Department of Zoology 



Research and Expeditions 



Each of our zoologists was in the field in some part of the world for 

 new material and experience to further his studies or had a collector 

 afield getting specialized material for him. This work was carried 

 on in the United States, Canada, Panama, the western Atlantic off 

 the West Indies, Colombia, Egypt, Belgian Congo, Nepal, Malaya, 

 and the Philippine Islands. All but the Colombia work was by 

 staff personnel. 



Panama. Curator Alan Solem and Associate Curator Henry S. 

 Dybas spent three months (January through March) in Panama 

 and the Canal Zone studying the fauna of the forest floor (see 

 page 36). Nearly a month was spent in the nature preserve on 

 Barro Colorado Island in the canal, then a month in the lowland 

 forest of the Pacific coast, and finally a month in the mountain 

 forest of the Chiriqui highlands near the Costa Rica border. 

 Curator Solem obtained thousands of mollusks together with an 

 extensive series of photographs of organisms in their native habitat. 

 Associate Curator Dybas investigated the minute feather-wing 

 beetles (Ptiliidae) and the ant-guest beetles of the family Limu- 

 lodidae, whose taxonomy and biology are his special interest. To 

 facilitate study a battery of sixteen portable insect-funnels (berlese- 

 type), made especially for the trip, was used to sieve out minute 

 insects and other animals from the forest floor. Incomplete sort- 

 ing of the collection indicates an extensive fauna of minute insects 

 that is still almost completely unknown. 



Colombia. Kjell von Sneidern (now of Cali, Colombia) col- 

 lected birds and mammals in the northeastern part of Colombia 

 in the Arauca area where no previous systematic collecting had 

 been done (see page 36). Although the collections were made 

 early in the year we have not yet received the material. 



United States and Canada. Curator Rupert L. Wenzel, 

 accompanied by his son, spent six weeks (June and July) along 

 the eastern, northern, and western edges of the Great Plains from 

 southern Canada to Colorado (see page 36) . First-hand knowledge 

 of local conditions and their effects on insect distribution is essen- 

 tial in interpreting problems in his current studies of histerid beetles. 

 Curator Emeritus Fritz Haas made his headquarters at Highlands 

 (North Carolina) Biological Station while he was studying the 

 mollusks of the Great Smoky Mountains (see page 36). 



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