48 



SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS 



VOL. 



// 



INSECT COLLECTING EXPEDITION IN THE PACIFIC COAST 



REGION 



On IVIay 31, 1924, Dr. J- JM- Aldrich, associate curator of the 

 division of insects, U. S. National Museum, left Washington on a 

 western trip for the purpose of examining type material of insects in 

 certain museums and collecting the two-winged flies in localities of 

 especial interest in the Pacific Coast region. 



The first official work was done at the University of Kansas, where 

 some types of muscoid flies were examined. Next, a stop for col- 

 lecting was made at Redlands. California, and two days were spent 



Fig. 59. — Coast of Oregon, near California line. 



in the San Bernardino ^Mountains with Dr. Frank R. Cole. This 

 mountain range is somewhat isolated in position, but includes in its 

 fauna some of the northern species of flies as well as some known 

 from ]\Iexico. An entirely different fauna is that of the lower San 

 Joaquin Valley where the next stop was made at the town of Newman. 

 In this vicinity the dry weather had made the collecting very poor, 

 except along the banks of the San Joaquin River ; but here some 

 insects of unusual interest were obtained, including one genus new 

 to the National Museum. 



Two days w^ere spent in the Academy of Natural Sciences in San 

 Francisco, examining types and assisting to some extent in determin- 

 ing material for the museum A brief visit to Stanford University 

 permitted the examination of some interesting type material of para- 

 sitic flies occurring on birds and bats. 



