Report on a Small Collection of Insects Made During the Death Valley Expedition. With supplementary reports and descriptions of new species

Original publisher's beige paper pamphlet. Text printed in black ink. May be missing outer wrappers. No date, circa 1893. 5 3/4" x 9." Pages 235-268, complete. Pages are clean and intact except for slight bumping and chipping along edges, light age toning (most noticeable on first and last pages), and a closed tear measuring about 2" from fore-edge on Pages 235-236 (affects a very small portion of text but text is still readable). A Very Good copy. No. 7 of the North American Fauna series. This is a scientific report about insects collected from Death Valley and nearby areas during the 1891 Death Valley Expedition. The main report is by C. V. Riley. "Supplementary reports and descriptions of new species" are by S. W. Williston, P. R. Uhler, and Lawrence Bruner. The Death Valley Expedition was the first of a series of expeditions funded by an 1890 act of Congress. The purpose of the Death Valley Expedition was to study the plants and animals of Death Valley. The expedition was initially led by Clinton Merriam, but he was replaced by T. S. Palmer after President Harrison invited Merriam to become the Bering Sea Commissioner and study fur seals in Alaska. The collection of insects described in this report was made by entomologist Albert Koebele, one of several scientists who was part of the expedition. Much of Riley's report lists the distribution of different families of insects by location including San Bernardino County, Death Valley, Panamint Valley, Panamint Mountinas, Argus Mountains, Coso Valley, and Owens Valley. Further research findings are printed in the back by Williston, Uhler, and Bruner. Williston describes the general characteristics of diptera from the Death Valley Expedition. Uhler describes hemiptera and heteroptera of the expedition. Bruner then reports on new species of orthoptera found during the expedition.