Joseph C. Mitchell

Department of Biology

University of Richmond

Richmond, Virginia 23173

The history of herpetology in Virginia contains the contributions of numerous individuals. Some, like Emmett Reid Dunn (e.g., 1915, 1918, 1926) and Richard L. Hoffman (e.g., 1945, 1951, 1967), advanced the discipline professionally through their publications in scientific journals. Other people, interested in herpetology more as a hobby, contributed by being active in the largely amateur Virginia Herpetological Society. Franklin J. Tobey, secretary of the VHS and compiler of the first set of distribution maps (1985) exemplifies this approach. Still others who were simply interested in nature contributed through education and by writing occasional articles for magazines or newsletters. Some of these people are well known, others are not. All should be recognized.

The first of this series of historical papers describes and examines the contributions of John B. Lewis to Virginia herpetology. Papers to follow will contain biographies and unpublished observations and data that are largely unavailable.

John B. Lewis (1868-1957) was an all around naturalist. Originally from Kentucky, Lewis moved to Bowers Hill in what is now Chesapeake, Virginia in 1903. He worked as a county agent in Brunswick County from 1916 to late 1928 when he entered Cornell University. In 1930 he returned to Virginia, this time as county agent in Amelia County. In 1940, at the age of 72, he became the resident naturalist of the Seward Forest Experiment Station in Brunswick County, then owned by the University of Virginia. He retired in 1947. Ornithology and botany occupied Lewis' primary interests. He published on the birds of Amelia and Brunswick Counties (Lewis, 1938) and assisted the Harvard University botanist M. L. Fernald in collecting plant specimens from Brunswick County and vicinity (Fernald, 1945). The small, rare heartleaf Hexastylus lewisii is named after him.

Among the papers of the Seward Forest Archives (#10,026), Manuscripts Division, Special Collections Department of the University of Virginia Library are three unpublished manuscripts on the amphibians and reptiles of Virginia by J.B. Lewis. The first two, apparently written in the late 1930's, contain his observations from several locations around the state taken from about 1920 to the mid-1930's. One is on amphibians, reproduced here, and another is on reptiles. The third is an annotated list of the amphibians of Seward Forest.

Lewis' manuscript can be viewed in several ways. It is an historical document because it portrays the way a general naturalist, and not a herpetologist, viewed the herpetofauna over 50 years ago. It provides information about amphibians and reptiles in areas not well studied. Lewis' way of writing about these animals differs from that of most modern naturalists. I have reproduced this manuscript in its entirety, with only spellings corrected and current scientific names added in brackets where necessary.

"Class Amphibia

Order Caudata

Family Pleurodelidae (Salamandridae)

Newt, Triturus viridescens. [Notophthalmus viridescens]

Amelia. Very common in ponds and swamps, and in the subadult stage, in the woods away from water.

Brunswick. Same as for Amelia.

(A number of other salamanders have been seen, but no special study of them was made, and no records kept.)

Family Amphiumidae

Congo Snake. Amphiuma means.

Norfolk County. An animal known locally as mud puppy, that was common in the mud of ditch bottoms and swamps, seemed to be of this species.

Order Salientia

Family Pelobatidae

Spadefoot Toad, Scaphiopus holbrooki[i].

Amelia. One record. Just after sunset the evening of July 20, 1937, following a day of heavy, warm rain, a number of spadefoots set up a great outcry in a rain pond in an old roadway just across the present highway from our home. The place is pretty much overgrown with bushes and honeysuckle. After dark I entered this thicket with a flashlight and got a good view of two of the spadefoots as they sang. They were lying flat on top of the water, and when in singing the throat was suddenly inflated, its buoyancy threw the animal into an erect position in the water. The song is very loud and quite short in duration. Much louder and probably less than half as long as the call of the Fowler's toad. I can compare it to nothing better than to a short, strained bleat of a good sized lamb. The opening sound has the ba sound strongly marked. It seems to have a ventriloquial quality that makes it seem to be much closer to the listener than it really is. These toads were heard only the one night. Brunswick. Not heard or seen.

Elizabeth City County. While in Hampton in the spring of 1927, Prof. Turner of the Biology Department of Hampton Institute showed me specimens of spadefoots that he had collected a few days previous from rain pools on the campus following a heavy rain.

Roanoke County. In June 1935, M.G. Lewis, of Salem, sent me three living specimens of spadefoot toads that he collected from rain pools just outside the town limits. I have two of these preserved in formalin. He has heard and seen them twice since then, not at the same place, but in the same section, and always after long, heavy rains.

Family Bufonidae

American Toad. Bufo americanus.

Amelia. Fairly common. Its long continued, musical trill being heard with the first really warm nights of spring. First records are from March 14 to April 7, averaging March 18.

Brunswick. Same as for Ameila.

Fowler's Toad. Bufo [woodhousii] fowleri.

Amelia. Common. Later to appear in spring. First dates April 21 to May 9, average about May 3. Its song continues through June. The song is short and much less musical than that of the American toad. It gives the impression of being a great strain to the singer. It is double in tone.

Brunswick. Same as for Amelia.

Family Hylidae

Cricket frog. Acris gryllus. [probably = Acris crepitans]

Ameila. Locally abundant about ponds and small streams. Date of first appearance in spring averaging May 5. Is active well into November on warm days.

Swamp Tree Frog, Pseudacris feriarum.

Ameila. Abundant about ponds and in swamps. One of the first to tune up in spring, often beginning early in February.

Brunswick. Same as for Ameila.

Tree Toad, Hyla versicolor. [may be Hyla chrysoscelis]

Amelia. Fairly common. Does not appear until the weather is really warm.

Brunswick. Abundant. I have several records of these frogs congregating in noisy multitudes in swampy places on hot, sultry nights, doubtless to mate and lay their eggs. The dates recorded are as follows: May 15, 1921; May 18, 1924; July 4, 1924; August 5, 1925. [I] have not seen these camp meetings in Amelia.

"Pull-Blanket" Frog, Hyla cinerea.

Norfolk County. These frogs are very common in the fresh water marshes along the head waters of Western Branch of the Elizabeth River, and about pools in the Dismal Swamp. The common name given is one used by the negroes of that section, and is an imitation of the odd, nasal, three syllable call that is constantly heard in spring. These frogs may have been of the subspecies evittata, as a specimen sent to me from Charles County, Maryland, May 21, 1921, was of that subspecies.

Spring Peeper, Hyla crucifer. [Pseudacris crucifer]

Amelia. Abundant. Our noisiest frog. Appears in spring a little later than Pseudacris. First dates are from February 27 to March 12.

Brunswick. Same as for Amelia.

Family Ranidae

Bull Frog, Rana catesbeiana.

Ameila. Fairly common about large ponds and swamps, but in danger of extermination by hunters. The night of May 25, 1930 there was a great concentration of them at an old ice pond a half mile west of Ameila village. At times their bellowing became a deep roar that would continue for a full minute, then die away somewhat, only to rise to full fortissimo.

Brunswick. Common about the larger ponds up to 1928.

Green Frog, Rana clamitans.

Amelia. Locally fairly common about ponds and swamps. Begins singing late and keeps it up until midsummer. First heard about May 4, average.

Brunswick. Same as for Ameila.

Leopard Frog, Rana pipiens. [Rana utricularia]

Amelia. Not common. Congregates about ponds in very early spring, where its low, guttural croaking may be heard.

Brunswick. Same as for Amelia.

Wood Frog, Rana sylvaticus.

Rockbridge County. One caught near the top of House Mountain, in early August, 1922."

Discussion

Several species in Lewis' article are noted for the first time as occurring in four Virginia localities. These are Scaphiopus holbrookii in Amelia County, Roanoke County, and the City of Hampton and Notopthalmus viridescens and Pseudacris feriarum in Brunswick County (Tobey, 1985; Mitchell and Pague, in prep.). The listing of Pseudacris crucifer for Brunswick County provides a second literature record for this area (Bazuin, 1983). Most of Lewis' observations in Amelia County were at his residence; its location is currently unknown. Those in Brunswick County were made east of Triplett, the site of the now defunct Seward Forest Experiment Station.

It is interesting to note that Lewis observed an apparent decline in bullfrog populations over the decade or so centered around the 1930's. To him the obvious cause was the overcollecting for consumption. Such observations foretell of similar concerns echoed today. However, additional factors, such as loss of nontidal wetlands, may have contributed to the apparent declines of the seventies and eighties.

His observations on the natural history of each species are accurate and add previously unknown information on breeding and calling dates for anurans in the southern Virginia Piedmont. This is an area where such data are often lacking. The Seward Forest collections, including Lewis' specimens, were donated to VPI&SU in Blacksburg, Virginia around 1970 and are now in the American Museum of Natural History.

Lewis' classification and scientific names were taken from the 13th edition of David Starr Jordan's Manual of the Vertebrate Animals (Jordan, 1929). This was the first "field guide" available to many naturalists from the late 1800's to about 1930. It covered all vertebrate groups and provided keys and identification features for all known species in the northeastern quarter of the United States, including Virginia. Thirteen editions were published from 1876 to 1929. Based on information about his early interest in natural history (Mitchell, unpublished), Lewis had apparently used several of them throughout his adult life.

Despite several taxonomic changes that have occurred since he wrote this manuscript, the species Lewis observed were identified accurately. His natural history observations in the southern Piedmont are especially useful. Thus, Lewis' paper is a valuable addition to the herpetological literature of Virginia.

Acknowledgments

I thank Christina Bolgiano for introducing me to the University of Virginia Archives. Permission to reproduce Lewis' manuscript was provided by the Curator of Manuscripts/University Archivist of the Alderman Library. Kurt A. Buhlmann commented on the manuscript.

Literature Cited

Bazuin, J. B. 1983. Reptile and amphibians records from the Virginia Piedmont -- 1975 to 1981. Catesbeiana 3:3-6.

Dunn, E. R. 1915. List of amphibians and reptiles observed in the summers of 1912, 1913, and 1914 in Nelson County, Virginia. Copeia (18):5-7.

. 1918. A preliminary list of the reptiles and amphibians of Virginia. Copeia (53):16-27.

_____. 1926. The Salamanders of the Family Plethodontidae. Smith College 50th Anniversary Publ., Northhampton, MA. 446 pp.

Hoffman, R. L. 1945. Notes on the herpetological fauna of Alleghany County, Virginia. Herpetologica 2:199-205.

_____. 1951. A new subspecies of salamander from Virginia. J. Elisha Mitchell Sci. Soc. 67:249-253.

_____. 1967. Distributional records for three species of Plethodon in Virginia. Radford Review 21:201-214.

Jordan, D. S. 1929. A Manual of the Vertebrate Animals of the Northern United States Inclusive of Marine Species. 13th Edition, Yonkers on the Hudson, World Book Co., New York.

Fernald, M. L. 1945. Botanical specialties of the Seward Forest and adjacent areas of southeastern Virginia. Rhodora 67:1-98.

Lewis, J. B. 1938. Annotated list of birds observed in Amelia and Brunswick Counties. The Raven 9(9):66-84.

Tobey, F. J. 1985. Virginia's Amphibians and Reptiles, A Distributional Survey. Privately Published, Virginia Herpetol. Soc., Purcellville, VA. 114 pp.