1866.] MR. H. W. BATES ON FORMOSAN COLEOPTERA. 339 



former had no means of escape, and in a short time it was literally 

 cut to pieces by the repeated attacks of the animal. 



I do not believe he fed upon any portion of the Ophiurus, but 

 merely destroyed it because it came in its way. 



Though possessing a voracious appetite, feeding greedily on Ac- 

 tinia; and similar forms, it can live very well upon animalcula in the 

 water, as I have kept it without food for days together. 



When swimming about, the fins or gills, five rows of which are 

 placed under the belly of the creature, present a most beautiful ap- 

 pearance, resembling the finest feathers. 



The Gonodactylus chiragrds death was caused by the poisonous 

 gases evolved from a Holothurium which died one night in the 

 aquarium. 



5. On a Collection of Coleoptera from Formosa, sent home 

 by R. Swinhoe, Esq., H.B.M. Consul, Formosa. By 

 H. W. Bates, F.Z.S. 



Mr. Swinhoe having kindly forwarded to me a collection of Coleo- 

 pterous Insects made by himself in different parts of the island of 

 Formosa, with a request that I would report upon its contents to the 

 Zoological Society, I now proceed to give the results of my examina- 

 tion. The collection, although consisting of a very large number of 

 specimens, contains only 285 species ; the materials therefore cannot 

 afford us so ample an illustration of the Coleopterous Fauna of the 

 island as could be wished, seeing that a region so varied in its phy- 

 sical conditions and lying partly within the tropics must nourish 

 many thousand species of this order of insects. The following is an 

 enumeration of the representatives of the different families ; — 



In a first collection made by a person not especially occupied with 

 entomology there must necessarily be a considerable proportion of 

 common and widely distributed species, as these, in tropical countries, 

 are such as are found in the neighbourhood of dwellings and planta- 

 tions, and therefore are the first to attract attention. This is so in 

 the present case, about one-half of the species sent being already 

 known as inhabiting the neighbouring continent or the islands of the 

 Malay archipelago. The other half are probably new ; but many 

 of them belonging to difficult and hitherto unworked groups, cannot 

 be at present satisfactorily decided upon. I do not find in the col- 

 lection, what I had hoped for, any traces of great peculiarity in the 



