Studies in the dermaptera and orthoptera of the coastal plain and piedmont region of the southeastern United States
In the summers of 1911 and 1913, the present authors made extensive collections of, and field studies in, the Dermaptera and Orthoptera found in the southeastern States. About the time we were able to begin laboratory work on the first season’s collecting, other series from the same general region were placed in our hands, since which time an inereasing amount of data has become available bearing on the same subject. We feel the most advisable method of making available to workers the really great amount of distribu- tional, synonymic and variational information now in hand, to be the publication of this single large paper. The authors’ time has been given more or less regularly for a period of two years to the preparation of this paper and others made necessary by collections referred to herein.
It should be borne in mind that the present paper is not a final one, but instead a contribution based on available material, although nearly all of the species known from the regions studied are treated. In general, the geographic area covered by the collections here studied is, the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions from the Potomac River south to north-central (non-peninsular) Florida, west to the western boundary of Georgia. In addition a fair amount of material from the higher elevations in Georgia, from certain localities in central Florida and also from Maryland and other more northern States has been ineluded. Aside from the Georgia mountain region records, which are geographically very important, those from outside the main area covered by the paper have been included to place on record the extreme geographic limits of certain species, or to cite material used in the detailed discussion on the species.
In the study of certain genera here treated we have found it not only desirable, but necessary, to revise completely those groups as found within North America, in-the course of which work practically all the available collections bearing on the subjects have been examined. These revisions consumed much time and involved some travel. The collections of the United States National Museum, the Museum of Comparative Zoology and the Georgia State Collection and the private series of Mr. W. T.
Davis and Prof. A. P. Morse have furnished a great amount of important data, although the greater portion of our information has been derived from our own collections.
The genera which have required comprehensive revis- ionary study are Cariblatta, Scudderia, Amblycorypha, Neocono- cephalus, Orchelimum, Conocephalus, Atlanticus, Cycloptilum, Cryp- toptilum, Gryllus and Miogryllus. Many data have been accumulated in the course of the studies here presented, which show the necessity of revisionary work in a number of other genera, but, unfortunately, either material or time is lacking at present to consider properly or thoroughly these groups; we have, however, given summaries of such general conclusions as we have reached in these cases, the contributions being presented as abstracts of detailed. studies we have in preparation or contempla- tion, or as accumulations of important general conelusions for the use of other workers. Such contributions will be found under Nomotettix, Neotettix, Tettigidea, Pardalophora, Hippiscus, Schistocerca, Melanoplus, and the Group Anaxiphites with particular reference to Anaxipha. The total number of specimens from the area under consideration examined in the preparation of this paper is 14,402, representing 251 species and geographic races, belonging to 100 genera.
Of these species nine are here described as new, but a number of other new forms in the recently studied genera were based on material compris- ing portions of the series here recorded. In the text of this paper forty specific names and that of one genus have been placed in the synonymy, the completeness of the present material, with the conse- quent clearer appreciation of specific variation and charaeter con- stancy, making the sinking of these names necessary. No synonymy has been established without several careful checkings of the evidence. Of the specimens examined, 7,294, or about one-half, were collected by the authors, chiefly in July, August and September, 1911 and 1913. The other principal sources of material, with the number of specimens examined from each, are as follows:Collection of W. ?.
