COLLECTING FLIES IN THE GASPfi PENINSULA OF 



EASTERN QUEBEC 



By J. M. ALDRICH 

 Associate Curator, Division of Insects, U. S. National Museum 



That portion of eastern Quebec lying south of the St. Lawrence 

 River is included in the so-called Gaspe Peninsula. This region has 

 several features of interest to the student of geographic distribution. 

 For one thing it represents the extreme northeast end of the Ap- 

 palachian Mountain system, which terminates, as far as the main 

 land is concerned, at Cape Gaspe, although the mountains of New- 

 foundland are considered to belong to the same system. 



A second feature of interest is that this region is separated by a 

 comparatively narrow body of salt water (the Lower St. Lawrence) 

 from Labrador. The latter region includes many plants and insects 

 of the northern circumpolar region, in other words, species occurring 

 in Northern Europe and Asia as well as in North America. I was 

 interested in endeavoring to learn whether any of the characteristic 

 northern flies of Labrador could be found on the south side of the 

 St. Lawrence. 



About three years ago a graveled automobile road was completed 

 around the entire outer edge of the Gaspe Peninsula with a connecting 

 link from St. Flavie across the base of the peninsula, forming a loop 

 about 525 miles in length. It has therefore become possible quite re- 

 cently to explore the peninsula by automobile and this was the pur- 

 pose of my trip carried out in July, 193 1. 



Leaving Washington on the first day of the month, accompanied by 

 my wife, we drove through New England and New Brunswick to 

 Shippigan, a fishing town at the northeast point of the province of 

 New Brunswick. Here we turned west and followed the south shore 

 of Bay de Chaleur to its head at Metapedia, where we entered the 

 province of Quebec. Turning eastward we followed the automobile 

 road close to the seashore to the eastern extremity of the province 

 at the town of Gaspe, and after a few days continued west along the 

 north side of the peninsula, returning to Washington via the cities of 

 Quebec and Montreal. 



The Peninsula is almost entirely without settlement in its interior, 

 the population living in a very narrow strip along the seashore all the 

 way around the margin. A railroad extends along the south side to 



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