Insect Life on the Western Arctic Coast of Amtrica 5k 



various insect larvae (diptera, especially tipulids, and coleoptera) and more 

 secretive living insects (elaterid and carabid beetles Elaphrus riparius, Amara 

 brunnipennis, Pterosticus vindicatus, P. similis, Peophila eschscholzii, Bembidium 

 complanulum, small homoptera, etc.). The finding of myriapods is interesting, 

 because it is the most northern record so far of this order on the American 

 continent. On the tundra itself an occasional hairy lepidopterous larva may 

 be seen, and tiny mites, spiders (Micranecta crassimana, Tmeticus brunneus 

 and hemiptera ; or a phryganeoid (Anabolia marginata) resting its frail body 

 on a grass-leaf. Curculionid beetles are also at work as larvae or adults, and a 

 great number of flies are seen, among which the caribou bot-fly, Oedemagena 

 (Hypoderma) tarandi, is perhaps the most interesting, owing to its bumblebee-hke 

 appearance and life history. Various species of bumblebees (Bombuskirbyellus, 

 B. polaris, B. sylvicola, B. pleuralis, B. lucorum, B. frigidus) are all attracted 

 to Epilobium spicatum and other flowering plants (Iris. Aconitum, Delphin- 

 ium, Leguminosse, Campanula, Pedicularis, etc.), when the male willow catkins 

 have fallen off. The plant which attracts most of the insects at Nome is, how- 

 ever, the imposing Heracleum lanatum, which in protected places is more than 

 six feet high and spreads its enormous, sweet-scented cymes towards the sun. 

 On its flowers a number of different flies collect, the tipulid, Dicranomyia alas- 

 caensis, a phryganeoid {Limnephelus sp.), Vespa marginata, and the big green 

 saw-fly, Rhodogaster religua; also various ichneumonids, butterflies, and moths 

 as Eurymus palaeno chippewa Edw., Eucosma sp., and other microlepidoptera. 

 Few butterflies are seen at the end of August, but an easily scared geometrid 

 moth {Lygris destinata L.) is very common at that time. Swarms of mosquitoes 

 {Aedes sp.) make themselves felt rather forcibly in the shelter of the gully- 

 banks or over the various ponds and pools on warm, quiet days. The shrubby wil- 

 lows harbour a variety of insects. Mites and saw-flies make galls in the leaves, 

 or the latter are fastened together by a small lepidopterous larva, which 

 skeletonizes the sides of the leaves thus turned inwards. Lithecolletis (?) larvse 

 mining in the leaves of Petasites, Artemisia, Saxifraga, etc., were also observed, 

 and a spider with its web between plant leaves, spinning some of these together 

 as a breeding chamber, where the eggs and recently emerged young may be 

 found at the end of August. 



On the tall willow-bushes in the gulUes inland the leaf-eating or gall-forming 

 sawfly larvae (sometimes infected with chalcid parasites) are found. A grey, 

 ball-shaped nest of Vespa marginata is occasionally suspended from the lower 

 branches or trunks of these small trees, and partly hidden by the foliage or 

 vegetation, but may be obtained with less risk from the inside of old tin cans 

 or boxes which may be lying around. 



Vegetation and insect life in the hills back of the coastal tundra are scantier 

 than on the lowland. Apart from flies and mosquitoes, everywhere present, 

 the most characteristic insect is the bumblebee, but spiders, mites, collembola, 

 small beetles, moths, and craneflies are also found. 



Various small arthropods are also found under driftwood and other washed 

 up material on the beach. 



The wingless parasites (mallophaga, fleas and lice) on birds, mammal, and 

 human beings, and the foreign insects introduced by whites during the last 

 two decades complete the insect-life in this region. 



FROM BERING STKAIT TO POINT BABROW, ALASKA 



Little is known of the insects in this region, and no collections were made 

 by the Canadian Arctic Expedition. 



•The flora and insect-fauna of this region seem to have the same general 

 character as that east of Point Barrow, except perhaps the inner part of Kotzebue 

 sound, where the flora is said to be unusually luxuriant, and the insect life cor- 

 respondingly richer. 



