700 THE INSECTS OF THE MACLAY COAST, NEW GUINEA, 



For the hypothesis concerning the appearance of Lepidopus 

 candatus set forth in my paper, I do of course not claim anything 

 more than the merit of a 2^ossibility ; and I will be very well 

 satisfied if I have thereby induced any one to take up the subject 

 and discover the secret, whether his discovery prove my hypothesis 

 to be correct or false. 



THE INSECTS OF THE MACLAY-COAST, NEW 

 GUINEA. 



By William Macleay, F.L.S., &c. 



During a nearly three years residence at Astrolabe Bay on the 

 North Coast of New Guinea, about 10 years ago, Baron Maclay 

 picked up, as occasion offered, a few insects, which he placed in 

 spirits, where they have remained undisturbed and unexamined 

 until the present time. The collection is of the scantiest nature, 

 the number of species of all Orders of the Insecta, not exceeding 

 50, and many of them I regret to find, from their lengthened 

 immersion in spirits, in anything but a good state for examination. 



It must not however, be supposed that the smallness of the 

 collection in any way indicates poverty of the insect fauna in that 

 portion of New Guinea, the reason is simply that the Baron at that 

 time was so deeply interested in Anthropological investigations, 

 that he scarcely noticed the other animals of the country, and only 

 collected what actually came in his way. It is much to be regretted 

 that he did not make better use of his opportunities in this respect, 

 for the Maclay Coast — so named after the distinguished traveller 

 himself — is about the only portion of the coast line which has never 

 been visited by collectors. 



Port Dorey, Triton Bay, and indeed many places on the Wesl 

 and North-west Coast, have been frequently visited by naturalists, 

 and many species of the Invertebrata of these regions were described 



