Zoology of Borneo. 5115 



accompaniments of a tropical sun, for I doubt if, in that respect, these 

 insects will surpass those even of Britain. In more than 500 species 

 of Curculionidae I have not one that is bright coloured ! and the num- 

 ber of small and obscure insects in all the families is very great. As 

 to size, also, I almost doubt whether the average of all the species 

 would exceed that of the beetles of our own country, absurd though 

 the idea may seem to persons who have constantly associated great 

 size with their notions of tropical Entomology. 



I have made these remarks because some persons who have seen that 

 portion of my collections which has already arrived in England have 

 been much disappointed, and have complained (almost as if I made 

 the insects as well as collected them) that Mr. Fortune's beetles from 

 the North of China, though from a comparatively cold climate, were 

 much finer. Now, as it is generally allowed that it is easier to over- 

 look small insects than large ones, it is hardly to be supposed that I 

 have perversely neglected the latter for the former, and we must there- 

 fore conclude that there is a real want of size and brilliancy in the 

 average of the Bornean Coleoptera; but I think we can show that this 

 is also the case with insects from other tropical countries, compared 

 with those from the sub-tropical or south temperate zone. The ex- 

 tensive collections of Mr. Bates on the Amazon show the same small 

 average size of the Coleoptera compared with those of the Brazilian 

 mountains, the Andes and Mexico. In India, too, it is well known 

 that the finest insects and birds come from the Himalaya, which are 

 all in the temperate zone, while the productions of the peninsula of 

 India, though much nearer the equator, are not near so brilliant or 

 remarkable. Again, the insects of Hong Kong in the Tropics are not so 

 fine as those of Shanghae in the temperate region. We may, I think, 

 therefore conclude that tropical heat is not necessary to the great 

 brilliance or great size of insects, but that those of the countries bor- 

 dering the Tropics are often equal, and sometimes superior, to those of 

 countries situated nearer the equator. 



The most striking features of my collection are the numbers of Cur- 

 culionidae and of Longicorns, far beyond the usual proportion of those 

 families. The number of minute Elateridae and Buprestidse is also 

 very considerable, and will much increase the lists of those groups. 

 The numbers of the principal families are as follows, out of a total of 

 about 2000 species : — 



Longicorns ...... 290 species. 



Rhyncophora 550 „ 



