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ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS 
289 
form by no means so prominent a feature in the animal life 
of the equatorial zone as we might expect. Almost every 
entomologist is at first disappointed with them. He finds that 
they have to be searched for almost as much as at home, 
while those of large size (except one or two very common 
species) are rarely met with. The groups which most attract 
attention, from their size and beauty, are the Buprestidee and 
the Longieorns. The former are usually smooth insects of an 
elongate ovate form, with very short legs and antennae, and 
adorned with the most glowing metallic tints. They abound 
on fallen tree-trunks and on foliage, in the hottest sunshine, 
and are among the most brilliant ornaments of the tropical 
forests. Some parts of the temperate zone, especially Aus- 
tralia and Chili, abound in Buprestidee which are equally 
beautiful ; but the largest species are only found within the 
tropics, those of the Malay islands being the largest of all. 
The Longieorns are elegantly shaped beetles, usually with 
long antennae and legs, varied in form and structure in an 
endless variety of ways, and adorned with 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 while ex- 
tensive 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 Dynastidse, 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 
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