100 A NATURALIST IN CELEBES ch. v 



old watercourse in the forest. It has been called Papilio 

 polytes, and is perhaps the second female form of P. pammon, 

 a species of very wide distribution extending from Ceylon 

 to China (81). 



When the rains commenced in November and December 

 the Pierides became less plentiful, their place being taken 

 by Papilios. When I returned to Talisse in April — that is, 

 at the end of the rainy season — the Pierides were agam 

 making their appearance in great numbers. Professor 

 Westwood has described two new species from the collection I 

 brought home with me — Terias talissa and Tachyris phestus. 



It occurred to me at the time, and I have no reason 

 to doubt it as a general statement, that the disappearance 

 of the ' whites ' in the rainy season was associated with 

 the large size of their wings and their slow and laboured 

 flight. A butterfly which cannot get to shelter with ease 

 and rapidity when a heavy shower of rain comes on is 

 obviously liable to be beaten down and killed by terrestrial 

 animals or drowned, and, consequently, the time of year 

 best fitted for their flight is the dry season. 



It might be said that even the strong-flying Papilios 

 would be liable to similar disasters in the heavy showers 

 of the tropics. That is perfectly true. I have seen on 

 more than one occasion a Papilio struggling on the ground 

 in a shower of rain, but perhaps this disadvantage is 

 counterbalanced by the advantages gained by the larger 

 number of flowers in blossom in that season and the cor- 

 respondingly larger supply of food for them. 



I was not particularly successful as a beetle-catcher, 

 but whether this was due to my own stupidity or a dearth 

 of beetles I cannot say. I found a few brilliant little 

 cockchafers (Parastia) on the young coco-nut palms, and I 

 often amused myself with catching the large black stag- 

 beetles {Odontolabis celebensis, 40) soon after the sun had set. 



