia, but observed rates are high in some areas,

especially where new roads are constnicted through previously undisturbed habitat and those that were placed adjacent to freshwater wetlands. The cause of noted declines of anuran populations over a 50 year period in parts of western Virginia (Hoffman, 1992), and nearby Canada (Fahrig et al., 1995) was thought to be the geometric increase in the number of paved roads and logarithmic increase in volume of traffic on those roads. Mortality is probably highest during early parts of the mating season when adults migrate to breeding areas (late winter and early spring) and during dispersal of juveniles following metamorphosis (late spring and summer). Hie early spring mortality is especially severe in that a large percentage of the fatalities occur before the adults reach the breeding sites. Education of local citizens to avoid traveling on specific sensitive roads during rainy nights, or the involvement of interested naturalists to close the most vulnerable stretches of roads to vehicular traffic during peak activity times may be the only w'ays to curtail extreme mortality. Changing the attitude of local motorists who will drive off the pavement in order to run over a turtle or mammal would seem to be a formidable challenge!

Documentation of anurans in other parts of Greensville County would provide additional information on the location of the most sensitive habitats with adjacent roads. This type of information is critical to the development of county-wide conservation plans and to identification of target areas for conservation projects. Such county-wide inventories in all of the counties of Virginia are desirable in light of the rapid growth of the human population and the resulting impacts upon the natural landscape and resident wildlife.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The first author wishes to express his gratitude to the Meherrm Hunt Club, through Mr. Bain Drummond, for permission to conduct inventory work on extensive land holdings in the Meherrin River floodplain. Funding for the second author's field research in Greensville County was provided by Virginia Power through Environmental and Ebasco Environmental Services companies. They jointly thank Drs. R. G. Zweifel and M. W. Klemens for access to the Greensville County material housed in ITie .American Museum of Natural History7. Dr. Steven M. Roble parti¬ cipated in several field trips and reviewed the manuscript.

LITERATI IRE CITED

Blaustein, .A R., & D. B. Wake. 1995. The puzzle of declining amphibian populations. Scientific American 253: 52-57.

36

BANISTERIA

NO 8, 1996

Conant, R., & J. T. Collins. 1991. A field guide to reptiles and amphibians of eastern and central North .America. 3rd edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. MA. 450 pp.

Dodd, C. K., Jr. 1996. Use of terrestrial habitats by amphibians in the sandhill uplands of north-central Horida. Alytes 14: 42-52.

Drost, C. A, <Sc G. M. Fellers. 1996. Collapse of a regional frog fauna in the Yosemite area on the California Sierra Nevada, USA Conservation Biology 10: 424-425.

Fahrig, L, J. H. Pedlar, S. E. Pope, P. D. Taylor, <Sc J. F. Wegener, 1995. Effect of road traffic on amphibian density. Biological Conservation 73: 177-182.

Fernald, M. L. 1937. Local plants of the inner Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia. Rhodora 39: 321-366, 3 7 9-4 1 5 , 433-459, 465491.

Freda, J., <Sc W. A Dunson. 1985. The effect of acid precipitation on amphibian breeding in temporary ponds in Pennsylvania. US Fish <Sc Wildlife Service, Eastern Energy & Land Else Team, Biological Report 80 (40.22). 84 pp.

Gamradt, S. C., <Sc L. B. Kats. 1996. Effect of introduced crayfish and mosquito fish on California newts. Conservation Biology 10: 1155-1162.

Hoffman, R. L. 1992. Anuran population declines in western Virginia. Catesbeiana 12: 34-35.

Hoffman, R. L. 1993. Field notes: Hyla squirella. Catesbeiana 14: 14-15.

Laurance, W. F., K. R. McDonald, <St R. Speare. 1996. Epidemic disease and the catastrophic decline of Australian

rain forest frogs. Conservation Biology 10: 406413.

Livermore, B. 1992. Amphibian alarm: just where have all the frogs gone? Smithsonian, October 1992: 113-120.

Means, D. B., J. G. Palis, & M. Baggett. 1996. Effects of slash pine silviculture on a Horida population of flatwoods salamander. Conservation Biology 10: 426437.

Mitchell, J. C. 1996. Natural history notes on the amphibians of a recently extirpated suburban wetland in central Virginia. Banisteria 7: 4148.

Pechmann, J. H. K., <Sc H. W. Wilbur. 1994. Putting declining amphibian populations in perspective: natural fluctuations and human impacts. Herpetologica 50: 65-84.

Phillips, K. 1990. Where have all the frogs and toads gone? BioScience 40: 422424.

Rowe, C. L., W. J. Sadmski, <Sc W. .A Dunson. 1992. Effects of acute and chronic acidification on three larval amphibians that breed in temporary ponds. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology 23: 339-350.

Stebbins, R. C., & N. W. Cohen. 1995. A Natural History of Amphibians. Princeton EJniversity Press, Princeton, NJ. 316

pp.

Tobey, F. J. 1985. Virginia's amphibians and reptiles, a distributional study. Virginia Herpetological Society, PurceUville, V.A 114 pp.

Wyman, R. L. 1988. Soil acidity and moisture and the distribution of amphibians in five forests of south-central Newr York. Copeia 1988: 394-399.

Banisteria, Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

Odonata Taken in Malaise Traps, with Special Reference to Virginia

Oliver S. Flint, Jr.

Virginia Museum of Natural History Martinsville, VA 24112

For many years Dr. David R. Smith (Systematic Entomology Laboratory, United States Department of Agriculture) has been operating Malaise traps in various parts of Virginia and adjacent states as part of his survey program for sawflies. In the past few years he has extracted and sent to me the material of the various "neuropteroid" orders (Ephemeroptera, Mecoptera, Neuroptera, Odonata, Plecoptera and Trichoptera) taken by this collecting technique. I have retained examples of all species for the National Collection of insects at the Smithsonian Institution, and deposited duplicates in both the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Snow Museum, University of Kansas. Starting with the collections from late 1993, I saved examples of all the species of dragonflies and damselflies that were captured: all specimens of the scarcer forms and a pair (when both sexes were present) from each trapping period, of those more frequently taken.

The use of Malaise traps to capture these insects has gained increasing attention from odonatologists in recent years (Johnson, Kovarik <Sr Glotzhober, 1995; Roble, 1994, 1995; Muzon & Spinelli, 1995). In addition to success experienced by Dr. Smith, my own personal experience with this technique in Latin America has been generally rewarding.

Dr. Smith uses a Townes-style Malaise trap (Townes, 1972; Barrows et al., 1994) about 1.7 meters long by a 1.2 meters wide with a median vertical partition. The gabled roof slopes up from the low end, a meter high, to 2 meters at the high end where a quart jar is attached to a metal ferrule with an opening 50 mm in diameter. 1 he jar is filled with 95% alcohol, which gives good color preservation, although producing hardened and brittle specimens over a period of several months. Tire traps were emptied about every two weeks except early and late in the season, when three to four weeks may elapse between

checks. The relatively small size of the trap seems quite effective, perhaps because it may more effectively confuse and trap larger insects. Tire large mouth jar allows easy entry for small odonates and even large ones such a Tachopteryx thoreyi are able to squeeze in.

My experience has been with a much larger trap, about 5 meters long by 2 wide, with dry killing chambers attached to each end. The inwardly-directed, cone-shaped baffle with a small opening (18 mm) leads into a cyanide jar. I try to find a safe place to leave the trap across a stream, and empty the killixrg chamber once or twice a day. With this timing, the specimens easily have their wings folded together and can be degreased by immersion in acetone, with excellent results. These traps routinely collect damselflies and small dragonflies, and, rarely, I may find a large dragonfly hanging from the fabric inside the trap.

LOCALITIES

T raps were run for six years at the Elniversity of Virginia, Blandy Experimental Farm, 3 km S Boyce (39°05' N, 78° 10' W) in Clarke County, Virginia at an elevation of 160 m. Six to eleven traps were run each year, about half of them in a wooded area on the west side of the farm, the other half in open, moist meadows and over small streams and nearby small ponds on the east side of the farm. In addition to the small streams and ponds, the Shenandoah River flows about 5.5 km to the east. The traps were operated between April 4 and October 17 in 1994 and April 3 to October 30 in 1995.

The other primary site is on the property of John G. Kloke, 1.5 km SE Dunnsville (37°52' N, 76°48' W) in Essex County, Virginia at nearly sea-level. Here ten to twenty traps were operated yearly for five years in a variety of sites. One trap was placed over a small, intermittent

38

BANISTERIA

NO 8, 1996

stream, several others were placed over small, boggy spots; the Rappahhanock River is about 2.5 km northeast. The majority of the traps were placed in wooded sites or along margins of the woods in cutover areas. The collections were pooled from all traps. The traps were erected on March 7 and taken down on November 15 1994 and from March 7 to November 20 in 1995.

Traps were also operated in small numbers at several other sites on different years and often collected a few odonates. A trap has been in operation for 15 years in the shrubbery in Dr. Smith's yard in Holmes Run Acres, about 3 km NW of Annandale (38°50' N, 77°12' W) in Fairfax County. Odonata were only taken in 1995; the closest water is Holmes Run about half a kilometer away. In 1993 (and two other years), four traps were operated at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (39°02' N, 76°52' W), in Prince George County, Maryland. The traps were situated in both wooded areas and near to small streams and ponds on the grounds. A few damselflies were taken. At another Maryland site, two traps were operated for 1992-1993 by Dr. E. M. Barrows of Georgetown University, Washington, DC who kindly presented us with the residual collections. The Odonata were retained in 1993. The site is in Garrett County at 825 meters elevation, and known as Finzel Swamp about 2 km S of Finzel (39°38’ N, 79°00’ W). The traps were placed at the woods edge near the margin of the swamp. In 1994 and 1995 two traps were in operation in Hardy County, West Virginia at about 5 km NE of Mathias (38°55' N, 78°49' W). One of the traps was placed over a small, intermittent stream the other in the woods at the crest of the hill.

RESULTS

The first and last days of the seasonal range of a species are those of the day the trap first started operation after emptying to the day of emptying; the specimen may well have entered at any date in the trapping period, but there is no way of knowing precisely. The numbers and sexes are listed for those species where all examples were kept; for those without such data only a representative pair (if present) were kept on each date.

CALOPTERY GIDAE

Calopteryx maculata (Beauvois)

VA, Clarke Co.: 24 May-19 July 1994, 15 June-11 July 1995

VA, Essex Co.: 1 June-16 August 1994, 8-22 June 1995

LESTIDAE

Lestes disjunctus australis Walker

VA, Clarke Co.: 4 April-3 June 1994, 20 ApriM- May 1995

VA, Essex Co.: 9-12 April 1994 [19], 12-26 April 1995

[2c?]

Lestes forcipatus Rambur

VA, Clarke Co.: 15 June-19 July 1994 [3c?, 29], none 1995

Lestes congener Hagen

VA, Clarke Co.: 15-24 June [lc? teneral], 3 September-17 October 1994 [8c?, 5 9 mature], 15 June- 11 July [3c?, 1 9 teneral], 12 September-3 October 1995 [3 c? mature]

Lestes rectangulans Say

VA, Clarke Co.: 24 May-17 October 1994, 15 June-24 July 1995

VA, Essex Co.: 1 June - 16 August 1994, 8 June-15 July 1995

VA, Fairfax Co.: 23-29 July 1995 [lc?]

MD, Prince Georges Co.:20-31 August 1993 [1 (?)

MD, Garrett Co.: 20 July-9 August 1993 [ 3 c? , 1 9]

COENAGRIONIDAE

Amphiagnon saucium (Burmeister)

VA, Clarke Co.: none 1994, 20 May-1 June 1995 [1 9],

Argia moesta (Hagen)

VA, Clarke Co.: 25 June-3 August 1994 [ 1 c? , 1 9 ], none 1995

Argia sedula (Hagen)

VA, Clarke Co.: 20 July-3 August 1994 [1 <?], none 1995

Argia fumipennis violacea (Hagen)

VA, Clarke Co.: 4-18 August 1994 [1 9], none 1995

C hromagrion conditum (Hagen)

VA, Clarke Co.:24 May-3 June 1994 [ 1 e? ], 20 May-1 June 1995 [lc?)

VA, Essex Co.: none 1994, 13-24 May 1995 [lc?)

WV, Hardy Co.: none 1994, 8-27 May 1995 [19)

FLINT- MALAISE TRAP ODONATA

39

Enallagma aspersum (Hagen)

VA, Clarke Co.: 29 April-2 September 1994, none 1995

Enallagma civile (Hagen)

VA, Clarke Co.: 6 July-21 September 1994, none 1995

Enallagma exsulans (Hagen)

VA, Fairfax Co.: 25 June- 1 July 1995 11 ?]

Enallagma geminatum Kellicott

VA, Clarke Co.: 24 May-3 June 1994 [lc?], none 1995 VA, Essex Co.: 4-17 May 1994 [lcf], none 1995 MD, Prince Georges Co.: 29 July-31 August 1993 [4c?]

Enallagma hagem (W alsh)

MD, Garrett Co.: 10-20 July 1993 [lc?]

Enallagma signatum (Hagen)

VA, Clarke Co.: 15-24 June 1994 [lcf], none 1995

Enallagma vesperum Calvert

MD, Prince Georges Co.: 10-20 September 1993 [lc?]

Iscknura (Anomalagnon) hastata(Say)

VA, Essex Co.: none 1994, 12-26 April [3c?], 1-16 August 1995 [1?]

Ischnura (I.) posita (Hagen)

VA, Clarke Co.: 4 April- 17 October 1994, 20 April-24 July 1995

VA, Essex Co.: 26 March-21 June 1994, 12 April-15 July 1995

VA, Fairfax Co.: 4-10 June 1995 [lc?]

MD, Prince Georges Co.: 20-28 July 1993 [1 c?, 1 9 ]

MD, Garrett Co.: 30 June-10 July 1993 [lc?]

Iscknura (I.) prognata Hagen

VA, Essex Co.: none 1994, 27 April-24 May 1995 [2c?] Ischnura (1.) verticahs (Say)

VA Clarke Co.: 16 April-21 September 1994, 20 April- 3 October 1995

MD, Garrett Co.: 30 June-29 August 1993 [3<?,1 9]

Nehalennia gracilis Morse

VA, Essex Co.: none 1994, 8-22 June 1995 [lc?]

PETALURIDAE Tachopteryx tkoreyi (Hagen)

VA, Essex Co.: 22 June-1 July 1994 [19], none 1995 CORDULEGASTRIDAE

Cordulegaster (Taeniogaster) obliqua (Say)

VA, Essex Co.: 11 June-1 August 1994 [4c?, 19], 8-22 June 1995 [lc?]

Cordulegaster (Zoraena) bilineata Carle

VA, Essex Co.: 22 April-3 May 1994 [3 9], 27 April-12 May 1995 [2c?, 19]

AES FIN 1 DAE Anax junms (Drury)

VA, Clarke Co.: 4-15 April 1994 [lc?], none 1995 Basiaeschna janata (Say)

VA, Essex Co.: 9-21 April 1994 [ 1 c? , 1 9], none 1995 Boyena vinosa (Say)

VA Clarke Co.: 25 June-19 July 1994 [lc?,19], none 1995

VA, Essex Co.: 2-15 July 1994 [19], 6-15 July 1995 [19] WV, Hardy Co.: 5-18 July 1994 [lc?], 14 August-4 September 1995 [lc?]

Epiaeschna keros (Fabricius)

VA, Clarke Co.: none 1994, 20 May-1 June 1995 [19] Gomphaeschna furcillata (Say)

VA, Essex Co.: 22 April-3 May 1994 [2c?, 1 9], none 1995

Nasiaesckna pentacantka (Rambur)

VA Essex Co.: 10-21 June 1994 [lc?,l 9], none 1995

40

BANISTER1A

NO. 8, 1996

GOMPHIDAE

Dromogomphus spinosus Selys

VA, Essex Co.: none 1994, 8-22 June 1995 [1 $]

Gomphus exilis Selys

VA, Essex Co.: 22 April- 3 May 1994 [lcf], 12 April-12 May 1995 [2d1, 2 9]

Gomphus Iwidus Selys

VA, Essex Co.: 22 April' 3 May 1994 [ld',1 9], none 1995

Gomphus rogersi Gloyd

VA, Essex Co.: 1-4 June 1994 [1 ?], none 1995 CORDULIDAE

Somatochlorci provocans Calvert

VA, Essex Co.: 2-16 August 1994 [1 ?], none 1995

Somatochlora tenebrosa (Say)

VA Essex Co.; 22 June- 1 July 1994 [1 $], 16-31 July 1995

[1?]

Tetragoneuria cynosura (Say)

VA, Essex Co.: 22 April-3 May 1994 [1?], 27 April-12 May 1995[1$]

LIBELLULIDAE

Erythemis simplicicollis (Say)

VA, Clarke Co.: 6-19 July 1994 [Id1], none 1995

VA, Essex Co.: 22 June-1 July 1994 [ld',1 9], 8 June-16

August 1995 [8 $ ]

Libellula (L.) incesta Hagen

VA, Essex Co.-. 2-16 August 1994 [1 9], 1-16 August 1995 [19]

Libellula (Be Iona) luctwosaBurmeister

VA, Clarke Co.: 25 June-5 July 1994 [ld',1 9], none 1995

Libellula (Plathemis) lydia( Drury)

VA, Clarke Co.: 25 June-5 July 1994 [19], none 1995 VA, Essex Co.: 22 April-1 August 1994 [lcf,3 9], 8 June- 31 July [3 c?,5 9]

Libellula (L.) needhami Westfall

VA, Essex Co.: 11-21 June 1994 [19], 16-31 July 1995 [191

Pachydiplax longipennis (Burmeister)

VA, Clarke Co.: none 1994, 15-29 June 1995 [1 9]

VA, Essex Co.: 2-16 August 1994 [1 9], none 1995

Sympetrum ambiguum (Rambur)

VA, Clarke Co.: 29 September-25 October 1993 [2d'], none 1994, 1995

Sympetrum obtrusum (Hagen)

MD, Garrett Co.: 20-30 July 1993 [ld',1 9]

Sympetrum rubicundulum (Say)

VA, Clarke Co.: 25 June-3 August 1994 [3d'], none 1995 Sympetrum vicinum (Hagen)

VA, Essex Co.: 2 July-6 September 1994 [ld',1 9], 1-16 August 1995 [1 9 1

DISCUSSION

The traps in Clarke Co. collected 16 species of Zygoptera and nine of Anisopfera, those in Essex Co. collected nine species of Zygoptera and 20 of Anisopfera, while the Fairfax Co. site yielded only three species of Zygoptera. (dverall the traps yielded 20 damselfly species out of a total of 54 known for the state, or 37%, and for the dragonflies 25 species out of 182, or only 14%. Obviously, the traps were, as expected, much more successful trapping damselflies than dragonflies. The records of the damselflies are, at least for the common species, much more likely to give the full, seasonal flight range than are those of the dragonflies. Even so, it is

FLINT: MALAISE TRAP ODONATA

41

surprising how often a single specimen of a dragonfly species will be taken in the traps during the same time period on successive years.

Undoubtedly the length of flight seasons of the damselflies were quite different in the two years, with 1995 being shorter than 1994. There was a severe drought during the summer of 1995 which resulted in all the water courses and ponds at Blandy drying up early in the summer, although they retained water all 1994. This not only resulted in shorter flight seasons, but all the Argia and Enallagma species disappeared. The effects at Dunnsville were lesser, but even here there is shortening of flight periods for some species.

Upon study of Figures 1 and 2 several interesting observation on certain species are apparent.

The genus Lestes: At Blandy, there is in both years an interesting hiatus in the flight season of congener, the early period containing only teneral examples, and the later period mature ones. This suggests to me that after emergence the individuals disperse somewhere away from the breeding site to mature and perhaps estivate until cooler, wetter fall comes and they return to the breeding sites. The three species disjunctus australis, forcipatus and congener (mature individuals) appear to follow one another through the season with rectangularis overlapping all, to some degree, during the summer and fall.

1 he genus Argue Only one or two specimens of each species were taken at Blandy, suggesting that these wandered into the area, perhaps from the Shenandoah River.

C hromagrion condition: Five examples of this species were taken, only one per collection/year. Yet all appeared between the eighth of May and the third of June.

A number of species of known, short, flight periods were taken in both years in Dunnsville during overlapping time periods: (dordulegaster obliqua, C. bdineata, Gompkus exilis, and Tetragoneuna cynosura. Of a similar nature are the records for Boyeria vinosa which was taken at three sites, sometimes on both years and generally as single

specimens. Most were clustered into the first half of July with a single late record from the last half of August.

The capture range for Somatochlora provocans at Dunnsville, 2-16 August, is the latest date known in Virginia for this species; its previously known last date was 17 July (Roble <Sc Flobson 1996).

LITERATURE CITED

Barrows, Edward M., Samantha S. Wolf, & Darren M. Lynch. 1994. Diflubenzuron effect on yellowjacket (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) worker numbers in a central Appalachian broadleaf forest. Journal of Economic Entomology 87: 1 488-149 3 .

Donnelly, T.W. 1994. (Note on Gompkus rogersi in Virginia). .Argia 6(1): 13.

Johnson, Norman F., Peter W. Kovarik, <Sc Robert C. Glotzhober. 1995. Dragonflies in Malaise traps. .Argia 7(1): 21-22.

Muzon, Javier, <S>c Gustavo R. Spmelli. 1995. Patagonian Odonata in Malaise traps. Argia 7(3): 22-23.

Roble, Steven M. 1994. A preliminary checklist of the damselflies of Virginia, with notes on distribution and seasonality (Odonata: Zygoptera). Banisteria 4: 3-21.

Roble, Steven M. 1995. [Note on Malaise trap records of Virginia Odonata]. Argia 7(2): 3.

Roble, Steven M., <Sc Christopher S. Hobson. 1996. Tire Odonata of Fort A.P. Hill and vicinity, Caroline County, Virginia. Banisteria 7: 1 1-40.

Tow'nes, Henry. 1972. A light-weight Malaise Trap. Entomological News 83: 239-247.

42

BANISTERIA

NO. 8, 1996

Blandy

o

11-20 ? *1

21-31

o

Apr o (N •

21-30

o

May o l

21-31

o

11-20 g

21-30

1-10

Jul o <N i T-H

21-31

o 1

Aug o CM •

21-31

o

Sep o <N

21-30

1-10

11-20 n

21-31

Calopteryx maculata

ZZ

zz

z

Lestes congener

z

ZZ

yA

ZZ

z

a

■

Lestes d australis

We

Y77.

ZZ

TZl

ZZ

Lestes forcipatus

V

v//

ZZ

Z/

Lestes rectangularis

Z

ZZ

We

///

zz

zz

zz

zz

zz

zz

Z/

zz

z

;

Amphiagrion saucium

Argia moesta

Z

Z

zz

/

Argia sedula

Argia f violacea

z

z

Chromagrion conditum

Mg

Enallagma aspersum

zz

ZZ

ZZ

ZZ

zz

zz

zz

zz

zz

zz

ZZ

/

Enallagma civile

z

zz

"2

zz

zz

zz

zz

Enallagma geminatum

Z

ZZ

Enallagma signatum

V,

z

Ischnura

k

ZZ

zj

///

zz

z^

z

Ischnura

verticals

Anax junius

Boyeria vinosa

VZZ/ZZZ

Epiaeschua

heros

Erythemis

simplicicollis

wzz

Libellula

luctuosa

Pachydiplax

longipennis

Plathemis

lyd'ta

9HH

zz

Sympetrum

ambiguum

Sympetrum

rubicundulum

WZZZZZZZ&

Figure 1. Flight periods for Odonata appearing in Malaise traps at Blandy, Clarke Co., VA in 1994 and 1995 (one record from 1993). Each month divided into 10 or 11 day periods. Data for 1993 shown as horizontal bars, for 1994 as diagonal shading, for 1995 in solid black.

FLINT- MALAISE TRAP ODONATA

4 ^

Dunnsville

o r* H

Mai o 04 »—<

co 04

O

Apr o 04

o CO t 04

o

Maj o 04 rH r1 <

co 04

o * i

Jun o 04 V H

o co 04

o

Jul o 04

co 04

o «

Aug o 04

r—* co 04

O * * •

Sep o 04

O CO 04

O

Oct o 04

CO 04

Calopteryx maculata

'//<

'//

yA

iz

2T

'

1

Lestes d. australis

i

Lestes rectangularis

We

y/s

Cl

1

Anomalagrion hast alum

Chomagrion conditum

m

1

Enallagma geminatum

1Z.

z2

Ischnura posita

Ve.

'/C

'//

y/z

///

// /

Ischnura pro gnat a

m

m

.

Nehalennia gracilis

\

m

1

Tachopteryx thoreyi

yz

Cordulegaster obliqua

///

V//

■i

Cordulegaster bilineata

L

1

Gomphaeschna furcillata

yA

r

Dasiaeschna janata

m

Boyeria vinosa

4

i

Nasiaeschna pentacantha

Dromogotnphus spinosus

Gomphus exilis

m

m

1

Gomphus lividus

Gomphus rogersi

w

Somatochlora provocans

icc

Somatochlora tenebrosa

vz

Tetragoneuria cynosura

a

Erylhemis simplicicollis

\

■

w

1

r

1

Libellula incesta

a

L

Libellula needhami

tzz

1

■

Pachydiplax longipennis

YZ

2

Plathemis lydia

YZ

2“

YZ

1

i

Sympetrum vicinum

w,

CT

1

k/

Y/e

'A

Figure 2. Flight periods for Odonata appearing in Malaise traps at Dnnnsville, Essex Co., VA in 1994 and 1995. Each month divided into 10 or 11 day periods. Data for 1994 as diagonal shading, for 1995 in solid black.

44

BanistericL, Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

Shoreline Flora of the Blackwater River in Southampton and Isle of Wight Counties, Virginia.

J. Christopher Ludwig

Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage 1500 E. Main Street, Suite 312, Richmond, VA 23219

During his extensive botanical research in southeastern Virginia, Merritt Lyndon Fernald (1937, 1938, 1941, 1942, 1943) collected many plant specimens from exposed shorelines of the region’s rivers, creeks, and large millponds. His collections along the Blackwater River included Justicia ovata (W alt.) Lindau, Micranthemum umbrosum (J.F. Gmel.) Blake, and Mitreola petiolata (J.F. Gmel.) Torr. <$c Gray, plant species now considered rare in Virginia (Ludwig, 1996). On 14 and 28 September 1993 and 12 September 1995, 1 collected and recorded vascular plant species along the Blackwater River shores to determine the status of the rare species. My work was conducted from Zuni to Franklin in Isle of Wight and Southampton Counties, a distance of ca. 30 km. With the assistance of Allen Belden and Dirk Stevenson, I canoed or walked most of this stretch, stopping often to inspect plants growing on open, temporarily exposed shores often referred to as draw-down shores or draw-downs. These shores include open, sandy and silty banks, peninsulas, bars and flats which are carpeted with low herbaceous plant species late in the growing season (Figure 1). Most of the plants are annuals such as Eragrostis hypnoides (Lam.) B.S.P and Fimbristylis autumnahs (L.) R.&S. which can quickly colonize the exposed substrate and set fruit. Less frequently, perennial herbs occur, though they are generally found on the upper portions of the shores. Seedlings of woody species such as Betula nigra L. and Acer rubrum L. also occur, but these apparently do not survive when water levels rise in the autumn. A complete list of herbaceous plant species collected or observed on the Blackwater River shores during this study is presented as an appendix. Nomenclature follows Kartesz (1994).

Five plant species considered rare in Virginia were found during the present study: Hemicarpha micrantha

(Vahl.) Pax., Justicia ovata, Micranthemum umbrosum , Mitreola petiolata, and Oldenlandia boscii (DC.) Chapman. Furthermore, the discovery of Eupatorium compos itifolium Walt, is noteworthy. A discussion of these species follows. Voucher specimens with collection numbers and repositories are noted.

The most abundant of the rare species was Justicia ovata which thrived on open shores of the river and was also abundant in the densely shaded bottomland forests.

I collected a specimen on 12 September 1995 approximately 1.1 km south of the State Route 603 bridge in Isle of Wight County7 (2596, VPI). .All collections of this species within Virginia are limited to bottomlands of the Blackwater and Nottoway River systems.

Micranthemum umbrosum was also abundant along the Blackwater River, with several thousand plants found between the State Route 611 and the State Route 619 bridges. My specimen was collected on 28 September 1993 approximately 0.6 km northeast of the State Route 611 bridge in Southampton County (22 16, VPI). This diminutive trailing annual inhabits the wettest portions of the draw-down zones and also grows immersed in shallow water. Fernald recorded this species from the State Route 611 bridge and two other southeastern Virginia stations (Fernald, 1937, 1942, 1943). Subsequently, the species has been recorded in Fairfax and Greensville counties (Harvill et al., 1992).

Though widely distributed along the surveyed length of the Blackwater River, Hemicarpha micrantha was far less common than the previously mentioned species. Approximately 25 plants were counted in 1993 and 40 to 50 were seen in 1995. I collected it on 14 September 1993, 0.1 km east of the State Route 619 bridge in Isle of Wight County (2206, GMUF, VPI). This tiny annual was

LUDWIG: SHORELINE FLORA

45

first collected in Southampton County, Virginia in 1936 at sites along the Nottoway River and in artificial ponds (Fernald, 1937). Since then, the only Virginia collections of this species have been from the Blackwater during this work, and from Fairfax County’ (Flarvill et al., 1992).

M itreola petiolata was also found at scattered locations along the entire surveyed reach of the river. My specimen was collected on 14 September 1993 approximately 0.5 km south of the State Route 603 bridge in Southampton County (2208, WILLI). Approximately 100 plants were found in 1993 and 1995. Fernald (1937, 1942) found it along the Blackwater River and in a small natural pond in Prince George County. Since these discoveries, the species has been collected from at least six other locations in southeast Virginia.

Oldenlandia boscii, was the rarest and most local species along the Blackwater River. I collected it on 14 September 1993 approximately 0.4 km south of the State Route 603 bridge in Isle of Wight County (2209, WILLI). A[v proximately 20 plants were seen in this area. The only previous records for this prostrate annual species in Virginia were provided by Fernald (1937, 1938, 1941, 1943) from stations along the Nottoway River, Three Creek (a tributary of the Nottoway River), and shores of artificial ponds in southeast Virginia.

Eupatorium compositifolium was cited as a waif or taxon of doubtful establishment in Virginia by Flarvill et al. (1992) based on its single collection from Newport News City. The species is well established and appears to be native on exposed silt and sand of the open shores and bottomlands of the Blackwater River. I collected the species on 14 September 1993, 0.1 km north of the State Route 619 bridge in Isle of Wight County (2207, VPI) and on 28 September 1993, approximately 1.4 km upstream of the State Route 611 bridge in Southampton County (2215, VPI). In 1993, I estimated that there were more than 1000 plants along a two km stretch of river in the vicinity of the State Route 611 bridge. Despite the large number of plants, only five plants had set fruit. Appareirtly, few individuals of this perennial species can germinate during low water of the late summer months and successfully reach fruiting stage before frost or rising water of autumn.

.All rare plants encountered by Fernald were recollected during this study. In addition, three other rare or noteworthy species were encountered. Because Fernald only briefly worked along the Blackwater River, it is

difficult to further compare his collections with those in this study. It does appear, however, that shorelines of the Blackwater River provide a viable habitat for a number of plants absent or rare elsewhere in Virginia.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

1 am indebted to Allen Belden and Dirk Stevenson for their field assistance. Allen Belden, Sandra Erdle, Gary Fleming, W. John Hayden, Joe Mitchell, Nancy Van Alstine, Tom Wieboldt and an anonymous reviewer provided helpful comments on the manuscript.

LITERATURE CITED

Fernald, M.L. 1937. Local plants of the inner Coastal Plain of southeastern Virginia. Rhodora 39: 32L366, 379-415, 433-459,465-491.

Fernald, M.L. 1938. Noteworthy plants of southeastern Virginia. Rhodora 40: 364-424, 434-459, 467-485.

Fernald, M.L. 1941. Another century of additions to the flora of Virginia. Rhodora 43: 485-553, 559-630, 635- 657.

Fernald, M.L. 1942. The seventh century of additions to the flora of Virginia. Rhodora 44: 341-405, 416-452, 457-478.

Fernald, M.L. 1943. Virginia botanizing under restrict¬ ions. Rhodora 45: 357-413,445-480,485-511.

Harvill, A.M. Jr., T.R. Bradley, C.E. Stevens, T.F. Wieboldt, D.M.E. Ware, D.W. Ogle, G.W. Ramsey, and G.P. Fleming. 1992. Atlas of the Virginia Flora. Virginia Botanical Associates, Burkeville, VA. 144 pp.

Kartesz, J.T. 1984. A Synonymized Checklist of the Vascular Flora of the United States, Canada, and Greenland. Second edition. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon. 1438 pp.

Ludwig, J.C. 1996. Natural heritage resources of Virginia: rare vascular plants. Natural Heritage Technical Report 96-1, Virginia Department of Conservation and Re¬ creation, Division of Natural Heritage, Richmond. 41 pp.

46

BANISTERIA

NO 8, 1996

Appendix. Herbaceous vascular plant species collected or observed on shorelines of the Blackwater River

Bidens frondosa L.

Boehmena cylindnca (L.) Sw.

Commelina diffusa Burm. f.

Qy perus erythrorhizos Muhl.

Cy per us polystachyos Rottb.

Datura stramonium L.

Diodia virginiana L.

Digitaria sangumalis (L.) Scop.

Echinochloa muricata (Beauv.) Fern.

Echinodorus cordifolms (L.) Griseb.

Eleochans obtusa (Willd.) J.A. Schultes Eragrostis hypnoides (Lain.) B.S.P Erechtites hieraciifolia (L.) Raf. ex DC.

Eupatonum compositifolium Walt.

Fimbristylis autumnalis (L.) R.&S Heliotropium indicum L.

Hemicarpha micrantha (Vahl.) Pax.

Hydrocotyle verticillata Thunb. var. verticiilata Hypericum mutilum L.

Hypoxis leptocarpa Engelm.

Justicia ovata (W alt.) Lindau Lindernia dubia( L.) Pennell var. dubia Ludwigia decurrens W alt.

Ludwigia palustris (L.) Ell.

M icranthemum umbrosum (J.F. Gmel.) Blake M itreola petiolata J.F. Gmel.) Torr. <Sc Gray Mollugo verticillata L.

Nuphar lutea (L.) Sm. ssp. advena (Ait.) Kartesz & Ghandi Oldenlandia boscii (DC.) Chapman Panicum dichotomiflorum Michx.

Panicum rigidulum Bose ex Nees var. elongatum (Pursh) LeLong

Panicum verrucosum Muhl.

Paspalum fluitans (Ell.) Kunth Pluchea camphorata (L.) DC.

Polygonum hydropiperoides Miclrx.

Polygonum pensylvanicumL.

Rhynchospora corn iculata (Lam.) Gray Rotala ramosior (L.) Koehne Sabatia calycina (Lam.) Heller Scirpus cyperinus (L.) Kunth Triadenum walten (J.G. Gmel.) Gleason

Figure 1. Exposed shoreline on Blackwater River 12 September 1995 near County Route 619 bridge, Southampton County, Virginia . Panicum spp dominate higher portions of the open flat. Note water’s edge at right and stranded Nuphar lutea ssp advena. Bottomland forest with Taxodium distichum, Nyssa aquatica, and Betula nigra is behind open shoreline. Zoologist Dirk Stevenson is pictured.

Banisteria, Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

47

Type Locality and Distribution of the Crab Spider Xysticus emertoni Keyserling (Araneida: Thomisidae)

Richard L. Hoffman

Virginia Museum of Natural History Martinsville, Virginia 24112, USA

By virtue of the very distinctive genitalic characters of both sexes, Xysticus emertoni (Keyserling, 1880) is one of the most easily recognized members of the genus. Collection records published by Gertsch (1939, 1953) and by Dondale & Redner (1978, map 53) imply a boreal distribution generally corresponding to the taiga biome, from Alaska to Newfoundland and extending south through the Rockies to New Mexico and Appalachians to Georgia.

But does the species really occur in Georgia? This question is of some relevance inasmuch as Gertsch desig¬ nated "Georgia" (from the three localities specified in the original description) as type locality for the species, a choice perhaps inappropriate in light of more recent bio¬ geographic insights1. Tire material from eastern United States examined by Gertsch (both papers) came only from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and Massachusetts. Southward, aside the original record for "Georgia" cited by Keyserling, there is only the record for the District of Columbia given by Marx in 1892. The source of that record alone is enough to invoke suspicion, Marx being frequently implicated in cases of apparent label-mixing. Moreover, X. emertoni was not found in Maryland during the inventory work conducted for four years by M. H. Muma and reported in 1945. The species was not discovered in western North Carolina by such

1 Gertsch (1939: 375) stated that "Georgia" - one of the originally cited localities for emerUmi - is the type locality for the species. He did not, however, allude to the existence of the other specimens seen by Keyserling: syntypes since no ho lo type was specified in the original description. Since the type locality in such cases is determined by the origin of a subsequently selected lectotype (not heretofore done), Gertsch's designation was invalid (ICZN, Art. 74 (a) (iii), 1985).

experienced early collectors as Nathan Banks, S. C. Bishop, and C. R. Crosby, and has not been found during extensive field work in recent years by F. A. Coyle.

The original description by Keyserling (1880: 40) states, with reference to the type material: "N. America. In der Sammlung des Herrn E. Simon aus Georgia, von Monnt [sic] Washington und Tuckermanns ravin [sic] in den Whit [sic] Mountains." In the same paper, Keyserling (p. 41) named a closely related species, X. limbatns, also from Simon material labeled "Colordo [sic] und Texas" and a female in the University of Breslau "aus Peoria im sfaate Illinois."

The type material of X. emertoni (except for one specimen) and of X. limbatus was returned to Simon, who, apparently, decided the two names were synonyms and following one of his less felicitous procedures, combined everything under the first name. Dr. Christine Rollard very kindly loaned me the Simon specimens labeled as emertoni, three vials in all, with the following contents (labels transcribed exactly as written):

"2.415 X. Emertoni Keysl. / White Montains type". This vial contains a single adult female.

"2.416 Emertoni Keys. / Georgia, Oregon, Wise."

I his vial contains two adult females.

"14.018. X. Emertoni Keys. / (type <3 & $ limbatus Keys./ Texas, Colorado." This vial contains one adult male, one adult female, one immature male, and four immature females.

Mr. Paul Hillyard informs me that the spider collection of the British Museum (Natural History) contains a female (Reg. 1890.7.1. 3386) labeled "Xysticus emertoni Keys./Georgia Type)", apparently retained by

48

BANISTER1A

NO. 8, 1996

Keyserling from the material now composited tinder 2.416 in the Paris collection. Presumably the two females remaining under that number are from Oregon and Wisconsin, although it is impossible to attribute either to a locality. Gertsch (1939: 375) was unaware that Keyserling had kept the specimen labeled "Georgia" and indicated that it was in the Museum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris. In the belief that (with all other consid' erations being equal) a lectotype should be selected from

epigynum of the adult female in 14.018 agrees exactly with that of the lectotype MHNP 2.415.

Dr. Gruber advises me (in lift.) that there is no material of emertoni from Keyserling's collection in the Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna. It seems unlikely that we can trace the source for Keyserling's inclusion of the states of Oregon and Wisconsin on the vial label of MHNP 2.416, as they were not mentioned in the original description.

Figure 1. Northeastern United States and adjacent Canada, showing localities for Xysticus emertoni. Records for Canada adapted from Map 51 in Dondale & Redner (1978), most of those for the United States from Gertsch (1939, 1953); that for northern

Pennsylvania courtesy of N. I. Platnick, American Museum of Natural History.

material deposited with the original owner of a syntype series, and from an unimpeachable locality, I hereby designate the female numbered 2.415 as lectotype of Xysticus emertoni Keyserling, and the two females numbered MHNP 2.416 and that under BMNH 1890.7.1.3386 as lectoparatypes. The White Mountains of New Hampshire (specifically Mount Washington) are thus fixed as the restricted type locality.

Hre adult male in 14.018 is herewith designated as lectotype of Xysticus Innbatus Keyserling, the others as lectoparatypes. The locality "Colorado" is certainly more likely to he correct than "Texas" given what is known about the subboreal distribution of the species. The

Appalachian distribution of Xysticus emertoni.

Canadian localities are plotted on Map 53 in Dondale *Sc Redner's 1978 treatment of the crab spiders of Canada and .Alaska, showing a continuous distribution from eastern Alaska to Nova Scotia. Records published by Gertsch (1939, 1953) imply extensions southward as far as .Arizona in the Rocky Mountain system, and into the northern Appalachians in the East, as noted above. 1 have not been able to search all available museum sources, but appealed to colleagues at Harvard, New' York, Ottowa, and Washington for any Appalachian records in their respective collections. There are no specimens from south

HOFFMAN: XYSTICUS EMERTOM

49

of New York in either the USNM (Larcher, in lift.), the MCZ (Leibensperger, in lift.), or the Canadian National Collection (Dondale, in litt.). AMNH has one sample from extreme north-central Pennsylvania (Platnick, in litt.)

That emertom does occur at least distinctly southward along the Appalachians was first manifested by the capture of an adult male and female at White Top Mountain, Virginia, by a party from the Virginia Museum of Natural History. The specimens were taken during sweeping in a field of waist-high grasses and composites adjacent to beech woods. The external genitalia of both spiders agree exactly with the illustrations published by Dondale <Sc Redner (op. cit., figs. 620, 623) and the epigynum is identical with that of the lectotype in direct comparison. It is noteworthy that specimens of emertom were not taken in a pitfall array operated only a hundred yards distant for more than a year, considering that pitfalls often capture xysticids in substantial numbers. Nor has the species been taken anywhere else in Virginia by the Museum's inventory work, including sites at about 4000 feet ASL which have yielded a number of other boreal arthropods. Tire inference may be drawn that emertom is partial to open biotopes since all pitfall lines have been placed in heavily wooded areas.

Collection data: VIRGINIA: Grayson Co.: White Top Mountain, open field beside FS Rt. 89 at 5000' asl, 25 June 1994, J. M. Anderson, M. W. Donahue, R. L.

Hoffman, R. S. Hogan leg. (VMNH lcf, 1 ? ).

Phis locality is approximately 150 miles north of the nearest part of Georgia, a distance which is trivial in the context of the species' enormous transcontinental range but more significant in terms of its peripheral position in a southward direction. Perhaps the premise that Simon's "Georgia" specimens were mislabeled is unjustifiably presumptuous, but is maintained because of the scarcity of emertom in Virginia and the absence of any records for the mountains of North Carolina and Tennessee. The position of the Virginia locality vis-a-vis nearest localities in the coherent range of emertom is shown on the accompanying map.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I am indebted to a number of colleagues for their

generous and prompt assistance in various phases of data accumulation: Dr. Christine Rollard for loan of the Simon material (MNHP); Paul Hillyard for information on material in The Natural History Museum (BMNH); Dr. Jurgen Gruber for information on the Vienna collection; Scott Larcher for help with literature and searching the USNM collection for records; Laura Leibensperger (MCZ) and Dr. Norman Platnick (AMNH) for the same service at their institutions; and Dr. Frederick A. Coyle for information from his own field experience. Dr. Charles D. Dondale verified the absence of southern Appalachian material in the CNC, and kindly reviewed a draft of the manuscript.

REFERENCES

Dondale, C. D., and J. H. Redner. 1978. The Crab Spiders of Canada and Alaska. In: The Insects and .Arach¬ nids of Canada, Part 5. Research Branch, Canada Depart¬ ment of Agriculture, Ottawa, Publication 1663, 255 pp.

Gertsch, W. J. 1939. A revision of the typical crab-spiders (Misumeninae) of America north of Mexico. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 76: 277-442.

Gertsch, W. J. 1953. The spider genera Xysticiis, Coriarackne, and Oxyptila (Thomisidae, Misumeninae) in North .America. Bulletin of the .American Museum of Natural History 102: 413-482.

Keyserling, E. 1880. Die Spinnen Amerikas. Laterigradae. Bauer & Raspe, Nurnberg.

Marx, G. 1892. A list of the Araneae of the District of Columbia. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington, 2: 148.

Muma, M. H. 1945. .An annotated list of the spiders of Maryland. The Llniversity of Maryland, .Agricultural Exp¬ eriment Station, College Park. Bulletin A38. 65 pp.

50

Banisteria, Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

The Columbia Union College Biological Station in Highland County, Virginia

Lester H. Harris, Jr.

Biology Department, LaSierra University 4700 Pierce Street, Riverside, CA 92515-8247

The first session of the Columbia Union College Biological Station began in June 1957. We started off in an Army surplus hospital ward tent. We had two teachers, a cook, and one student. Our sanitary facility was a nail keg supported on two 2x4 inch boards over a sizable hole in the ground which all four of us took turns digging. The high point of that first session was guessing how long the EverReady batteries of Elsa, the cook’s, flashlight would last in the bottom of the hole where she had dropped it. It shone eerily from the hole for two and a half weeks. A rival high point was finding a beautiful iridescent melanistic copperhead (Agkistrodon contortrix) on the bank of the stream behind our tent.

The Biological Station was located 2.4 km south of U.S. Route 250 at Headwaters, Highland County, Virginia. We were located in the center of a 400 ^ m segment of the George Washington National Forest (GWNF, now George Washington and Jefferson National Forest) that crosses the valley between Shaw’s Ridge to the west and Shenandoah Mountain to the east. We leased an area of ten acres of mountain meadow lying between Shaw’s Fork Creek and Shaw’s Fork Road. Hie least from the GWNF was for 99 years subject to review and renewal every 33 years. At the end of the first 33 years I was no longer head of the Biology Department. My successor was not interested enough in field biology to keep up the facility. Hie Forest Service terminated the lease, the station was demolished, and the area restored to its original condition.

An initial grant of $5,000, quickly doubled, was awarded to the project by the Columbia Union College Board of Trustees. All construction was done by students and biology staff members on weekend work bees. A ten room long ranch-style dormitory building with two double deck hunks in each room, two washroom/toilet facilities, a main dining hall/laboratory building, and two staff

houses comprised the facility. Buildings were not finished on the inside. A well was drilled to supply us with potable water. These buildings served us well during the next 20 years of my tenure there.

Cover of the 1967 announcement of courses for the Columbia Union College Biological Station.

HARRIS BIOLOGICAL STATION

51

.All biology majors ar Columbia Union College were required to take at least one field course during summer sessions at the field station. We regularly had 1240 students for each six week summer session. At times were joined by a staff member from another campus depart¬ ment to teach a degree-required course in their specialty. The chairman of our English department especially loved to come to the field station to teach and did so almost every other year. Biology courses taught at the field station included herpetology (my specialty), entomology, ornithology, mammalogy, ecology, natural history, and occasionally, genetics, all of which we made into field courses. Contents of the 1967 summer session (12 June - 3 August) are included in Appendix 1 as an example.

Our favorite field trip areas in Virginia included Reddish Knob, Elliot Knob, Jack Mountain, and Ramsey’s Draft on the east side of Shenandoah Mountain, and .Allegheny Mountain. In West Virginia, we regularly visited Spruce Knob on Cheat Mountain for the virgin red spruce ( Picea rubens) and the Cranberry Glades. It was in this spruce forest that we discovered the blue crayfish (Cambarus monongalensis). This locality connected the two known ranges, one near White Sulphur Springs and the other near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At that time, only six specimens of this species had ever been found.

During the winter, we still made regular use of the field station on weekends. At least once a month the biology science club of some 100 members would camp out at the station or one of the other campus groups, such as choral club or faculty club, would use tbe facility. At such times I would lead various hikes and other nature activities.

Field classes regularly made short-term field studies. A collection of amphibians and reptiles of 1,000 or more specimens was made over the years. It is now part of the LaSierra University Biology Department herpetological collection. An insect collection of some 100,000 specimens was also assembled, but I do not know its fate.

Our cook over the years was Ms. Ruby Rice, the college nurse. Drs John Keller, John Davidson, Anthony Futcher, and Norman Tunnell taught many summers with me at the station.

Highland County was an ideal area for a field station since the Carolinian and Hudsonian life zones overlap there. The ecological islands above the 4,000 ft level of the three major peaks in the area were like oceanic islands in their plant and animal diversity when these were compared to the lower areas.

The Columbia Pinion College Biological Station was a charter member of the Organization of Inland Biological

Stations, an organization initiated and sponsored by the Smithsonian Institution.

Appendix 1. Announcement, Columbia Union Biological Station, Headwaters, Virginia. 1967 Session.

“General Information

The staff of the Biological Station of Columbia Pinion College extends an invitation to you to enjoy a most unforgettable learning experience at our new biological field station. The Biological Station is favorably located in a mountain meadow in the Allegheny Mountains of Virginia. This area is part of the 1,544,776 acre George Washington National Forest system. It is a protected area where conservation practices are carried out by federal and state authorities. Wild turkeys and fish have been stocked in the area. Acreage has been planted in cereal grains and other grasses to provide food and cover for birds. A beautiful mountain stream runs just behind the main lodge. Birds, mammals, and w'ild flowers typical of the Alleghenies are abundant in the surrounding areas. Just over the mountain a magnificent region of virgin forest is accessible for study. Such areas are almost non-existent in the eastern FJnited States.

“Location

The Biological Station is located about two hundred miles southwest of the Columbia Pinion College campus. It may be reached by traveling west on PPS. 250 from Staunton, Virginia, thirty miles to the village of Headwaters. In Headwaters turn south on Shaw’s Fork Road two miles to the Station. When approaching from the west, travel south from Elkins, West Virginia, on U.S. 219-250, turn east on U.S. 250 where it leaves U.S. 219, proceed sixty miles from this junction to village of Headwaters, Virginia, here proceed as above to the Station.

“Accommodations

A dormitory building of ten rooms with sleeping facilities for four students in each room is provided. The rooms are equipped with bunk beds, a chest of drawers, two study tables, plain shelves, and two clothing racks. Electricity is available in all rooms. Wash rooms have hot and cold running water and shower baths. Meals are served home style in the main lodge. Well-balanced meals at reasonable rates are provided. .All students living on the campus are expected to eat their meals in the dining hall. This arrangement is an important par of the field station program since it embraces the formation of friendships among both faculty and students and serves as a center for

52

BANISTERIA

NO 8, 1996

news and important announcements. First aid supplies are always available and the College nurse is in attendance at all times. A campsite area is available for students with families who would like to live in a tent for the session. Children of married students must be tended at all times.”

Information on recreation opportunities, registration procedures, expenses (tuition, living, and fees), equipment to bring (bedding, clothing, field, supplies), general

regulations (parking, attendance, pets), field trips, and tuition credits were provided in the announcement.

Courses for the 1967 session were Materials and Methods for Teaching Nature, Genetics, Herpetology, Ornithology, and Ecology of Terrestrial Vertebrates. L. Harris taught genetics and herpetology, N. Tunnell taught Ornithology and Ecology, and other staff taught the materials and methods course.

Shorter Contributions

Banisteria, Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

PLAGIOGNATHUS REPETITUS KNIGHT, A PINE BARRENS PLANT BUG NEW TO VIRGINIA (HETEROPTERA MIRIDAE). — Plagiognuthus repetitus Knight, a small (3 mm) shining black mirid of the subfamily Phylinae, was described from Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Nova Scotia (Knight, 1923). Since the original description, only Michigan (Knight, 1941), Ontario (Judd, 1960), aitd Quebec (Tarochelle, 1984) have been added to the distribution. This plant bug develops on cranberry ( Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait., Ericaceae) in Massachusetts (Franklin, 1950), and adults have been collected from another ericaceous plant, leatherleaf ( Chamaedaphne calyculata (T.) Moench), in Ontario (Judd, 1960). Blatchley (1926) mistakenly reported this bug’s association with conifers, perhaps misreading Knight’s (1923) original description in which he listed paratypes from Conifer, N.Y. Blatchley’s state- ment apparently was responsible for the notion that the actual host plant of P. repetitus at Byron Bog in Ontario was a conifer, either larch ( Larix laricina (DuRoi) K. Koch, Pinaceae) or black spruce (Picea mariana Mill., Pinaceae) rather than leatherleaf (Judd, 1960).

In Massachusetts cranberry bogs, overwintered eggs of P. repetitus hatch in early June, and adults are found from late June or early July until late July (Franklin, 1950). Judd (1960) collected adults in southwestern Ontario from July 10 to August 18.

The first Virginia record of P. repetitus is based on a collection in the Zuni Pine Barrens on 1 June 1996. Eight

adults and two fiftlvinstar nymphs were beaten from sheep laurel ( Kalmia augustijolia L., Ericaceae). The adults are deposited in the National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D. C.

Tocated about 7.2 km south of Zuni, Isle of Wight County, the Zuni Pine Barrens represent a unique Coastal Plain community that is part of the Blackwater Ecologic Preserve, which is managed by Old Dominion Elniversity. The barrens include the northernmost population of longleaf pine (Pinits palustris Mill.) in the United States, as well as several other rare or unusual plant species. Sheep laurel is a characteristic shrub of the plant communities referred to as the longleaf pine ridge and the pond pine flat in the Zuni Pine Barrens (Frost & Musselman, 1987).

The discovery of P. repetitus in southeastern Virginia extends the known range about 375 km southward from Lakehurst, N.J. Despite this plant bug’s mainly northern distribution, which includes Nova Scotia and the Adirondacks of New York, this characteristic pine barrens species might have been expected to occur at Zuni. It develops on sheep laurel and other ericaceous shrubs in pine barrens communities in New England and Pennsylvania (AGW, unpublished data).

Acknowledgments

T. J. Henry (Systematic Entomology Tab, USDA, ARS, PSI, c/o National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C.) confirmed the identification and reviewed an early draft of the manuscript. For helpful reviews, I thank also P. H. Adler and J. C. Morse (Department of Entomology, Clemson University, Clemson, S.C).

SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS

53

Literature Cited

Blatchley, W.S. 1926. Heteroptera or True Bugs of Eastern North America. Nature Publishing Co., Indianapolis, Indiana. 1116 pp.

Franklin, H.J. 1950. Cranberry insects in Massachusetts. Parts II— VII. Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station Bulletin 445. 88 pp.

Frost, C. C., <Sc L. J. Musselman. 1987. History and vegetation of the Blackwater Ecologic Preserve. Castanea 52: 16-46.

Judd, W. W. 1960. Studies of the Byron Bog in southwestern Ontario. XI. Seasonal distribution of adult insects in the Chamadaphnetum calyculatae association. Canadian Entomologist 92: 241-251.

Knight, H. H. 1923. Family Miridae (Capsidae). Pp. 422- 658, in W. E. Britton (ed.), Guide to the Insects of Connecticut. Part IV. The Hemiptera or Sucking Insects of Connecticut. Connecticut State Geological and Natural History Survey Bulletin 34.

Knight, H. H. 1941. The plant bugs, or Miridae, of Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 22. 234

pp.

Larochelle, A. 1984. Les Punaises Terrestres (Hetero- pteres: Geocorises) du Quebec. Fabreries Supplement 3. 513 p.

A. G. Wheeler, Jr.

Department of Entomology, Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina 29634

Banisteria , Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

DELETION OF THE SPIDER THERIDION MONT ANUM FROM THE VIRGINIA FAUNAL LIST (ARANEIDAiTHERIDIIDAE). ~~ .Although many kinds of small spiders occupy enormous geographic ranges, possibly as a result of "ballooning" by juveniles, most

species are nonetheless constrained by one or more major environmental variables (chiefly climatic) and occur only in those regions that afford the necessary niche speci¬ fications. On a previous occasion (1982) I noted the implausibility of cold-adapted spiders (e. g. Araneus nordmanni (Thorell)) being indigenous to southern Fexas particularly if the record(s) came from a collection known to be replete with curatorial labeling errors. When any organism is recorded from a site that is both geo¬ graphically and ecologically disjunct from its established area, critical examination of the documentation can often rectify the problem.

In his revision of the genus Theridion, H. W. Levi (1957: 71) examined material of T. montanum Emerton from a distinctly boreal range extending from southern Alaska to Newfoundland and south through the Rocky Mountains to northcentral New Mexico. A single spot was also mapped for southwest Virginia, on the basis of a collection cited as "Virginia: Grout's Mill, Stratton, Dickensen County (J. H. Emerton)". While there is no reason that such a species could not occur far to the south along the higher Appalachians, rwo points suggested incorrect labeling: the material was collected by a New England resident not known to have done field work in Virginia, and there is neither a Grout's Mill nor a place called Stratton in Dickenson County or anywhere else in Virginia. Levi himself noted that this "...may be an erroneous record."

Recently, while reading through some old literature about American centipeds, I happened to notice that the type locality of the lithobiid Sombius parvus Chamberlin (1922: 316) was cited as "Vermont: Grout's Mill, near Mt. Stratton." Reference to several detailed maps of Vermont disclosed that the localities Mount Stratton, Stratton, and Grout's Pond are clustered in the westernmost part of Windham County, 17 miles (28 km) northeast of Bennington. Some kind of curatorial labeling error obviously occurred with the sample of T. montanum : a handwritten "VT" might have been mistaken for "VA", hut how Dickenson County became involved is not clear.

.Although this published record for montanum in Virginia is canceled, it remains entirely possible that the species could eventually be found, e.g., in the red spruce - balsam forest on Mount Mitchell, NC, above 6000 feet. Or, perhaps less likely, in the same habitat type at Mount Rogers, Virginia. Many other small arthropods are currently known in the southern Appalachians apparently disjunct from populations in the Adirondacks or White Mountains.

54

BANISTERIA

NO 8, 1996

Literature Cited

Chamberlin, Ralph V. 1922. Further studies on North American Lithobiidae. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology 57: 259-383.

Hoffman, Richard L. 1982. A note on supposed Texan localities for some species of Ararteus. Journal of Arachnology 10: 93-95.

Levi, Herbert W. 1957. The spider genera Enoplognatha, Theridion, and Paidisca in .America north of Mexico. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 112: 1-123.

Richard L. Hoffman

Virginia Museum of Natural History

Martinsville, Virginia 24112

Banisteria, Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

WINTER ACTIVITY RECORDS OF THE COMMON SNAPPING TURTLE ( CHELYDRA SERPENTINA SERPENTINA) IN VIRGINIA ~~ Winter records of reptiles in Virginia have been published on an irregular basis. Mitchell &. Kirk (1996) detailed the discovery of a frozen eastern worm snake ( Carphophis amoenus amoenus) following snow melt and heavy winter rains in January. Rainbow snakes ( Farancia erytrogramrna) are well known for being active in winter. Richmond (1945) observed one being eaten by a hawk on ice in February in New Kent County. An eastern kingsnake ( Lampropeltis getula getula ) was reported to be active in Gloucester County when snow was on the ground in December (Mitchell, 1994). On warm days in January and February, eastern painted turtles (Chrysemys picta picta) are often seen basking on logs in ponds and individuals have been caught while swimming in cold water (JCM, pers. obs.). Records of winter activity for common snapping nirtles (Che ly dr a serpentina serpentina) in Virginia have not been published. Available activity records occur in late March through October (Mitchell, 1994). Two records of winter activity (December and January) have been reported for eastern locations in North Carolina (Palmer <Sc Braswell, 1995).

On 21 January 1996 a male snapping turtle (221 mm carapace length [CL], 151 mm plastron length [PL], 2.45 kg) was discovered by a local citizen on the hank of the South River near Grottos, Rockingham County, Virginia. It was found about 3 m above the edge of the river adjacent the Grand Caverns commercial property. The turtle was seen initially on 20 January and apparently had not moved for at least 24 h. The river had flooded above this location two days earlier from the heavy rains (4.1 cm over the 19 th and 20th) and snow melt that caused extensive flooding in the Shenandoah Valley. Daytime highs were 15 and 12° C and lows were 5 and -7° C on these two days, respectively (National Climatic Data Center, 1996). The person who made the initial observation brought the turtle to The Wildlife Center of Virginia because he had noticed blood around the mouth. The oral cavity was healthy without wounds or lesions, and there was no active bleeding. No injuries or lesions were found on shell or skin of the limbs, neck, or head. Several leeches, probably Placobella sp., were attached to skin folds of the neck and legs. The turtle was released on 24 January in the South River at the original location.

Another male common snapping turtle (338 mm CL, 241 mm PL, 8.1 kg) was brought to The Wildlife Center on 16 February 1996 after it was found immobile and exposed on the ground some 18 m from Narrow Passage Creek northwest of Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Virginia. Temperatures in the three days preceding this observation averaged 3.7° C (0.56 to 8.9 highs) and -3.7° C (-7.2 to -1.1, lows). No rain fell during this period. The turtle had no apparent injuries or problems except for a well-healed L-shaped scar (47 X40 mm) on the second and third pleural scutes on the left side of the carapace. It was picked up on 19 February and released near its original location.

The first observation suggests that the snapping turtle was dislodged from its overwintering site by the flood and was apparently injured slightly during the event. The second observation has too few associated data to allow us to speculate on why it was on land in mid-February.

The effects of flooding on reptiles are not well investigated. Mitchell & Georgel (1996) described a northern water snake ( Nerodia sipedon sipedon ) that had apparently been injured in a flood event in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Severe flood events in Virginia, especially those that occur in winter, undoubtedly cause injury and mortality of numerous reptiles but go unnoticed by the scientific community. All observations of winter activity and displacement by flood events should be reported.

SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS

55

Literature Cited

Mitchell, J.C. 1994. The Reptiles of Virginia, Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC. 352 pp.

Mitchell, J.C., <Sc C.T. Georgel. 1996. Injury of a northern watersnake ( Nerodia sipedon sipedon ) in a mountain stream during severe flooding. Banisteria 7:51-52

Mitchell, J.C., & D.M. Kirk. 1996. Field notes: Carphophis amoentis amoenus. Catesbeiana 16(1): 13-14.

National Climatic Data Center (1996). Climatological data, Virginia. January and February. Volume 106, Numbers 1 <Sc 2, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, .Asheville, NC.

Palmer, W.M., & A.L. Braswell. 1995. Reptiles of North Carolina. University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, NC. 412 pp.

Richmond, N.D. 1945. The habits of the rainbow snake in Virginia. Copeia 1945:28-30.

Joseph C. Mitchell

Department of Biology and School of Continuing Studies University of Richmond Richmond, VA 23173

and

Katie Barrish

The Wildlife Center of Virginia P.O. Box 1557 Waynesboro, VA 22980.

Banisteria, Number 8, 1996

€> 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

PREDATION OF MARBLED SALAMANDER (AMBY STOMA OPACUM [GRAVENHORST]) EGGS BY THE MILLIPED UROBLANIULUS JERSEYI (CAUSEY) - Millipeds (class Diplopoda) are detritivores, feeding mainly on leaf litter and other forms of decomposing plant material. They have not hitherto been implicated in predation of amphibians or their eggs, although Schubart (1947) mentioned that a specimen of Heteropyge

araguayensis (Schubart) (family Spirostreptidae) devoured an unidentified Brasilian hylid with which it had been confined overnight. It is unknown if the frog was killed by the conditions of its confinement or by defensive allomones produced by the milliped. It is therefore of interest to record our observations of apparent predation of amphibian eggs by millipeds in Virginia.

On 7 October 1987 six adult Ambystoma opacum were found guarding their egg clusters in the Maple Flats region of the George Washington National Forest, 13 km S of Stuarts Draft, Augusta County, Virginia. Al were found under decaying logs in dry vernal ponds. The soil under the logs was moist and the salamanders were found in depressions with their eggs. In two of the nests we found several individuals of the milliped genus Uroblaniulus crawling among the eggs. Five millipeds were found in one clutch and three in another. Al eggs, attending females, and millipeds were collected for subsequent examination.

Each egg was examined closely for indications of punctures and mutilation, however, none were found. We were also unable to see actual predation in the field. The stomachs of the six females contained only one beetle larva, earthworm remains, and what appeared to be a salamander egg, but no millipeds. This suggests that Uroblaniulus jerseyi may enjoy some immunity from predation by these females. Adult marbled salamanders are predators of a variety of invertebrates (Surface, 1913; Bishop, 1941) but millipeds have not yet been reported in their diets.

Carnivory is an exceptional lifestyle among millipeds. The literature on this subject was reviewed by Hoffman <Sc Payne (1969) who documented only twelve published references while adding several observations from personal experience. Most of the known cases involve species belonging to the two related orders Julida and Spirostreptida and probably reflect only facultative carnivory. .Among Nearctic forms, several members of the endemic family Parajulidae (order Julida) were referenced by Hoffman & Payne (1969). Two are notable. Ai un¬ described genus and species from southern Georgia was found feeding in numbers on the flesh of a decomposing deer head. .An unidentifiable species of the parajulid genus Uroblaniulus was found attacking the pupa of a sawfly in central Virginia (Morris et al., 1963). Pending revision of Uroblaniulus the name U. jerseyi (Causey, 1950) may be used to designate this milliped. It seems to he the same species that was found among the salamander eggs as described above, suggesting a preferential rather than opportunistic interest in animal tissue as a food resource. It may be worthy of note that only females were found

56

BANISTERIA

NO. 8, 1996

with the sawfly pupa and salamander eggs. .Are males of this species not carnivorous? Do the imperatives of egg production have any influence on milliped feeding habits or does the apparent sex bias simply reflect some obscure parameter like collection bias?

Invertebrate predators of Ambystoma opacum eggs have not been previously documented. Thus, this paper presents the first observations of putative predation on the eggs of this species by parajulid millipeds. It also describes one of the possible predicted costs of the terrestrial-breeding strategy employed by this salamander (Jackson et al., 1989).

Acknowledgments

We thank Robert Glasgow for making a George Washington National Forest Challenge Cost Share available to JCM under which these observations were made. Manuscript support was provided in part by Con¬ tract DE-AC09-76SR00'819 between the U. S. Depart¬ ment of Energy and the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory of the Elniversity of Georgia

Literature Cited

Bishop, S.C. 1941. The salamanders of New York. New York State Museum Bulletin 324:1-365.

Hoffman, R.L., & J.A. Payne. 1969. Diplopods as carnivores. Ecology 50:1096-1098.

Jackson, M.E., D.E. Scott, <Sc R.A. Estes. 1989. Determinants of nest success in the marbled salamander ( Ambystoma opacum). Canadian Journal of Zoology 67:2277-2281.

Morris, C.L., W.J. Schoene, <Sc M.L. Bobb. 1963. A pine sawfly, Neodiprion pratti pratti (Dyar) in Virginia. Bulletin of the Virginia Division of Forestry. 42 pp.

Schubart, O. 1947. Os Diplopoda da viagem do nafuralista Antenor Leitao de Carvalho aos Rios Araguaia e Amazonas em 1939 e 1940. Boletim Museu National (Zoologia) 82:1-74, 1-75 figs.

Surface, H.A. 1913. First report on the economic features of the amphibians of Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Zoological Bulletin 3:68-152.

Joseph C. Mitchell

Department of Biology and School of Continuing Studies

Elniversity of Richmond Richmond, Virginia 23173

Kurt A. Buhlmann

Savannah River Ecology Laboratory

Drawer E

Aiken, South Carolina 29803 and

Richard L. Hoffman

Virginia Museum of Natural History

Martinsville, Virginia 24112

Banisteria, Number 8, 1996 © 1996 by the Virginia Natural History Society

THE WATER STRIDER LIMNOPORUS DISSORTIS (DRAKE & HARRIS) (GERRIDAE) ADDED TO THE HETEROPTERON FAUNA OF VIRGINIA - On 6 June 1996, Steven M. Roble (Virginia Division of Natural Heritage) collected a variety of aquatic insects at the Buck Run beaver {.Kinds, at the Locust Springs Recreation Area in extreme northwestern Highland County, Virginia. .Among the more interesting species obtained by Dr. Roble are two specimens of a water strider (Dmnoporus dissortis [Drake <Sc Harris, 1930]) which although widespread in northeastern North America has apparently not been unequivocally documented to occur south of Maryland and West Virginia. Tire species was not encountered during intensive collecting for aquatic bugs by Marvin L. Bobb (1947-1950) although he took several thousand gerrids of other s{Kcies in Virginia. In his 1974 treatment of the aquatic and semiaquatic taxa, Dr. Bobb did not list dissortis even as a possible resident of the state, as he did for species in various other families.

In Bobb’s key to the Virginia species of Gems, dissortis will identify as Gerris canaliadatus, from which, and all other local gerrids, dissortis is at once distinguished by the orange-brown dorsum, with two prominent square black spots on anterior third of the pro no rum and a narrow pale middorsal line evident at both ends of the thoracic region.

In earlier work, up to the time of Blatchley's 1926 manual of eastern Heteroptera, the species was considered to be the North American component of the widespread Palearctic species Gerris rufoscutellatus Latreille. In 1930, having compl¬ eted a careful review of the situation, Drake & Harris proposed the new name Gerris dissortis for the Nearctic population which they could distinguish from rufoscutellatus by subtle differences in structure. More recently, the

SHORTER CONTRIBUTIONS

57

taxonomy of gerrids was treated by .Andersen (1975), who sequestered both canahculatus, rufoscutellatus, dissortis, and several other fonns into a separate genus Limnoporus, a taxon previously ranked as a subgenus of Gems from which it was distinguished by Andersen on subtle differences in antennomere lengths and male genitalia. This upgrading of Limnoporus Iras been accepted by C. L. Smith, compiler of the Gerridae entry in the Henry <Sc Froeschner Catalog of North American Heteroptera (1988). In that reference, clissortis is recorded from Alberta to Newfoundland and south to Missouri, West Virginia, and Delaware.

.An old record for North Carolina - without further data (Torre'Bueno, 1913) was repeated without comment by Brimley (1938), but requires confirmation. The fact that Dr. Bobb collected hundreds of gerrids in western Virginia without finding dissortis suggests that it may be at or near the southernmost limits of its range at Locust Springs.

Existing published descriptions of the species do not give full justice to the elegant coloration. The entire dorsal surface, including the full-length hemelytra, is a light orange-brown, except for the head and two large square black pronotal spots, and a sooty black dorsolateral band on each side. Seen in ventral aspect, the entire underside appears to be the usual grayish-white of most gerrids, but when a specimen is illuminated from the proper angle the pubescence of the entire lower side of the thorax reflects a vivid metallic golden color. Tire descriptor "beautiful" is not inappropriate for this elegant insect.

The Virginia Museum of Natural History is again in the debt of E>r. Roble for his donation of this material (and thousands of other insects taken during inventory activities).

References

.Andersen, N. M. 1975. The Limnogonus and Neogerris of the

Old World with character analysis and a reclassification of the Gerrinae (Hemiptera: Gerridae). Entomologica Scandanavica (Supplementum) 7: 1-96.

Blatchley, W. S., 1926. Heteroptera or Tme Bugs of Eastern North .America. Nature Publishing Company, Indianapolis. 1116 pages.

Bobb, M. L., 1974. The aquatic and semi-aquatic Hemiptera of Virginia. The Insects of Virginia: No. 7. Research Division Bulletin, Virginia Polytechnic Institute <Sc State l diversity, Blacksburg. 87: 1-195.

Brimley, C. S. 1938. The Insects of North Carolina, being a list of the insects of North Carolina and their near relatives. North Carolina Department of Agriculture, Division of Entomology. Raleigh. 560 pages.

Drake, C. J., <Sc H. M. Harris, 1930. .A wrongly identified American water-strider. Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomol¬ ogical Society 25: 145-146.

Smith, C. L., 1988. Family Gerridae. Pp. 140-151, in: T. J. Henry & R. C. Froeschner (eds.), Catalog of the Heteroptera, or True Bugs, of Canada and the Continental United States. E. J. Brill, Leiden <Sc New York. 958 pages.

Torre-Bueno, J. R. de la, 1913. Remarks on the distribution of Heteroptera. Canadian Entomologist 45: 107-1 11.

Richard L. Hoffman

Virginia Museum of Natural History

Martinsville, Virginia 24112

Miscellanea

Book Reviews

Reptiles of North Carolina, by William M. Palmer and Alvin L. Braswell. The University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill<$c London, xiii + 412 pages. $49.95.

Some kind of evolution usually occurs in material and cultural human fabrications as well as in living organisms, and

I have been interested in the course of such things as reference books, among others. During the past half-century textbooks used in introductory college biology courses have evolved from pretty unpretentious presentations of facts, a few hundred pages in length, to near quarto-sized tomes of a thousand or more pages replete with striking graphics of every kind. The same thing is true for the genre of books in herpetology that treat the fauna of a single state (or country).

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NO 8, 1996

The "state herpetology" is by no means a new development, as such treatments go back at least a century (e.g., Carman's 1892 book for Illinois). Prior to World War I a number of states had been covered, and after a sort of lag period extending through most of the 1920s and 1930s, the tradition was revived on an impressive scale and many states enjoyed the advantage of a book on amphibians (e.g., Ohio: Walker 1946) or reptiles (Ohio: Conant, 1938), or both (Kansas: H. M. Smith 1956; Illinois: P. W. Smith 1961; .Alabama, Mount 1975, and so on). .All of these books were scientifically sound and adequately organized: introductory chapters treated history, local biotic regions, biology, collection and study; taxon accounts included diagnoses, distribution, life history notes, and spot maps. Keys were illustrated and easy to use. Each species was shown by a good black and white photograph; some in color. As appropriate for field manuals, virtually all of these books were produced in a modest page size, and bound in softcover. All such references were complete, authoritative, and useful, com¬ parable to the biology texts of the 1950s.

A major parallel evolutionary stage occurred in both categories fairly recently, with the adoption of (1) larger page size and two column formats, (2) hardcover, (3) greatly increased content, and (4) color photographs, not just of the subjects themselves but also of their habitats (= the dramatic color graphics in the biology texts). Our own local resource (Mitchell, 1994) is a good example of this homoplasic infill- ence of marketing and production values. The book is thus not only scientifically sound, but aesthetically pleasing and doesn't really cost that much more for the eye-catching extras.

Now the newest state herpetology is before me, and I think that some advanced level of maturity has been reached in any natural science when such a production is not only authoritative and comprehensive, but qualifies also as a "coffee table book". "The Reptiles of North Carolina" is a book of superlatives. Basically it follows the traditional formats and organizations, but it departs in the degree of thoroughness: the distribution maps are intensely dotted for even scarce species (another good sign of maturity, reflecting nearly a century of ongoing herpetological research in North Carolina) and in the sections on life history and biology, generalized summaries are lavishly supplemented by recitations of individual cases. The intention to be encyclopaedic is climaxed by a 100 page (!) supplement in which data on structure, function, and behavior - everything one could imagine wanting to know - are tabulated. Is this actually a form of overkill for a book of this kind? At least it seems not to have increased the price, so reasonable as to be virtually a giveaway.

Each of the 70 included species is illustrated in color, the

uniformly good photographs made from in-state specimens. I was pleased to see two photographs of North Carolina herpetologists C. S. Brimley and J. R. Bailey, both of whom I have known only through correspondence. The sequence of taxonomic treatments is strictly alphabetical from the level of family to species. This is surely convenient for the non- specialist, but a little disconcerting to anyone with some knowledge of the subject, finding such aliens as green and pine snakes inserted between the closely related natricines Nerodia and Thamnophis.

Stylistically, the type is clear and of a size appropriate for the large page format. The amount of blank paper exceeds the limits of generosity: up front there are at least six more empty pages than seem necessary. The book must have been heavily subsidized. The overall general design is excellent, with my reservation that the front cover somehow seems too garish for what comes inside. I like the guarded use of a light boldface for center and side headings, making them conspicuous without being obstrusive.

The distribution maps show county outlines only. I would have liked to see the physiographic regions indicated as well (I can never remember where the Fall Line goes south of Raleigh): only two north-south dashed lines would have outlined them adequately. In those cases in which a local species is represented in North Carolina by two or more subspecies, these taxa are accorded text ranking equal to full species, and such subspecies are represented by different symbols on distribution maps, with intergradation shown by shading. Whether or not one approves of the subspecies concept, this presentation does represent aspects of local geographic variation (even though these are discussed in the text accounts).

In fact, one major area of appeal this book may have for Virginians - even those like this reviewer w ith quite parochial interests - lies in the distribution maps. What "southern" species are recorded far enough north to possibly qualify as marginal members of the Virginia fauna? The state boundary is after all only an arbitrary line not associated with any natural barriers. A glance at the maps shows us Heterodon simus 50 miles south of the border, Rhadinaea flavilata and Seminatnx pygaea only 35 miles below False Cape, Anolis carohnensis within 'Ll miles of Virginia, and Nerodia fasciata, only 1 5 miles from Branchville! Surely some or all of these species await discovery in the Commonwealth in small local populations so far overlooked, and the recent discovery of Ophisaurm ventralis in Virginia lends credence to this possibility. The Anolis pattern is especially intriguing, as this lizard seems to occur from the seacoast at Kitty Hawk to the Blue Ridge escarpment west of Lenoir: 30 to 50 miles south of the state line all the way!

MISCELLANEA

SO

ITie Reptiles of North Carolina" has been in preparation for many years, and anxiously awaited by all who knew about this period of painstaking gestation. The analogy of fine wine and fine cheese comes to mind. The wait has been amply rewarded, and now it is perhaps justified to embark upon another vigil for a companion volume on the amphibians which can not fail to be less valuable and interesting.

A sumptuous banquet is concluded with the dessert course, and for the same reasons, I come finally to what I consider the indisputable piece de resistance of 'The Reptiles of North Carolina". Without detracting an iota from the quality and usefulness of the text, I think it is the illustrations that put this volume into a class by itself, a true scientific coffee- table book G would never take a copy into the field, and even hesitate to risk one on the laboratory work bench!) The pen and ink drawings by State Museum artist Renaldo Kuhler are in my opinion the best ever done for reptiles, not excepting the magnificent lithographs of the great 19th Century European iconographies. Most are of near-photographic accuracy, with every scale precisely indicated. Color patterns, for instance, show every nuance of shading by fine stippling, requiring literally’ thousands of individual pen movements for a single drawing. And it is not simply mechanical accuracy: even in the stylized dorsal and lateral views artist Kuhler has managed to encapsulate the species' personality: the wide-eyed sleekness of the ribbon snake (Fig. 114) and the chunky cuteness of Stcnena dekccyi (Fig. Ill) are good examples. He surely combines the creativity of a Pygmalion with the patience of Sisyphus. Time and again my eye wanders from the text and maps to dwell on the millions of tiny dots, each as precise as the silver molecules on photographic film! Buy the book for the gorgeous illustrations even if you are not interested in the subjects themselves!

The book concludes with a glossary of scientific terms, 14 pages of cited references, an index to both vernacular and scientific names, and finally, the last drawing (page 412) embodies a wisp of dry humor: the north end of a turtle headed south. A bon mot ending for a magnificent reference book.

References

Conant, R. 1938. The reptiles of Ohio. American Midland Naturalist 20: 1-200.

Garman, H. 1892. S synopsis of the reptiles and amphibians of Illinois. Illinois Laboratory of Natural History Bulletin 3(13): 215-388.

Mitchell, J. C. 1994. The reptiles of Virginia. Smithsonian Institution Press. Washington, DC. i-xv + 1-352 pp.

Mount, R. H. 1975. The reptiles and amphibians of Alabama. Agricultural Experiment Station, Auburn University, Auburn, AL. 347 pp.

Smith, H. M. 1956. Handbook of the amphibians and reptiles of Kansas. 2nd ed. University of Kansas Museum of Natural History, Miscellaneous Publication 9. 356 pp.

Smith, P. W. 1971. The amphibians and reptiles of Illinois. Illinois Natural History Survey Bulletin 28(1): 1-298.

Walker, C. F. 1946. The amphibians of Ohio. Pt. 1 The frogs and toads (order Salientia). Ohio State Museum Science Bulletin 1(3): 1-109.

Richard L. Hoffman

Virginia Museum of Natural History

Martinsville, Virginia 24112

The Insects of Virginia. No. 14 ■ Seed Bugs of Virginia (Heteroptera: Lygaeidae). Richard L. Hoffman. Virginia Museum of Natural History, Martinsville. Ill pp. 1996.

Entomologists wishing to learn the recorded distribution for a particular insect can be envious of mammalogists and ornithologists. The data available on mammals and birds often permit distributions to be determined with considerable precision and patterns to be discerned. In most insect groups, only fragmentary distributional information is generally available, except for species of great economic importance. The true bugs, or Heteroptera, belong to one of the lesser-studied groups in North .America; they have never been favored by amateurs, In contrast, knowledge of the British heteropteran fauna, though substantially less diverse than that found in North America, is much more mature. The national recording scheme for the British Heteroptera, initiated in 1983-1984, is further refining the geographic distribution of their species.

The preparation of regional faunal guides, which many present-day entomologists might consider passe, not only facilitates the identification of specimens by nonspecialists, but usually also provides information useful to specialists in the group and to ecologists. Such publications may call attention to taxonomic problems and often stimulate additional faunal study. Regional synopses of particular groups obviously are most useful if they employ reasonably thorough field collecting, involve examination of material in major collections, are based on

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accurate identifications, and use currently accepted nomenclature. In all aspects, Dr. Richard Hoffman's "Seed Bugs of Virginia," the latest in a series of contributions to that state's faunal records, qualifies as well executed.

Hoffman conducted extensive field work in Virginia and collected 52 of the 68 species reported. Other personnel of the Virginia Museum of Natural History, those affiliated with the state's Division of Natural Heritage, and several individual researchers also made valuable collections of seed bugs. Several litter inhabiting lygaeids seldom taken at blacklight or by sweeping were obtained by using pitfall traps. For additional records of Virginia Lygaeidae, Hoffman examined three collections within the state, as well as those at Cornell University, the National Museum of Natural History, and North Carolina State University; some 3,500 lygaeid specimens from Virginia were examined. Only the lygaeid diversity of Horida (105 spp.) and Connecticut (73 spp.) now exceeds that of Virginia among eastern states. Many of the 68 species represent new state records, although it is not readily apparent which are new; an asterisk placed beside the name of each species new to Virginia might have been helpful. A few of the new records considerably extend the previously known range; that for C arpilus barberi Blatchley represents a northeastward extension of over 1000 km.

Hoffman's introductory material includes comments on collecting techniques, changes in lygaeid higher classification since publication of Blatchley's (1926) manual of eastern North American Heteroptera, distribution patterns of Virginia Lygaeidae, and an overview of lygaeid biology. Under "Systematics," which occupies the major portion of this work (pp. 5-73), Hoffman notes in a section on identification that the