PDF - Wallace Online
PDF - Wallace Online PDF - Wallace Online
TROPICAL NATUREothers long and pointed. Many have double or triple tails,and some of the smaller species have them immensely elongatedand often elegantly curled. In some groups the wingslong and narrow, in others strongly falcate and; thoughmany fly with immense rapidity, a large number nutter lazilyalong, as if they had no enemies to fear, and therefore nooccasion to hurry.The number of species of butterflies inhabiting any onelocality is very variable, and is, as a rule, far largerinAmerica than in the Eastern hemisphere ;but it everywherevery much surpasses the numbers in the temperate zone. Afew months' assiduous collecting in any of the Malay islandswill produce from 150 to 250 species of butterflies, and thirtyor forty species may be obtained any fine day in good localities.In the Amazon valley, however, much greater resultsmay be achieved. A good day's collecting will produce fromforty to seventy species, while in one year at Para about 600species were obtained. More than 700 species of butterfliesactually inhabit the district immediately around the city ofPara, and this, as far as we yet know, is the richest spot onthe globe for diurnal lepidoptera. At Ega, during four years'collecting, Mr. Bates obtained 550 species, and these, on thewhole, surpassed those of Para in variety and beauty. Mr.Bates thus speaks of a favourite locality on the margin of thelake near Ega " The number and : variety of gaily -tintedbutterflies, sporting about in this grove on sunny days, wereso great that the bright moving flakes of colour gave quite acharacter to the physiognomy of the place. It was impossibleto walk far without disturbing flocks of them from the dampsand at the edge of the water, where they congregated toimbibe the moisture. They were of almost all colours, sizes,and shapes ;I noticed here altogether eighty species, belongingto twenty-two distinct genera. The most abundant, next tothe very common sulphur-yellow and orange-coloured kinds,were about a dozen species of Eunica, which are of large sizeand conspicuous from their liveries of glossy dark blue andpurple. A superbly adorned creature, the Callithea markii,having wings of a thick texture, coloured sapphire-blue andorange, was only an occasional visitor. On certain days, whenthe weather was very calm, two small gilded species (Sym-
in ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS 275machia trochilus and colubris) literallyswarmed on the sands,their glittering wings lying wide open on the flat surface." 1When we consider that only sixty-four species of butterflieshave been found in Britain and about 150 in Germany,many of which are very rare and local, so that these numbersare the result of the work of hundreds of collectors for a longseries of years, we see at once the immense wealth of theequatorial zone in this form of life.Peculiar Habits of Tropical ButterfliesThe habits of the butterflies of the tropics offermany curiouspoints rarely or never observed among those of the temperatezone. The majority, as with us, are truly diurnal, but thereare some Eastern Morphidse and the entire American familyBrassolidse, which are crecuspular, coming out after sunsetand flitting about the roads till it is nearly dark. Others,though flying in the daytime, are only found in the gloomiestrecesses of the forest, where a constant twilight may be saidto prevail. The majority of the species fly at a moderateheight (from five to ten feet above the ground), while a fewusually keep higher up and are difficult to capture; but alarge number, especially the Satyridse, many Erycinidse, andsome few Nymphalidae, keep always close to the ground andusually settle on or among the lowest herbage. As regardsthe mode of flight, the extensive and almost exclusivelytropical families of Heliconidse and Danaidse fly very slowly,with a gentle undulating or floating motion which is almostpeculiar to them. Many of the strong-bodied Nymphalidaeand Hesperidse, on the other hand, have an excessively rapidflight, darting by so swiftly that the eye cannot follow them,and in some cases producing a deep sound louder than that ofthe humming-birds.The places they frequent, and their mode of resting,are various and often remarkable. A considerable numberfrequent damp open places, especiallyriver -sides and themargins of pools, assembling togetherin flocks of hundreds ofindividuals ;but these are almost entirely composed of males,the females remaining in the forests, where, towards the afternoon,their partners join them. The majority of butterflies1The Naturalist on the Riwr Amazons, 2d ed., p. 331.
- Page 240 and 241: 224 TROPICAL NATUREof humidity, as
- Page 242 and 243: TROPICAL NATUREIn the north tempera
- Page 244 and 245: 228 TROPICAL NATUREslight fall of t
- Page 246 and 247: TROPICAL NATUREclimate of the equat
- Page 248 and 249: TROPICAL NATUREpermanent springs to
- Page 250 and 251: 234 TROPICAL NATUREand a beauty tha
- Page 252 and 253: 236 TROPICAL NATUREheat increased h
- Page 254 and 255: IIEQUATORIAL VEGETATIONThe Equatori
- Page 256 and 257: 240 TROPICAL NATUREforest-belts in
- Page 258 and 259: I242 TROPICAL NATURE nposed to thin
- Page 260 and 261: 244 TROPICAL NATUREand fillsurround
- Page 262 and 263: 246 TROPICAL NATUREmight have been
- Page 264 and 265: 248 TROPICAL NATUREBesides these va
- Page 266 and 267: 250 TROPICAL NATURE nover shrubs an
- Page 268 and 269: 252 TROPICAL NATUREoil from the coc
- Page 270 and 271: 254 TROPICAL NATUREand handsome flo
- Page 272 and 273: 256 TROPICAL NATUREof palms or of t
- Page 274 and 275: 258 TROPICAL NATUREzigzag, branched
- Page 276 and 277: TROPICAL NATUREPalembang, in Sumatr
- Page 278 and 279: TROPICAL NATUREcan be put to uses w
- Page 280 and 281: 264 TROPICAL NATUREperate and frigi
- Page 282 and 283: 266 TROPICAL NATUREleaves standing
- Page 284 and 285: TROPICAL NATUREregions of polar col
- Page 286 and 287: IllANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORE
- Page 288 and 289: 272 TROPICAL NATUREin books of trav
- Page 292 and 293: 276 TROPICAL NATUREsettle upon foli
- Page 294 and 295: 278 TROPICAL NATUREsome day be valu
- Page 296 and 297: TROPICAL NATUREespecially of Zingib
- Page 298 and 299: TROPICAL NATUREof rare butterflies
- Page 300 and 301: TROPICAL NATUREare always accompani
- Page 302 and 303: 286 TROPICAL NATUREcutting ant in A
- Page 304 and 305: TROPICAL NATUREwhole insect is then
- Page 306 and 307: 290 TROPICAL NATUREmost conspicuous
- Page 308 and 309: 292 TROPICAL NATUREtion of very lar
- Page 310 and 311: 294 TROPICAL NATUREinto light or de
- Page 312 and 313: TROPICAL NATUREcurious interactions
- Page 314 and 315: 298 TROPICAL NATUREthan are exhibit
- Page 316 and 317: TROPICAL NATUEEthologists, it will
- Page 318 and 319: TROPICAL NATURELizardsLizards are b
- Page 320 and 321: 304 TROPICAL NATUREshine they more
- Page 322 and 323: TROPICAL NATUREMAMMALIAMonkeysThe h
- Page 324 and 325: TROPICAL NATUREacross the expanded
- Page 326 and 327: 310 TROPICAL NATURErather in the un
- Page 328 and 329: IVHUMMING-BIRDSAS ILLUSTEATING THE
- Page 330 and 331: 314 TROPICAL NATUREover the lower a
- Page 332 and 333: 316 TROPICAL NATUREhumming-birds ma
- Page 334 and 335: 318 TROPICAL NATUREsweets, in all t
- Page 336 and 337: TROPICAL NATUREDisplay of Ornaments
- Page 338 and 339: 322 TROPICAL NATUREtamed a number o
in ANIMAL LIFE IN THE TROPICAL FORESTS 275machia trochilus and colubris) literallyswarmed on the sands,their glittering wings lying wide open on the flat surface." 1When we consider that only sixty-four species of butterflieshave been found in Britain and about 150 in Germany,many of which are very rare and local, so that these numbersare the result of the work of hundreds of collectors for a longseries of years, we see at once the immense wealth of theequatorial zone in this form of life.Peculiar Habits of Tropical ButterfliesThe habits of the butterflies of the tropics offermany curiouspoints rarely or never observed among those of the temperatezone. The majority, as with us, are truly diurnal, but thereare some Eastern Morphidse and the entire American familyBrassolidse, which are crecuspular, coming out after sunsetand flitting about the roads till it is nearly dark. Others,though flying in the daytime, are only found in the gloomiestrecesses of the forest, where a constant twilight may be saidto prevail. The majority of the species fly at a moderateheight (from five to ten feet above the ground), while a fewusually keep higher up and are difficult to capture; but alarge number, especially the Satyridse, many Erycinidse, andsome few Nymphalidae, keep always close to the ground andusually settle on or among the lowest herbage. As regardsthe mode of flight, the extensive and almost exclusivelytropical families of Heliconidse and Danaidse fly very slowly,with a gentle undulating or floating motion which is almostpeculiar to them. Many of the strong-bodied Nymphalidaeand Hesperidse, on the other hand, have an excessively rapidflight, darting by so swiftly that the eye cannot follow them,and in some cases producing a deep sound louder than that ofthe humming-birds.The places they frequent, and their mode of resting,are various and often remarkable. A considerable numberfrequent damp open places, especiallyriver -sides and themargins of pools, assembling togetherin flocks of hundreds ofindividuals ;but these are almost entirely composed of males,the females remaining in the forests, where, towards the afternoon,their partners join them. The majority of butterflies1The Naturalist on the Riwr Amazons, 2d ed., p. 331.
Change language