2O ALASKA INSECTS 



The region in which our camp was pitched was extremely 

 boggy, with high mountains rising on every hand. The vege- 

 tation was varied, and there is little doubt that the locality 

 supports an extensive insect fauna. 



The party was landed at a late hour in the afternoon, but as 

 Prince William Sound is near the " land of the midnight sun," 

 the writer started out with ambitious strides to climb one of the 

 great rocky hills which rose from near sea level to an altitude 

 of about three thousand feet. The first part of the route lay 

 through a marsh brilliant with many-colored blossoms, including 

 Iris setosa, Habenaria hyperborea^ Menyanthes trifoliata^ JVe- 

 -phrvphyllidium cristagatti, Pinguictda villosa, and Pedicularis 

 versicolor. The banks of a small stream were set with thickets 

 of Rubus spectabilis and Panax horridum. The lower slopes 

 of the hillside were very steep and thickly clothed with dense 

 coniferous forest. Here and there a grassy open space glittered 

 with the yellow flowers of Sieversia calthifolia. On climbing 

 above the forest the hill became much rougher and a different 

 series of plants were encountered, the most striking being Anem- 

 one narcissiflora, Arcteranthis cooleya, and Orchis aristata. 

 Still higher upon the rocky summit occurred the characteristic 

 plants of high altitudes tiny primroses, delicate Ericaceae, and 

 diminutive Saxifragacese, while near by were great snow banks 

 rilling the depressions where the sun's rays fell with diminished 

 force. In struggling through these drifts several dead or be- 

 numbed insects were picked up from the ice. They had evi- 

 dently been blown by the wind from warmer regions and had 

 been chilled by sudden contact with the frigid air of the snow 

 fields. At the very apex of the hill was a small pond in which 

 w r ere many tiny water-beetles (ffydroporus tristis Payk.), while 

 about the margin fluttered pretty caddice-flies, determined by 

 Mr. Banks as Lininephilus ncbtilosus Kirby. Several moths 

 were also taken at this altitude, including Tit acts hypcrborea 

 sp. nov. Hulst. From the mountain top a magnificent view 

 was had of the surrounding country, notwithstanding the fact 

 that midnight was close at hand. 



The flowers of Sieversia seemed to attract numerous Diptera, 

 especially Syrphidee, and by sweeping among the patches of 



