In The Forest Itself The Only Common And Conspicuous Coleoptera
Were Two Tiger Beetles.
One, Therates labiata, was much larger
than our green tiger beetle, of a purple black colour, with green
metallic glosses, and the broad upper lip of a bright yellow.
It
was always found upon foliage, generally of broad-leaned
herbaceous plants, and in damp and gloomy situations, taking
frequent short flights from leaf to leaf, and preserving an alert
attitude, as if always looking out for its prey. Its vicinity
could be immediately ascertained, often before it was seen, by a
very pleasant odour, like otto of roses, which it seems to emit
continually, and which may probably be attractive to the small
insects on which it feeds. The other, Tricondyla aptera, is one
of the most curious forms in the family of the Cicindelidae, and
is almost exclusively confined to the Malay islands. In shape it
resembles a very large ant, more than an inch long, and of a
purple black colour. Like an ant also it is wingless, and is
generally found ascending trees, passing around the trunks in a
spiral direction when approached, to avoid capture, so that it
requires a sudden run and active fingers to secure a specimen.
This species emits the usual fetid odour of the ground beetles.
My collections during our four days' stay at Ke were as follow: -
Birds, 13 species; insects, 194 species; and 3 kinds of land-
shells.
There are two kinds of people inhabiting these islands - the
indigenes, who have the Papuan characters strongly marked, and
who are pagans; and a mixed race, who are nominally Mahometans,
and wear cotton clothing, while the former use only a waist cloth
of cotton or bark.
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