1920] Holland, Lepidoptera of the Congo 113 



Nepoko River in the very heart of the forest. The collections at Medje 

 were principally made from April until September, 1910. A number of 

 specimens are recorded as taken at points not far distant from Medje, 

 such as Gamangui, Bafwabaka, and Avakubi. In the fall of the year 

 1910 and thereafter during the year 1912 considerable collecting was 

 done at Niangara and Faradje, the former on the Uelle River, the latter 

 upon the Dungu, an eastern affluent of the Uelle. The collections from 

 Niangara and Faradje reveal the fact that those localities, while still 

 within the limits of the West African subregion, are nevertheless not 

 far from the line of contact with the East African, or Abyssinian, region 

 which sends a long, narrow, westward projection south of the Sahara 

 toward the mouth of the Senegal. Specimens were occasionally taken in 

 the course of the journeyings of the members of the expedition at 

 various points throughout the region from Angola eastward, and the 

 labels attached to the insects reveal captures made at such points as 

 Matadi, Basoko, Stanleyville, and Bafwaboli. Regular and systematic 

 collecting, however, seems to have been confined largely to the three 

 points already indicated, Medje, Niangara, and Faradje, and more than 

 nine-tenths of the specimens brought back bear these locality labels. 

 The collection as a whole has a distinctly West African fades. 



The collection is one of the largest which has been made in recent 

 years in that region. I am given to understand by the gentlemen who 

 made it that to a considerable extent they employed the assistance of 

 natives. It is particularly rich in the larger and showier species, es- 

 pecially of the Nymphalidse, which are characteristic of the territory 

 visited. But little attention was paid to the moths, which is much to be 

 regretted, as it is among these that the greatest number of novelties 

 might have been expected to occur. Mr. Lang tells me that little col- 

 ecting was done at night. The smaller diurnal lepidoptera are also but 

 scantily represented. This is particularly true of the Lycsenidae and the 

 Hesperiidae. Of course I understand the principal aim of the expedition 

 was to collect vertebrates. The making of entomological collections 

 was more or less a subsidiary purpose. Nevertheless, it is upon the whole 

 an extensive collection, containing not far from nine thousand specimens, 

 representing more than seven hundred and twenty-five species and 

 varieties. Most of the specimens are in good condition, and, while not 

 yielding as many species new to science as I had hoped might be the 

 case, it gives the American Museum a fine nucleus upon which to build 

 in coming years. 



