58 BORNEO. [chap. iv. 



34 were new to me. By the end of April I had more than 

 a thousand species, and they then went on increasing at a 

 slower rate ; so that I obtained altogether in Borneo about 

 two thousand distinct kinds, of which all but about a 

 hundred were collected at this place, and on scarcely more 

 than a scpiare mile of ground. The most numerous and 

 most interesting groups of beetles were the Longicorus and 

 Bhynchophora, both pre-eminently wood-feeders. The 

 former, characterised by their graceful forms and long 

 antennae, were especially numerous, amounting to nearly 

 three hundred species, nine-tenths of which were entirely 

 new, and many of them remarkable for their large size, 

 strange forms, and beautiful colouring. The latter corre- 

 spond to our weevils and allied groups, and in the tropics 

 are exceedingly numerous and varied, often swarming upon 

 dead timber, so that I sometimes obtained fifty or sixty 

 different kinds in a day. My Bornean collections of this 

 group exceeded five hundred species. 



My collection of butterflies was not large ; but I obtained 

 some rare and very handsome insects, the most remarkable 

 being the Ornithoptera Brookeana, one of the most elegant 

 species known. This beautiful creature has very long and 

 pointed wings, almost resembling a sphinx moth in shape. 

 It is deep velvety black, with a curved band of spots of a 

 brilliant metallic-green colour extending across the wings 

 from tip to tip, each spot being shaped exactly like a small 



