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2 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Part I 



Lepidoptera were collected when the opportunity offered. The 

 number of such species perhaps totals in the neighborhood of one 

 hundred. In addition a few general observations on the abundance 

 and distribution of other orders of insects in the various ecological 

 regions and at different altitudes were made and will be referred 

 to below. 



The region is forested except at the higher altitudes and on wind- 

 swept mountain sides, with a rather dense growth of coniferous 

 trees. Some of the steeper rocky slopes are comparatively treeless, 

 with a scanty herbaceous vegetation of many species, with scattered 

 spruce and pine. In addition to these, there are two other types of 

 comparatively treeless areas, which furnished the best collecting 

 grounds, both as to species and numbers of individuals. One of 

 these is the open dry rocky meadow, which supports a great variety 

 of herbaceous plants and which yielded the greatest number of 

 Microlepidoptera. The other is a moister meadow, with taller, 

 more luxuriant vegetation. 



The coniferous forest proved to be the poorest collecting ground 

 in the park. This was especially true where the predominant under- 

 growth was the Indian basket grass; here practically nothing was 

 secured. Where the undergrowth was of a more varied character, 

 particularly near the margins of streams, a greater number of spe- 

 cies was found. The Geometridae led in numbers here. 



The rather open steep rocky slopes and cliff's, of which the sides 

 of Goat Mountain above St. Mary Lake are an example, yielded 

 some species which were not found elsewhere. Collecting here was 

 only successful early in the morning, at sunrise just as the sun strikes 

 the rocks, or in the late afternoon. 



The moister meadow referred to above may be found in forest 

 openings, on the moister mountain slopes, or in the more sheltered 

 valleys, such as the valley of Canyon Creek or the upper part of 

 Swiftcurrent Valley. The most conspicuous herbaceous plants of 

 these meadows in July are the cow parsnip, Heracleum lanatum, and 

 the false forget-me-not, Lappula florihunda. Shrubs abound and 

 a dense growth of alders occurs where the water supply is plentiful 

 enough. Such localities proved to be prolific collecting grounds. 

 In the Microlepidoptera the most abundant and characteristic spe- 

 cies here was Choreutis occidentella Dyar. Simaethis fahriciana var. 

 alpinella Busck, several species of Incurvariidae flying in sunshine, 

 and Pterophoridae were usually present in considerable numbers. 

 Butterflies in limited numbers were seen also. Toward the end of 



