Insect Life on the Western Arctic Coast of Amtrica 5k 
various insect larvae (diptera, especially tipulids, and coleoptera) and more 
secretive living insects (elaterid and carabid beetles Elaphrus riparius, Amara 
hrunnipennis, Pterosticus vindicatus, P. similis, Peophila eschscholzii, Bembidium 
complanulum, small homoptera, etc.). The finding of myriapods is interesting, 
because it is the most northern record so far of this order on the American 
continent. On the tundra itself an occasional hairy lepidopterous larva may 
be seen, and tiny mites, spiders {Micranecta crassimana, Tmeticus brunneus 
and hemiptera ; or a phryganeoid (Anabolia marginata) resting its frail body 
on a grass-leaf. Curculionid beetles are also at work as larvse or adults, and a 
great number of flies are seen, among which the caribou bot-fly, Oedemagena 
(Hypoderma) tarandi, is perhaps the most interesting, owing to its bumblebee-hke 
appearance and life history. Various species of bumblebees (Bombuskirbyellus, 
B. polaris, B. sylvicola, B. pleuralis, B. lucorum, B. frigidus) are all attracted 
to Epilobium spicatum and other flowering plants {Iris. Aconitum, Delphin- 
ium, Leguminosse, Campanula, Pedicularis, etc.), when the male willow catkins 
have fallen off. The plant which attracts most of the insects at Nome is, how- 
ever, the imposing Heracleum lanatum, which in protected places is more than 
six feet high and spreads its enormous, sweet-scented cymes towards the sun. 
On its flowers a number of different flies collect, the tipulid, Dicranomyia alas- 
caensis, a phrj^ganeoid (Limnephelus sp.), Vespa marginata, and the big green 
saw-fly, Rhodogaster religua; also various ichneumonids, butterflies, and moths 
as Eurymus palaeno chippewa Edw., Eucosm,a sp., and other microlepidoptera. 
Few butterflies arc seen at the end of August, but an easily scared geometrid 
moth (Lygris destinata L.) is very common at that time. Swarms of mosquitoes 
(Aedes sp.) make themselves felt rather forcibly in the shelter of the gully- 
banks or over the various ponds and pools on warm, quiet days. The shrubby wil- 
lows harbour a variety of insects. Mites and saw-flies make galls in the leaves, 
or the latter are fastened together by a small lepidopterous larva, Avhich 
skeletonizes the sides of the leaves thus turned inwards. Lithecolletis (?) larvse 
mining in the leaves of Petasites, Artemisia, Saxifraga, etc., were also observed, 
and a spider with its web between plant leaves, spinning some of these together 
as a breeding chamber, where the eggs and recently emerged young may be 
found at the end of August. 
On the tall willow-bushes in the gullies inland the leaf-eating or gall-forming 
sawfly larvse (sometimes infected with chalcid parasites) are found. A grey, 
ball-shaped nest of Vespa marginata is occasionally suspended from the lower 
branches or trunks of these small trees, and partly hidden by the foliage or 
vegetation, but may be obtained with less risk from the inside of old tin cans 
or boxes which may be lying around. 
Vegetation and insect life in the hills back of the coastal tundra are scantier 
than on the lowland. Apart from flies and mosquitoes, everywhere present, 
the most characteristic insect is the bumblebee, but spiders, mites, coUembola, 
small beetles, moths, and craneflies are also found. 
Various small arthropods are also found under driftwood and other washed 
up material on the beach. 
The wingless parasites (mallophaga, fleas and hce) on birds, mammal, and 
human beings, and the foreign insects introduced by whites during the last 
two decades complete the insect-life in this region. 
FROM BERING STRAIT TO POINT BARROW, ALASKA 
Little is known of the insects in this region, and no collections were made 
by the Canadian Arctic Expedition. 
The flora and insect-fauna of this region seem to have the same general 
character as that east of Point Barrow, except perhaps the inner part of Kotzebue 
sound, where the flora is said to be unusually luxuriant, and the insect life cor- 
respondingly richer. 
