﻿REPORT 
  OF 
  THE 
  SECRETARY. 
  11 
  

  

  State 
  of 
  Washington 
  and 
  some 
  even 
  so 
  far 
  as 
  San 
  Francisco, 
  while 
  it 
  is 
  

   presumed 
  that 
  they 
  would 
  also 
  be 
  found 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  in 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  side 
  of 
  

   Bering 
  Sea. 
  

  

  The 
  second 
  element 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  humid 
  mountain 
  region 
  along 
  the 
  coast; 
  

   a 
  considerable 
  part 
  of 
  this 
  fauna 
  extends 
  to 
  Puget 
  Sound, 
  Mount 
  Rainier, 
  

   and 
  in 
  less 
  degree 
  to 
  other 
  mountains 
  of 
  the 
  Pacific 
  Northwest. 
  The 
  relation 
  

   of 
  this 
  element 
  to 
  the 
  Asiatic 
  fauna 
  is 
  very 
  little 
  known. 
  

  

  The 
  third 
  element 
  of 
  the 
  Alaska 
  fauna, 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  observed, 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  

   dry 
  interior 
  and 
  especially 
  of 
  the 
  Yukon 
  Valley, 
  which 
  has 
  many 
  elements 
  

   in 
  common 
  with 
  northern 
  Minnesota, 
  Wisconsin, 
  and 
  Michigan, 
  Ontario, 
  the 
  

   Adirondack 
  Mountains 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  and 
  the 
  White 
  Mountains 
  of 
  New 
  

   Hampshire. 
  Many 
  of 
  the 
  insects 
  of 
  this 
  group 
  also 
  occur 
  in 
  the 
  Rocky 
  

   Mountains 
  of 
  Colorado 
  and 
  no 
  doubt 
  further 
  exploration 
  will 
  show 
  that 
  they 
  

   occur 
  in 
  other 
  mountains 
  of 
  the 
  western 
  United 
  States. 
  Those 
  which 
  repre- 
  

   sent 
  a 
  more 
  northern 
  range 
  also 
  reappear 
  in 
  Labrador 
  collections 
  and 
  pre- 
  

   sumably 
  extend 
  across 
  North 
  America, 
  although 
  we 
  have 
  no 
  collections 
  from 
  

   intermediate 
  points. 
  This 
  element 
  contains 
  many 
  species 
  known 
  from 
  Fin- 
  

   land 
  and 
  the 
  Scandinavian 
  Peninsula 
  in 
  Europe, 
  presumably 
  extending 
  in 
  

   their 
  distribution 
  across 
  Russia 
  and 
  Siberia. 
  

  

  In 
  most 
  orders 
  of 
  insects 
  Alaska 
  has 
  a 
  comparatively 
  large 
  fauna. 
  There 
  

   are 
  very 
  numerous 
  species 
  of 
  the 
  two-winged 
  flies, 
  or 
  Diptera 
  ; 
  and 
  from 
  

   Doctor 
  Aldrich's 
  long 
  experience 
  with 
  this 
  group 
  he 
  naturally 
  paid 
  special 
  atten- 
  

   tion 
  to 
  collecting 
  in 
  this 
  order. 
  

  

  Bumblebees 
  and 
  wasps 
  are 
  conspicuous 
  insects 
  everywhere 
  on 
  flowers; 
  and 
  

   in 
  the 
  absence 
  of 
  darkness 
  bumblebees 
  were 
  observed 
  to 
  work 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  10:30 
  

   at 
  night 
  in 
  Fairbanks. 
  Grasshoppers 
  were 
  strikingly 
  scarce, 
  only 
  two 
  species 
  

   being 
  found 
  and 
  in 
  all 
  but 
  half 
  a 
  dozen 
  specimens. 
  Mosquitoes 
  in 
  the 
  interior 
  

   are 
  exceedingly 
  abundant, 
  as 
  is 
  well 
  known. 
  Especial 
  attention 
  was 
  given 
  to 
  

   them 
  in 
  collecting, 
  and 
  two 
  species 
  previously 
  undescribed 
  were 
  among 
  the 
  

   material 
  brought 
  back. 
  It 
  appears, 
  however, 
  that 
  the 
  most 
  troublesome 
  species 
  

   are 
  the 
  same 
  ones 
  which 
  occur 
  in 
  somewhat 
  less 
  numbers 
  in 
  the 
  Pacific 
  North- 
  

   west 
  in 
  occasional 
  favorable 
  localities. 
  Horseflies 
  are 
  very 
  numerous 
  in 
  the 
  

   region 
  at 
  Fairbanks, 
  where 
  they 
  are 
  commonly 
  called 
  mooseflies, 
  since 
  the 
  moose 
  

   is 
  more 
  common 
  than 
  the 
  horse. 
  

  

  The 
  exploration 
  of 
  Alaska, 
  especially 
  the 
  interior, 
  from 
  an 
  entomological 
  

   point 
  of 
  view, 
  is 
  important 
  in 
  itself 
  and 
  also 
  forms 
  a 
  link 
  in 
  the 
  study 
  of 
  a 
  

   much 
  broader 
  problem 
  — 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  entire 
  Holarctic 
  fauna 
  which 
  extends 
  almost 
  

   continuously 
  around 
  the 
  globe 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  the 
  Arctic 
  Circle. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  

   matter 
  of 
  great 
  scientific 
  interest 
  to 
  determine 
  how 
  much 
  of 
  this 
  northern 
  

   fauna 
  is 
  the 
  same 
  in 
  the 
  New 
  World 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  Old, 
  and 
  also 
  to 
  determine 
  how 
  

   much 
  of 
  the 
  fauna 
  farther 
  south, 
  as, 
  for 
  instance, 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  has 
  been 
  

   derived 
  from 
  this 
  northern 
  region. 
  It 
  is 
  hoped 
  that 
  opportunity 
  will 
  arise 
  to 
  

   carry 
  this 
  exploration 
  much 
  farther, 
  not 
  only 
  in 
  Alaska, 
  where 
  as 
  yet 
  only 
  a 
  

   beginning 
  has 
  been 
  made, 
  but 
  also 
  in 
  other 
  northern 
  regions, 
  as, 
  for 
  instance, 
  

   Labrador, 
  Greenland, 
  and 
  Siberia. 
  

  

  THE 
  INSTITUTE 
  FOR 
  RESEARCH 
  IN 
  TROPICAL 
  AMERICA. 
  

  

  The 
  recently 
  organized 
  Institute 
  for 
  Besearch 
  in 
  Tropical 
  America, 
  

   of 
  which 
  the 
  Smithsonian 
  Institution 
  is 
  a 
  member, 
  is 
  hoping 
  to 
  

   establish 
  a 
  research 
  station 
  in 
  Panama. 
  Such 
  a 
  station 
  when 
  prop- 
  

   erly 
  equipped 
  will 
  serve 
  as 
  a 
  center 
  for 
  the 
  prosecution 
  of 
  research 
  

   upon 
  problems 
  in 
  tropical 
  biology 
  and 
  agriculture, 
  and 
  as 
  a 
  center 
  

   from 
  which 
  biological 
  explorations 
  can 
  be 
  made. 
  

  

  