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Insects from the Summit of Mauna Kea. 
BGG Ee pv aU. eye 
(Presented at the meeting of October 5, 1922.) 
Several reports have been made on the insect life at higher 
elevations on Mauna Loa. On September 7, 1916, William H. 
Meinecke exhibited specimens collected by him in Mokuaweoweo 
crater (Proc. Haw. Ent. Soc., III, p. 285). December 14, 1916, 
William A. Bryan exhibited a similar series, which he had cap- 
tured on the summit the previous August (id., III, p. 295). 
As long ago as 1897, Dr. H. B. Guppy, writing in the Pacific 
Commercial Advertiser on “The Summit of Mauna Loa” (see 
review in Nature, Vol. LVII, p. 21, November 4, 1897), speaks 
of the insect life on the summit as follows: 
“Curiously enough, insects of various descriptions are com- 
mon on the summit. One species of butterfly common at the 
coast is not at all infrequent. The butterflies were more often 
to be found dead than alive, and those flying about were in a 
half-drowsy condition and easily caught. There were flies of 
different kinds, the house-fly and the blue-bottle fly proving a 
great nuisance. Besides these there were moths, bees, gnats, 
and an occasional dead dragon-fly ; while bugs and other insects 
were collected as they fed upon the bodies of dead butterflies. 
These insects were more common when the wind was southerly, 
and no doubt they had been brought up to this absolutely sterile 
region by the wind. Evidently most if not all of the butterflies 
and moths soon die, and probably the other insects, too. The 
whole matter is, however, very suggestive, and shows how 
readily insects (even the parasitic bug) may find their way into 
the upper air currents.” 
Mr. William H. Meinecke ascended to the summit of Mauna 
Kea, July 25, 1922, where he secured specimens of the follow- 
ing species: Lepidoptera: Pontia rapae (Linn.), the cabbage 
butterfly; Diptera: Chaetogaedia monticola Bigot, and Fron- 
tina archippivora Williston; Hymenoptera: Amblyteles koebelei 
(Swezey), Echthromorpha fusco-orbitalis Cam., Bassus laeta- 
torius (Fabr.), and Limnerium blackburni Cam. 

Proe. Haw. Ent. Soe., V, No. 2, September, 1923. 
