HUNTING FLIES IN THE WEST 



By J. M. ALDRICH 

 Associate Curator, Diz'isiou of Insects, U. S. National Museum 



Every year witnesses the discovery and publication of numerous 

 new species of flies from the United States, especially from the region 

 west of the Rockies. It was to keep up with the march of discovery 

 and obtain some of the as yet unknown new species that I spent nearly 

 10 weeks on a western trip in 1932, from June 4 to August 13. 



There are so many possibilities in a trip of this kind that one can 

 only string together those collecting grounds within reach of a round- 

 trip railroad ticket, unless he goes in his own automobile. It was de- 

 cided that more ground could be covered in the time permitted by 

 using the railroad, as the San Diego region, entirely off the path of 

 my usual trips, seemed important enough to be included, and this 

 lengthened the journey materially. 



The first stop for collecting was made in eastern South Dakota. I 

 had collected here in 1888 to 1892, and had found some species so rare 

 that they have not been rediscovered since. I hoped I might have the 

 good fortune to collect a few of them or at least might find them in 

 the collections of the State College, which have grown greatly in 

 recent years. In this hope I was disappointed, but I collected a fair 

 number of insects of value to the National Museum. The next stop, 

 a brief one, was at Spokane, including a side trip to Coeur d'Alene 

 Lake, in Idaho. Then for a few days I made my headquarters at 

 Clarkston, Wash., and Moscow, Idaho, while making automobile trips 

 over a considerable radius — to southern Asotin County, Wash., in one 

 direction, and Clarkia, Idaho, in the white pine country, in the other. 



Mount Hood, Oreg., was the next stop. Cloud Cap Inn, at 6,000 

 feet, the terminus of an excellent auto road from the city of Hood 

 River, was visited, but proved too high and cold for the early part of 

 the season. Coming back to Homestead Inn, at 4,000 feet, I remained 

 and collected with success for a few days. I was indebted to the Hood 

 River entomologist, Leroy Childs, for transportation, and when I was 

 ready to move on, he took me to Mount Hood Meadows, on the east 

 side of the mountain. Here again the altitude was too high for the 

 time of year, although a few good things were obtained. A few hours 

 at the shore of the Columbia River gave some interesting comparisons 

 with the insects obtained in the higher altitudes. Continuing to Port- 



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