Insect Life on the Western Arctic Coast of America 15K 



The two large moths, the arctiid Hyphoraia alpina and the lymantriid, 

 Gynaephora rossi, appear at about this time. The hairy larvae of these are difficult 

 to distinguish, especially as the colour of the hairs change after each moulting, 

 but generally the Hyphoraia larvae are the larger and lack the yellow hair-spines 

 on the middle of the back, so that its colour is more uniformly brown. The 

 pupa of the Hyphoraia is bald and coal-black and larger than that of the Gynae- 

 phora. The Hyphoraia cocoons, also, are larger about the size of a pigeon's 

 egg and more perfect, with the outer layer smoother and whiter than the 

 brownish, more closely spun cocoon of the Gynaephora. Hyphoraia appears to 

 be quite free from the tachnid parasite Euphorocera gelida and almost free from 

 ichneumonid parasites, but the Gynaephora is attacked by both. In spite of 

 this, Gynaephora is the more abundant. The males first appear, active and 

 well developed, and when the females appear, copulation at once takes place, 

 though the female is in a crumbled state, and so little developed that they 

 can only crawl around. The first act of the females, after being left by the 

 male, is to lay their eggs. 



At Martin point, Alaska, at the end of July, 1914, examination was made 

 of the extensive lagoons. They contain about 6 inches of brackish water, 

 covering a bottom sometimes sandy, sometimes gravelly, and, in the deeper 

 places, muddy, the mud being mainly the tubes and excrement of red Chiro- 

 nomus larvae. Some of the ponds contained floating masses of green, thread-like 

 algae. On the water were flies and the common blue collembola; in the water 

 were the fry of a sculp in (Oncocottus quadricornis) , water-beetle larvae, copepods 

 (Eurytemora sp., etc.), many full grown male and female Branchinecta paludosa 

 and Lepidurus arcticus of various sizes, besides the common Daphnia pulex. 

 Some of these lagoons were at high tide connected with the beach water; and 

 the temperature of their water was during the middle of the day about 50 degrees 

 F., though the temperature of the air was only around freezing point. 



August 1-10 



Several more plants (Lloydia, Ranunculus. Parrya, Eutrema, Polemonium, 

 etc.) of importance to insects finish their flowering at this time and are replaced 

 by flowers of a great number of Composite. 



August 11-20 



On Herschel island flying insects were few. The berry-like galls on the 

 leaves of the various species of Salix (S. richardsonii, S. anglorum, S. reticulata, 

 etc.) caused by sawfly larvae (Pontania sp.) were very common, from the size 

 of a pinhead to that of a bean, the larvae inside being of a corresponding size. 

 The colour of the larvae was pale yellow; the head dark grey, eyes black, thoracic 

 legs light grey. Adults of several species were reared from them and emerged 

 in the following July. 



The ponds contained a rich life of invertebrates, of which the large phyllo- 

 pods (Branchinecta paludosa) various cladocera (Eurycercus, etc.) and copepods 

 (Diaptomus, etc.), small midge larvae and phryganeoid larvae in tubes, snails 

 (Aplexa hypnorum), and worms were the most common (PI. VII, figs. 1-2). 



August 21-31 



Insect life is rapidly declining, especially among the less hardy (neurop- 

 teroids, lepidoptera, mosquitoes, wasps, sawflies) few of which are seen on the 

 wing, though others (flies, coleoptera, bees, hemiptera) are still numerous. 



