SMITflSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, 1929 



115 



of the cold climate, agriculture consists mainly in raising cattle and 

 hay, and the hardier garden vegetables. 



On my arrival in Are the weather was still cold and damp. The 

 Grand Hotel had the steam heat on, an unusual thing in Europe and 

 most acceptable to an American. For two days there was but slight 

 improvement in the weather, but I found under trees some spots 

 dry enough to collect flies, and accumulated a satisfactory number. 

 Then the weather cleared, and for the following three days the col- 

 lecting was remarkably good, there being thousands of flies on foliage 

 and flowers. Sorting and pinning the specimens took up considerable 

 time ; on the first fair morning I got so many flies in sweeping for 



♦•■..« 





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Fig. 94. — Are, Sweden, looking southeast. 



two minutes on flowers of dill that it took an hour to sort them and 

 pin all worth keeping. 



On my fifth and last day in Are I ascended the mountain Are- 

 skutan, just back of the railroad station. This mountain is of unusual 

 interest to the entomologist l)ecause Zetterstedt, nearly one hundred 

 years ago, collected flies here and has recorded many species from 

 Areskutan in his series of volumes called Diptera Scandinaviae. 

 The altitude of the railroad station is about 1,500 feet, while that of 

 the summit is about 5,000 feet. The part of the climb of most interest 

 to the entomologist is the first thousand feet above the station, or up to 

 about 2,500 feet. This is mostly through the spruce zone, which 

 covers the slopes from 1,500 to 2,300 feet, stopping quite abruptly 

 at this level and being replaced by birch, which continues about 



