REPORT OF THE SECRETARY. 11 



State of Washington and some even so tar 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 tlie liumid 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 Eesearch 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. 



