The Insects of the "Danmark" Expedition. 



53 



will, can be seen also by observing the insects when they come to 

 a large snow-covered patch ; they will not fly over this but prefer 

 to make the detour round it. The same plienomen of the dead 

 insects is also common on the sea-ice, where we find them lying 

 scattered right from the beach to far out. 



Late al night we return to the ship. The sun is now in the 

 north but yields little warmth, yet most of the insects are still active. 

 The Bombus workers continue unweariedly their search for honey 

 and pollen, but of the flies we now see but little; this applies also 

 to the gnats, especially the large forms; swarms of the small gnats 



Fig. 5. Summit of a hill at tiie Hari)üui-. Aiiijust. 



on the other hand still hang over the pools and brooks. Tipiila 

 arctica tricks us just as in the day-time, and of Ihe butterflies 

 the night-swarms are most in evidence. All the insects are abroad, 

 however, even if some of the species are less active than during the 

 day. And now the sun begins to warm to a new day; the transition 

 period from the previous is very short, and gradually as the sun 

 comes further and further round to the east, the insect life becomes 

 more active. Our excursion is at an end. 



Towards the middle of August the summer already begins to 

 wane. The large Tipula arctica imagines are no longer seen, the 

 swarms of gnats are now obviously decreasing and the other insects 

 are not nearly so numerous as before. At night the frost begins to 

 be felt towards the end of the month and the insect life is rapidly 



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