XXI.-LIST OF INSECTS HITHERTO KNOWN FROM THE PRIBILOF ISLANDS." 



The insect fauna of the Pribilof Islauds is still most imperfectly known, and I am 

 •not aware that the islands have ever been visited by an expert entomologist. Among 

 the Russian explorers and visitors of Alaska in the first half of the present century, 

 Wosnesenski seems to be the only oue who collected insects on the Pribilof Islands. 

 They are still preserved in the Imperial Museum of St. Petersburg, but only the 

 Goleoptera have been worked up.* After the acquisition of Alaska by the United 

 States a few small collections of insects were made on the islands, of which the fol- 

 lowing were transmitted to the Entomological Department of the United States 

 National Museum : 



Accession No. 23646, received April, 1894, collected by Messrs. Elliott and Palmer in 1890 — one species 



of insects. 

 Accession No. 30147, received January, 1896, collected by Messrs. F. W. True and D. W. Prentiss, jr., in 



1895 — six species of insects. 

 Accession No. 31335, received November, 1896, collected by Mr. 6. E. H. Barrett-Hamilton, of Ireland, in 



1896 — twenty-two species of insects and Arachnids. 



The only general observations on the insect fauna of the islands which have been 

 recorded are those by Mr. Henry W. Elliott, published in Volume VIII of the Tenth 

 Census of the United States, 1880 (1884), page 12. Unfortunately, the determination 

 of the insects given by him is guesswork, and his collection never reached the Museum. 

 Whatever points of interest there are iu his remarks are incorporated in the follow- 

 ing list. 



The small size of the Pribilof Islands, their isolated position, and the inclement 

 climatic conditions are certainly not favorable to the existence of a rich insect fauna. 

 Still, according to a very moderate estimate, the number of insects on the islands 

 will amount to at least 400 species. Since of this number not more than about 40 

 can be enumerated at present, it is evident that any general considerations ou the 

 character of this fauna, or a comparison with the faunas of Kamchatka, the Aleutian 

 Islands, and the mainland of Alaska would be premature, and the following list is 

 herewith given without further comment : 



' Compiled by E. A. Schwarz, of the Division of Entomology, United States Department of Agri- 

 culture. 



^ E. Mdn^trids : Sur un envoi d'insectes de la o6te N. O. de I'Amerique (Bull. Acad. d. St. Petersbourg, 

 2,1844). 



V. von Motschulsky : Die Kafer Kusslands (Bull. See. Imp. Nat. Moscow, 18, 1845). 



C. G. von Mannerheim : Naohtrage zur Kiiferfauna d. Aleutischen Inseln und der Insel Sitka, I-III 

 (Bull. Soc. Imp. Nat. Moscow, 19, 1846; 25, 1852 ; und 26, 1853). 



547 



