Napaeozapus insignis

5. Woodland Jumping Mouse Napaeozapus insignis French: Zapode des bois / German: \Waldhipfmaus / Spanish: Raton saltador de bosque Taxonomy. Zapus insignis G. S. Miller, 1891, Restigouche River, New Brunswick, Canada. The earliest record of Napaeozapus is from the mid-Pleistocene at Cumberland Cave, Maryland. During the furthest advance of the Wisconsin glaciation, ¢.22,000 years ago, present distribution of Napaeozapus was under ice except for areas south of northern Pennsylvania, USA. During the post-glacial period, suitable habitat for Napaeozapus occurred from Connecticut to West Virginia and Ohio, and south to northern Georgia. Napaeozapus has been found at fourlate Pleistocene sites: Bedford Co. and Bootlegger Sink, York Co., Pennsylvania; Natural Chimneys, Augusta Co., Virgina; and Robinson Cave, north-central Tennessee. The primitive zapodine stage of Megasminthus occurred by the Miocene. Most subspecies of Napaeozapus are described based on morphology alone and should probably be synonymized. Five subspecies recognized. Subspecies and Distribution. N.i.insignisG.S.Miller,1891—ECanada(fromNewBrunswick,PrinceEdwardIsland,andNovaScotia,SWthroughoutE&SQuebectoSEOntario)andSthroughNEUSAtoNE&CPennsylvania,NNewJersey,andEWestVirginia. N.i.abietorumPreble,1899—SECanada(SCOntarioandC&SWQuebec). N.i.frutectanusH.H.T.Jackson,1919—SCCanada(extremeSEManitobaandextremeSWOntario)andNCUSA(NMinnesota,NWisconsin,andNMichigan). N.i.roanensisPreble,1899—EUSA(EOhio,WPennsylvania,NE,S&WCWestVirginia,CVirginia,extremeSEKentucky,andalongtheSouthCarolina—NorthCarolinaborder,toextremeNGeorgiaandNWSouthCarolina). N. i. saguenayensis R. M. Anderson, 1942 — E & SE Canada (from Hamilton Inlet, Labrador, to the Strait of Belle Isle and SW along the N shore of the Saint Lawrence River to Lac Saint-Jean in S Quebec). Descriptive notes. Head-body 89-98 mm, tail 115-160 mm, hindfoot 28-34 mm; weight 17-26 g. Tail, hindlegs, and hindfeet of Woodland Jumping Mice are characteristically elongated. Front feet are small. It is brightly colored compared with other zapodids. Fur is light brown, with distinctive yellow or reddish tint and dark guard hairs scattered throughout. Dark brown dorsal band runs from forehead to rump. Underparts are white. Tail is very long, dark above and white on underside, and it has white tip. Females are slightly larger than males. Four pairs of teats are present: one pectoral, two abdominal, and one inguinal. Incisors are yellow or orange with deep grooves on front of upper incisors. Zygoma has jugal plates extending dorsally along maxillary ramus and articulating with lachrymal bone. Infraorbital is large and oval. Nasal bones project considerably beyond incisors. In contrast with species of Zapus, there are three molars, and premolars are absent. Molars are rooted and flat-crowned and exhibit complicated pattern of re-entrant folds, islands, and valleys. Dental formulaisI1l/1,C0/0,PM0/0,M 3/3 (x2) = 16. Habitat. Cool moist environments, almost always in wooded areas. Species of Zapus primarily occur in grasslands but can inhabit woods with adequate ground cover, particularly where Woodland Jumping Mice do not occur. Woodland Jumping Mice generally inhabit spruce-fir (Picea-Abies), hemlock (7suga, all Pinaceae), and hardwood forests of the north-eastern USA and south-eastern Canada. They also live in bogs and sphagnum swamps. At Pinkham Notch, Carroll Co., New Hampshire, they attain greatest densities in grass (Poaceae), sedge (Cyperaceae), and alder (Alnus, Betulaceae) lined borders of small streams where sand, gravel, and forest duff make it easy to construct burrows. Spruce-fir associations are common in the north and at higher elevations, whereas hemlock forests are more common in southern parts ofits distribution. Along with hemlock, northern hardwood forests are mainly of white pine (Pinus strobus, Pinaceae), beech (Fagus, Fagaceae), yellow birch (Betula allenghaniensis, Betulaceae), basswood (Tilia americana, Tiliaceae), and various species of maple (Acer, Sapindaceae). Further south, basswood, buckeye (Aesculus, Sapindaceae), tulip (Liriodendron), magnolia (Magnolia, both Magnoliaceae), and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia, Ericaceae) are often found. Particular species oftree is not important, but adequate ground coveris typically a determining factor. Jumping mice often occur along water, but not because of the wateritself, but usually because of adequate ground cover present in those areas. In north-western New York, Woodland Jumping Mice are most commonly found in moist dense woods, usually in conifers (spruce, fir, and hemlock) or in deciduous woods. Five of 74 individuals there were found in open situations near woods, but Woodland Jumping Mice and species of Zapus were often found together in woods. J. O. Whitaker, Jr. in 1963 used a stratified random trapping scheme via a random numbers table to study MeadowJumping Mice (Zapus hudsonius) in the Ithaca East Quadrangle, Tompkins Co., New York. Seventy-six 100 x 25 m plots were trapped, and 26 Woodland Jumping Mice were captured. All but three were captured in woods, swamp, or wet woods. Two were captured in brush, and one was taken in a field. Sixteen occurred in areas with good ground cover, only one in an area with fair cover, but six were captured in rocky wooded banks with many burrows. The individual taken in the field was ¢.40 m from woods and probably came from there, as indicated by the food in its stomach. There was no significant relationship between occurrence of mice and distance to water. Fifty-one Woodland Jumping Mice were captured elsewhere, and of those, one was in dry open woods, four were on woody stony banks, eight were in wet open woods, and the remaining 38 were in open woods with abundant ground COVET. Food and Feeding. The most abundant food (33-3% by volume) found in 103 Woodland Jumping Mice from New York was a subterranean fungus (Endogonaceae), also reported to be eaten in North Carolina, Tennessee, and New Hampshire. Spores of Elaphomyces, Hymenogaster, and Melanogaster were also found. Some have questioned if fungi might have been eaten incidentally along with other foods. That does not seem to be the case because some stomachs contained 100% fungi. Spores on the chest of some mice indicate that they probably find fungi using olfaction and then dig it up. Other important food items in New York were unidentified seeds, caterpillars, beetles, touch-me-not (Mimosa, Fabaceae), and other seeds, fruits, and invertebrates. Stomachs from 18 mice collected in the earlier part of the century by the US Biological Survey contained 33-9% by volume miscellaneous vegetation, 33-5% Endogonaceae, 10-3% strawberry, 5-3%, unidentified animal material, 5-2% beetle, and 0-8% moths. Known predators include skunks (Mephitidae), weasels (Mustela), American Mink (Neovison vison), Bobcats (Lynx rufus), domestic cat, screech owls (Megascops), timber rattlesnakes (Crotalus horridus), and copperheads (Agkistrodon contortrix). Several internal parasites have been observed in the Woodland Jumping Mouse. Protozoans of the genus Hexamita are often observed in Zapus and were found in two cecal smears examined from Woodland Jumping Mice. Cestodes (tapeworms) known to occur are Hymenolepis bennetti and Cladotaenia globifera. Nematodes (roundworms) include Rictularia sp. and Citellinoides zapodis. Mites, other than chiggers, include Glycyphagidae: Glycyphagus hypudaer, G. newyorkensis, and G. zapus; Laelapidae: Androlaelaps fahrenholz, Echinonyssus isabellinus, Eulaelaps stabularis, Haemogamasus alaskensis, Laelalps kochi, and Listrophorus mexicanus; Macronyssidae: Ornithonyssus bacoti; Myobiidae: Protomyobia brevisetosa and Radfordia ewingi; Myocoptidae: Gliricoptes glirinus, and Pygmephoridae: Pygmephorus horridus and P. mahunkai. Chiggers that have been found include Euschoengastia diversa, E. peromysci, E. rubra, E. setosa, Eutrombicula alfreddugest, Leptotrombidum peromysci, Miyatrombicula esoensis, Neotrombicula harper, N. microti, N. richmondi, and N. whartona. Ticks include Dermacentor variabilis and Ixodes muris. Botflies include Cuterebra sp. and C. fontinella. Fleas include Ctenocephalides pseudagyrtes, Corrodopsylla curvata, Epitedia sp., Megabothris asio, M. quirini, Orchopeas leucopus, Peromyscopsylla catatina, and Stenoponia americana. One individual louse, Neohaematopinus sp., has been reported. Breeding. Woodland Jumping Mice breed in May-August. Females mate and have young soon after emergence from hibernation in late May and June. Earliest breeding records found in the central part of the distribution were 8-9 May, with embryos only 1-2 mm long. Most births occur in June because more females are pregnant or show signs of having young than at any other time. Nevertheless, not all females reproduce in May-June, and most that do not are probably individuals born late in the previous year. Reproduction occurs at a low rate during a second breeding peak in July. Many females captured in August show evidence of already having had one litter. It is clear that many females produce two litters per year, but three litters in one year would be unusual. Very few,if any, bear young in the year of their birth. Eighty litters examined by R. E. Wrigley in 1972 averaged 4-6 embryos (range 2-7), 45 placental scar counts averaged 4-3 (range 2-7), and litter size was 1-8 young. Gestation is c.18 days but is 2-3 days longer if a female is lactating when mating occurs. There is only one litter per year in Nova Scotia. Early dates on which firstjuveniles were caught in Nova Scotia were 27 July, 6 August, 16 August, and 23 August. In a five-year study carried out by P. F. Connor in 1966 in north-western New York, the earliest reproductive female was captured on 26 May, but she had already had one litter. At Pinkham Notch, New Hampshire, breeding season extended from late May to August. Woodland Jumping Mice nest in underground burrows or brush, or underfall

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