June, iQij Bulletin of the Brooklyn Entomological Society 65 



and when enough is gathered in this manner they add alcohol 

 and a certain kind of sugar and the males, dancing and yelling, 

 drink this concoction until they become half mad' with intoxication, 

 frothing at the mouth and getting almost entirely without reason. 

 At such times white men must keep out of sight for the natives 

 are most dangerous in that condition. They place their dead 

 on scaffolds leaving them in that manner, and when the process 

 of decomposition sets in the air does not exactly waft attar of 

 roses into one's nostrils. This is, however, the home of Ornithop- 

 tera hekuba — a variety of priamus. These are raised by the 

 natives and must be very common. I just purchased a lot of 

 500 pairs from Mr. Kibler and some other forms of Ornithoptera, 

 like hypolitus. These are much rarer than hekuba and are found 

 mostly as pupae. It is difificiilt to distinguish the species until 

 they emerge. Here is also found the tremendous walking stick, 

 Phasma gigantea, which is found in the high, reedlike grass and 

 is easily captured. Not many other lepidopterous species 

 occur on this island except those above mentioned. From here 

 he went to Aru Island for Papilio croesus and idysses, but croesus 

 was scarce and were reported flying at a place which one can 

 reach only with difficulty. Ulysses were common enough in 

 Batchan, Papua, etc. 



After staying in Kei Islands for over a year, Kibler shaped 

 his affairs so that his next step would be New Guinea. He landed 

 in Gennan New Guinea, Finchhaven, to find the greatest of all 

 Satumidae — Attacus hercules. The information received was 

 that the insect occurred in the mountains and not in the flat- 

 lands, so he travelled to a small hamlet called Spartansburg. No 

 white man inhabited this place except one missionary. The 

 missionary himself, is collecting this insect and claims them to be 

 very scarce. He claims that the natives feed on the larvae and 

 altogether they are very hard insects to procure. He collected 

 there for a little time and then left, taking a prahu to Dutch New 

 Guinea, This new territory he found an imexplored country — 

 no whites at all. All he found were natives who were cannibals 

 of the worst kind. However, he faced all the dangers of this 

 region to get his prize, — Ornithoptera paradisea and tithonus as 

 well as the commoner forms of 0. cronius. Where he landed 

 there was a small settlement of natives and on landing a stench 



