﻿PROCEEDINGS OF THE UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 

 U. S. NATIONAL MUSEUM 



Vol. 100 Washington: 1949 No. 3256 



SOME ALASKAN SYRPHID FLIES, WITH DESCRIPTIONS 

 OF NEW SPECIES 



By C. L. Fluke 



Many species of Syrphidae have been reported or described from 

 Alaska, although very few papers have been published dealing ex- 

 clusively with this family of flies. Coquillett ^ reported on the Dip- 

 tera of Alaska and described several new Syrphidae ; Hine - reviewed 

 tlie species of Helophllus occurring in Alaska ; and the present paper 

 describes two more species belonging to this genus. 



The Syrphidae reported here were lent by the United States Na- 

 tional Museum. A few specimens were taken with an insect net at 

 Umiat, Haines, and Matanuska, but the majority of the specimens 

 were collected at Matanuska by J. C. Chamberlin with a rotary trap 

 during the seasons of 1944 and 1945. This trap is described ^ as fol- 

 lows: "The essential principle involved in the construction of all 

 models of this trap is that power is so applied to one or more rigid 

 insect nets as to cause them to rotate in a fixed horizontal plane . . ." 

 If the specimens are removed at frequent intervals they are in good 

 condition and suitable for Museum purposes and the Syrphidae that 

 were sent in for identification are in excellent condition. Those col- 

 lected in the rotary trap are tabulated on pages 53-54. Of the 756 

 specimens recorded, 550 are females. 



This collection is interesting because of its several forms and records 

 new to Alaska. Many of the species are represented by the female 



*Proc. Washington Acad. Sci., vol. 2, pp. 389-464, 1900. 

 * Ohio Journ. Sci., vol. 23, pp. 192-200, 1923. 



» Chamberlin, Joseph C, and Lawson, F. R., U. S. Dept. Agr. ET sen, No. 163, pp. 1-6, 

 figs. 1-9, October 1940. 



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