BEETLES. 



95 



The Longicorns are elegantly shaped beetles, usually 

 with long antemise and legs, varied in form and structure 

 in an endless variety of ways, and adorned w^ith equally 

 varied colours, spots and markings. Some are large and 

 massive insects three or four inches long, while others 

 are no bigger than our smaller ants. The majority have 

 sober colours, but often delicately marbled, veined, or 

 spotted ; while others are red, or blue, or yellow, or 

 adorned with the richest metallic tints. Their antennae 

 are sometimes excessively long and graceful, often 

 adorned with tufts of hair, and sometimes pectinated. 

 They especially abound where timber trees have been 

 recently felled in the primeval forests ; and w^hile 

 extensive clearings are in progress their variety seems 

 endless. In such a locality in the island of Borneo, 

 nearly 300 different species were found during one 

 dry season, while the number obtained during eight 

 years' collecting in the whole Malay Archipelago was 

 about a thousand species. 



Among the beetles that always attract attention in 

 the tropics are the large, horned, Copridse and Dynastidae, 

 corresponding to our dung-beetles. Some of these are 

 of great size, and they are occasionally very abundant. 

 The immense horn-like protuberances on the head and 

 thorax of the males in some of the species are very 

 extraordinary, and, combined with their polished or 

 rugose metallic colours, render them perhaps the most 

 conspicuous of all the beetle tribe. The weevils and 

 their allies are also very interesting, from their immense 

 numbers, endless variety, and the extreme beauty of 

 many of the species. The Anthribidae, which are 

 especially abundant in the Malay Archipelago, rival the 



