The spiders of Alaska

This paper is the result p rimarily of a study of the h igh ly important arachnid collections made by Dr. Joseph C. Chamberlin in Alaska during the summer seasons of 1943, 1944 and 1945 d urin g which he was engaged for the U. S. Department of A g riculture in entomological investigation, ch iefly in the Matanuska Valley with headquarters at the Univ ersity of Alaska. In addition we include data from a study of a collection made by R. D. Hamilton in 1946, a study made possible through the courtesy of Dr. Willis J . Gertsch of the American Museum of N atural History where this material is deposited unless otherwise noted, while the J . C. Chamberlin collection is deposited at the University of Utah. It has been thought desirable to include in this report all past records of spiders from Alaska as a whole. The total number of spiders listed is 247, of which 42 are described as new.