2 ALASKA INSECTS 



Recognizing the fact that almost nothing was known con- 

 cerning the insect fauna of Alaska outside of the orders Cole- 

 optera and Lepidoptera, a special effort was made to secure 

 representatives of those groups which, from the small size or 

 obscure habits of their members, had not hitherto been collected 

 in the Territory. This endeavor was so successful that the result- 

 ing collection contains by far the most extensive general series 

 of insects ever brought from the region. It will enable ento- 

 mologists to form an idea of the rich field that awaits them in 

 this vast northern possession of the United States. 



The collection embraced in all more than 5 ,500 pinned insects, 

 together with a considerable series of Arachnida, Myriapoda, 

 and larval forms preserved in alcohol, making a total of about 

 8,000 specimens. With this material was combined, after the re- 

 turn of the Expedition, a small series of Alaska insects collected 

 by the writer while with the Fur Seal Commission in 1897, and 

 a few specimens derived from other sources which happened to 

 be present in the collections of the U. S. National Museum. 



The collections were made between the first of June and the 

 first of August, 1899. Except a small number of specimens 

 obtained in British Columbia, all of the material was collected 

 in Alaska. Most of the stops were made going northward and 

 westward, a few on the return journey. Collections were made 

 at the following localities, which for convenience are arranged 

 in geographical sequence, with date of visit : Lowe Inlet, June 

 3 ; Fox Point, July 26-27 ; Metlakatla, June 4 ; Farragut Bay, 

 June 5 ; Taku Inlet, June 56 ; Juneau, June 68 and July 

 25 ; Muir Inlet, June 8-12 ; Sitka, June 14-17 ; Yakutat Bay, 

 June 18-23 ; Virgin Bay, Prince William Sound, June 25-26 ; 

 Orca, Prince William Sound, June 27 ; Seldovia, Kenai Penin- 

 sula, July 21 ; Kukak Bay, Alaska Peninsula, June 3O-July 5 ; 

 Kadiak, July 20; Popof Island, July 7-18. 



Upon the return of the Expedition the collections were care- 

 fully labeled and the specimens assorted into groups, after 

 which they were transmitted to Dr. L. O. Howard, Chief of the 

 Division of Entomology of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 and Honorary Curator of Insects in the U. S. National 

 Museum, for distribution to specialists for study and report. 



