[1]1
Singapore,
April 30th. 1856
My dear Bates2
Hearing from Mr. Stevens3 that you had expressed a wish to hear from me, I will now do myself the pleasure of writing you a long letter, giving you an account of the Entomology of this part of the World, the details of which will be more interesting I am sure to you than to any other person to whom I could communicate them. I must first inform you that I have just received the "Zoologist" containing your letters up to September 14th. 18554 (Ega [Tefé])5 which have interested me exceedingly & have almost made me long to be again on the Amazon, even at the cost of leaving the unknown Spice Islands still unexplored. I have been here since February waiting for a vessel to Macassar [Makassar] (Celebes [Sulawesi]) a country I look forward to exploring with the greatest avidity & with expectation of vast treasures in the Insect world. Malacca [Melaka], Sumatra, Java & Borneo form but one Zoological province the majority of the species in all classes being common to two or more of these countries. There is decidedly less difference between them than between Para [Pará]6 and Santarem [Santarém] or Barra [Manaus].7 I have therefore as yet only visited the best known portion of the Archipelago and consider that I am now about to commence my real work. I have spent 6 months in Malacca [Melaka] & Singapore, & 15 months in Borneo (Sarawak) and have therefore got a good idea of what this part of the Archipelago is like. Compared with the Amazon valley the great & striking feature here is the excessive poverty of the Diurnal Lepidoptera. The glorious Heliconidae represented by a dozen or twenty species of generally obscure coloured Euplaeas. The Nymphalidae containing nothing comparable with the Epicalias, Callitheas, Catagrammas, Callianira, Cybdelis &c. &c. neither is there variety or number of species to make up for this want of brilliancy. Terinos clarissa and a few species of Adolias Limenitis and Charaxes are almost all. The Satyridae have nothing to be placed by the side of the Haeteras of the Amazon. The glorious Erycinidae are represented by 5 — 6 species of Emesis and even the [2] Lycenidae though more numerous and containing some lovely species do not certainly come up to the Theclas of Pará. Even the dull Hesperidae are wanting here for I do not think I have yet exceeded a dozen species of this family. All this is [1 word illeg. struck through] very miserable, and is most discouraging to one who has wandered in the paths around Para [Pará], & on the sands of the Amazon & Rio Negro. The only group in which we may consider the two countries as equal, are in the true Papilios (including Ornithoptera) though even in these I think you have more species. Including ornithoptera & Leptocircus I have yet got only 30 species (5 of which I believe are new)[.] Among them is the magnificent Ornithoptera Brookiana. (Wal.)8 perhaps the most elegant butterfly in the world.
To counterbalance this dearth of Butterflies there should be an abundance of other orders or you will think I have made a change for the worse, and compared with Para [Pará] only perhaps there is, though it is doubtful whether at Ega [Tefé] you have not your Coleoptera quite as abundant as they are here. But I will tell you what I have got, & then you can decide the question, & let me know how you decide it. You must remember it is just now 2 years since I came into Singapore, & out of that time I have lost at least 6 months by sickness, & voyages, besides 6 months of an unusually wet season at Sarawak. However during the summer at Sarawak I was very fortunate in finding a good locality for Coleoptera, which I worked hard. At Singapore & Malacca [Melaka] I collected about 1000 species of Beetles — at Sarawak about 2000, but as at least half or perhaps more of my Singapore species occurred also at Sarawak[.] I reckon my total number of species may be from 2400 to 2500.
The most numerous group is (as I presume with you) the Rhyncophora, of which I have at least 600 species, probably much more. The majority of these are very small and all are remarkably obscure in their colours, being in this respect far inferior to our british [sic] series of species. There are however many beautiful and interesting forms, especially among the Anthribidae, of one of which, (a new genus) I send a rough sketch.9 The group next in point of numbers & to me highest in [3] interest are the Longicornes. Of these I got 50 species the first 10 days at Singapore and when in a good locality seldom pass a day without getting a new one. Of Malacca [Melaka] & Singapore species I obtained about 160; species at Sarawak 290, but only about 50 of the former occurred at Sarawak, so my Longicornes must in all reach 400 species, or very near it. Of these the Lepturidae are most rare consisting of only 4 species, next the Prionidae 8 species, Cerambycidae about 80 species, and all the rest Lamiadae which thus comprise more than ¾ of all the Longicorns. One of the most interesting groups of these is the Genus Glenea consisting of [1 word illeg. struck through] graceful insects about ½ to ¾ inch long, most elegantly marked with spots bands or lines of blue yellow or white. Of these I have 45 species, fully ⅔ of which I expect will prove new, as they are very active & are only found in shady forest paths, where I imagine scarcely any one has collected in Singapore or Borneo. In Clytus I am also rather rich possessing between 20 & 30 species. My largest species are two fine Prionidae 3 ¼ & 3⅓ inches long — a fine Batocera about the same size and a few fine species of Hammaticherus, Phryneta, Monochammus [Monochamus] &c. In all I have only about 30 species exceeding an inch in length, the majority being from ½ to ¾ inch, while a considerable number are of 2 & 3 lines.
I see you say you must have near 500 species of Longicorns, but I do not know if this refers to Ega [Tefé] only or to the whole amount of your S. American collection. The Geodephaga, always rare in the tropics, we must expect to be more so in a nearly level forest country so near the Equator, yet I have found more species than I anticipated. As near as I can reckon I have a hundred. Of these 24 are Cicindelidae viz. 5 cicindela, mostly small and obscure, 6 of the rare genus Therates, which are like small Megacephalas & are found on leaves. Two or three of the curious apterous ant — like Tricondylas, and the rest belong to the elegant genus Collyris resembling your Agras in form, but so active & ready to take flight, that it requires a most rapid & instantaneous stroke of the net to capture them. Among the Carabidae (besides the Mormolyce,) the genus Catascopus is the finest, then Orthogonius, of which I have 6 species (5 alas, ‘unique specimens!) and the rest are mostly small species of Pericallus, Lebia, Dromius & Demetrias, and 2 or 3 species of the curious genus Thyceopterus10
Lamellicornes are very scarce about 140 species in all of which 25 are Cetoniadae (all very rare) and about the same number of Lucanidae.
Elaters are rather plentiful but with few exceptions small & obscure. I have 140 [4] species one nearly 3 inches long and several of 1½ inch. The Buprestidae are exceedingly beautiful, but the larger & finer species are very rare. Half my collection (110 species) are under 4 lines in length, though one, Catoxantha bicolor, is 2 ½ inches.
Two Genera of Cleridae (Omadius and Stigmatium) are rather abundant, others rare; but I have gradually got together a nice collection of at least 50 species which compared with the very few previously known from this part of the world is very satisfactory. The groups already mentioned are those in which I take most interest & of which I have therefore most accurately separated the species. The phytophaga forms the bulk of the remainder of the collection, and though pretty are generally very small. The Heteromera are next in number and contain hosts of closely allied metallic coloured species, and a series of pretty ones near our Melandrya. Then come the Malacoderms which are more numerous in individuals than in species. The Brachyelytra are very scarce & of Paussus I have not yet obtained a species. (There are many curious Endomychidae & some Erotylidae, under decaying wood & fungi.)11
The individual abundance however of Coleoptera is not so great as the number of species would shew. I can hardly collect on an average more than 50 beetles a day, in which there will be from 30 to 40 species. Often in fact 20 or 30 is as much as I can scrape together even when giving my whole attention to them, for unfortunately Butterflies are too scarce to distract it. Of the other orders I have no very accurate account; the species however of all the orders united (except Lepidoptera) about equal the Coleoptera. I found one place only where I could get moths, & obtained above a thousand species mostly of small & average size. My total number of species of Insects I therefore reckon at about 6000, & of specimens collected above 30,000. From these data I think you will be able to form a pretty good judgment [sic] of the comparative Entomological riches of the two countries, which I hope you will communicate to me as soon as convenient. The matter however will not be permanently settled, till I have visited Celebes [Sulawesi], the Moluccas [Maluku Islands] &c. which I hope to find as much superior to the Western Islands of the Archipelago as the Upper is to the Lower Amazon.
In other branches of Natural History I have as yet done little. The birds of Malacca [Melaka] & Borneo though beautiful are so common as not to be worth collecting. With the Orangutan I was successful, shooting 15, & proving I think satisfactorily the disputed point of the existence of two species. The forests here are scarcely to be distinguished from those of Brazil but by the various species of Calamus (Rattan palm) and the presence of Pandani, as well as by the rarity or absence of those Leguminous trees with finely divided foliage which are so frequent in the Amazonian forests. The people and their customs I hardly like so well as those of Brazil, but the comparatively new Settlements of Singapore and Sarawak are not good specimens. Here provisions & labour are dear & travelling both tedious & expensive — Servants wages are high and the customs of the country do not permit you to live in the free & easy style of Brazil.12
[5]13 I keep a complete series of Coleoptera & Lepidoptera from each Island, so as to study the Geog[raphical]. distribution. Mr Saunders14 takes series of all the other orders of which he has undertaken to publish lists. I wish you could work some locality on the N. side of the river so as to ascertain how far it separates distinct faunas. I trust you have your Obidos & Barra [Manaus] collections kept quite separate. The birds of the lower Amazon are very distinct on the two sides. I put a locality ticket to every one of my specimens. Of my Longicornes Carabidae Buprestidae & Cetoniadae I have made figures and short descriptions sufficiently accurate to determine how many of the species I may obtain for the future, are identical with those of Malacca [Melaka] & Borneo. This enables me to send home my private collections when I leave each locality. For the future I intend keeping a daily collecting register of the number of species of each order & of each principal group of Coleoptera I capture — If you would do the same you would I think find it interesting for reference & for comparisons between your various stations and between us at some future day. I once took 130 species of moths in one evening, at a lamp in a verandah. I hope you are keeping plenty of duplicates, especially of your Longicorns as I hope some day to be able to make exchanges with you, and have some idea of collecting all Longicorns, if I continue to find them abundant & can get duplicates enough to exchange for the species of other countries.
I must tell you that the fruits of the East are a delusion. Never have I seen a place where fruits are more scarce & poor than at Singapore. In Sarawak & at Malacca [Melaka] they are more abundant but there is nothing to make up for the deficiency of Oranges which are here so sour & disagreeable that they would never be eaten even in England. There are only two good fruits the Mangosteen and the Durian. The first is very nice but not deserving of the high place generally giveng [sic] to it. The durian is however a wonderful fruit quite unique of its kind, & worth coming to the [6] Eastern Archipelago to enjoy. It is totally unlike every other fruit. A thick glutinous almond flavoured custard is the only thing it can be compared to, but that it far surpasses. Both these however can hardly be had more than one or two months in the year and in all towns & villages except for in the interior are dear. The plantains even & bananas are poor, like the worst sorts of S. America.
If you should fall in with Spruce15 remember me most kindly to him & tell him I will write when I get into unknown ground.
[7] May 10th. The ship is at last in which I have been waiting for nearly 3 months, and in about a week I hope to be off for Macassar [Makassar]. The monsoon is however dead against us & we shall have to beat all the way, it will be probably a forty days passage. But then I hope to be rewarded. Celebes [Sulawesi] is quite as unknown as was the Upper Amazon before your researches or perhaps more so. In the B[ritish]. M[useum]. catalogues from of Cetoniadae Buprestidae Longicorns Papilionidae &c.16 there are no specimens from Celebes [Sulawesi] & very few from the Moluccas [Maluku Islands], & the fine large insects which have long been known by the old naturalists & some of which have recently been obtained by Madame Pfeiffer17 gave good promise of what a systematic search may produce.
Wishing you good success & hoping to have an interesting letter from you in due course[.]
I remain Dear Bates | Yours faithfully | Alfred R Wallace [signature]
H. Bates Esq.
Status: Edited (but not proofed) transcription [Letter (WCP364.364)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
[1]1
1st part of the following letter
Singapore
April 30th, 1856
My dear Bates.
"Hearing from Mr. Stevens that you had expressed a wish to hear from me, I will now do myself the pleasure of writing you a long letter, giving you an a/ct [account] of the Entomology of this part of the world, the details of wh[ich] will be more interesting, I am sure, to you than to any other person to whom I could communicate them. I must 1st inform you that I have just rec[eived] the "Zoologist"2 containing your letters up to Sep[tember] 14. 1855. (Ega)3 wh[ich] have interested me exceedingly, & have almost made me long to be again on the Amazon, even at the cost of leaving the unknown Spice Islands still unexplored. I have been here since Feb[ruary] waiting for a vessel to Macassar (Celebes4), a country I look forward to exploring with the greatest avidity & with expectation of vast treasures in the insect world. "
[2]5 "Extracts from a letter from A. R. Wallace (Borneo Singapore) to H. W. Bates (Ega)"
Singapore
April 30. 1856
"6 Malacca, Sumatra, Java, & Borneo form but 1 zoological province, the majority of the species in all classes being common to 2 or more of these countries. There is decidedly less difference between them than between Pará7 & Santarem8 (on the Amazon) or Barra9 (do[sic] Rio Negro). I have, therefore, as yet, only visited the best known portion of the archipelago. I consider that I am now about to commence my real work. I have spent 6 months in Malacca & Singapore &15 months in Borneo (Sarawak) & have, therefore, got a good idea of what this part of the archipelago is like. Compared with the Amazon Valley the great & striking feature here is the excessive poverty of the Diurnal Lepidoptera10. The glorious "Heliconidae" represented by 12 or 20 species of, generally, obscure col[ore]d "Euplaeas". The "nymphalidae" containing nothing com- [3]11 parable with the "Epicalias", "Callithea," "Catagrammas", "Calliamra"["Callianira"], "Cybdeles," ["Cybdelis,"] &c &c Neither is there variety or number of species to make up for this want of brilliancy. "Terinos clarissa" & a few species of "adolias", "Limenitis", and "charaxes" are almost all. The "Satyridae" have nothing to be placed by the side of the "Hateras" of the Amazon. The glorious "Erycinidae" are represented by 5 or 6 species of "Emesis" and even the "Lycenidae", tho[ugh] more numerous & containing some lovely species do not, certainly, come up to the "Theclas" of Pará. Even the dull "Hesperidae" are wanting here for I do not think I have yet exceeded a 12 species of this family. All this is very miserable & is most discouraging to one who has wandered in the paths around Pará & on the sands of the Amazon and Rio Negro. The only group in which we may consider the 2 countries as equal are in the true "Papilios" (including "Ornithoptera") tho[ugh] even in these I think you have more species. Including "Ornithoptera" and "Lepidoptera." I have yet [4]12got only 30 species (5 of wh[ich] I believe are new)[.] Amongst these is the magnificent "Ornithoptera Brookiana13 (Wallace) perhaps the most elegant butterfly in the world.
To counterbalance this dearth of Butterflies there sh[oul]d be an abundance of other orders or you will think I have made a change for the worse, and, compared with Pará only, perhaps, there is, tho[ugh] it is doubtful whether at Ega you have not your Coleop(tera)s:14 quite as abundant as they are here. But I will tell you what I have got and then you can decide the question, & let me know how you decide it. You must remember it is just now 2 years since I came into Singapore & out of the time I have lost at least 6 months by sickness and voyages, besides 6 months of an unusually wet season at Sarawak. However during the summer at S[arawak] I was very fortunate in finding a good locality for Coleop(tera)s wh[ich] I worked hard. At Singapore and Malacca I collected about 1000 species of beetles — at Sarawak about 2000 [species]; but, as at least ½ or [5]15perhaps more of my Singapore species occurred also at Sarawak I reckon my total number of species may be from 2400 to 2500. The most numerous group is (as I presume with you) the "Rhyncophora"16, of wh[ich] I have at least 600 species, probably much more. The majority of these are very small & all are remarkably obscure in their colors [sic] being, in this respect, far inferior to our British series of species. There are, however, many beautiful & interesting forms, especially amongst the "Anthribidae", of one of wh[ich] (a new genus) I send a rough sketch.17
The group next in point of numbers &, to me, highest in interest, are the "Longicornes".18 Of these I got 50 species the first 10 days in Singapore, &, when in a good locality, seldom pass a day without getting a new one. Of Malacca & Singapore species I obtained about [6]19160; at Sarawak 290, but only about 50 of the former occurred at Sarawak, so my "Longicornes" must, in all, reach 400 species or very near it. Of these the "Lepturidae" are most rare consisting of only 4 species, next the "Prionidae" 8 species, "Cerambycidae" about 80 species & all the rest "Lamiadae" wh[ich] thus comprise more than ¾ of all the "Longicornes" — one of the most interesting groups of these is the genus "Glenea" consisting of graceful insects about ½ to ¾ in[ches] long, most elegantly marked with spots, bands, or lines of blue, yellow or white. Of these I have 45 species fully ⅔ of wh[ich] I expect will prove new, as they are very active & are only found in shady forest paths where I imagine scarcely any one has collected in Singapore or Borneo. In "Clytus" I am also rather rich possessing between 20 and 30 species — my largest species are 2 fine "Prionidae" 3 ¼ and 3⅓ in[ches] long — a fine "Batocera" about the same size & a few fine species of "Hammaticherus*", "Phryneta", "Monohammus"["Monochamus"] &c. In all I have only about 30 species exceeding 1 in[ch] in length, the majority being from ½ to ¾ in[ch]: [7]20while a considerable number are of 2 & 3 lines — I see you say you must have near 500 species of "Longicornes", but I do not know if this refers to Ega only or to the whole amt [amount] of your S[outh] American collection.
The "Geodephaga"21, always rare in the tropics, we must expect to be more so in a nearly level forest country so near the Equator, yet I have found more species than I anticipated. As near as I can reckon I have 100. Of these 24 are "Cicindelidae" viz. 5 "Cicindela" (mostly small & obscure) 6 of the rare genus "Therates" (wh[ich] are like small Megacephalus) wh[ich] are found on leaves — 2 or 3 of the curious, apterous ant-like "Tricondylas", and the rest belong to the elegant genus "Collyris" resembling your "Agras" in form, but so active & ready to take flight, that it requires a most rapid and instantaneous stroke of the net to capture them.
Among the "Carabidae" (besides the "Mormolyce") the genus "Catascopus" is the finest, then "Orthogonius". Of wh[ich] I [8]22have 6 species. (5 alas! unique specimens!) & the rest are mostly small species of "Pericalus," "Lebia," "Dromius" & Demetricas" of 2 or 3 species of the curious genus "Thyceoptera" (=2y: [similar to?] Thyreopterus. F. B[.])23
"Lamellicornes" are very scarce about 140 species in all. 25 are "Cetoniadae" (all very rare) & about the same number "Lucanidae".
"Elaters" are rather plentiful but, with few exceptions, small & obscure. I have 140 species. 1 nearly 3 in. long & several of 1 ½ in. The "Buprestidae" are exceedingly beautiful, but the larger & finer species are very rare. Half of my collection (110 species) are under 4 lines in length, tho[ugh] 1,"Catoxantha bicolor," is 2 ½ inches.
2 Genera of "Cleridae" ("Omadius" and "Stigmatium") are rather abundant, others rare; but I have gradually got together a nice collection of at least 50 species wh[ich] compared with the very few previously known from this part of the world is very satisfactory. The groups already mentioned [9]24are those in which I take most interest & of which I have therefore most accurately separated the species. The "Phytophaga" form the bulk of the remainder of the collection, and tho[ugh] pretty are generally very small — The "Heteromera" are next in number & contain hosts of closely allied metallic cold[ored] species, and a series of pretty ones near our "Melandrya" — Then come the "Malacoderms" — which are more numerous in individuals than in species — The "Brachyelytra" are very scarce & of "Paussus" I have not yet obtained a species — There are many curious "Endomychidae" & some "Erotylidae" under decaying wood & fungi.
The individual abundance, however, of "Coleop[tera]s is not so great as the number of species w[oul]d show. I can hardly collect on an average more than 50 beetles a day, in wh[ich] there will be from 30 to 40 species. Often in fact 20 or 30 is as much as I can scrape together even when giving my whole attention to them, for, unfortunately, [10]25Butterflies are too scarce to distract it. Of the other orders I have no very accurate a/ct[account]. The species, however of all the orders united (except "Lepidoptera") about equal the "Coleop[tera]s. — I found 1 place only where I could get moths, & obtained above 1000 species, mostly of small and average size. My total number of species of insects I therefore reckon at about 6000, & of specimens collected above 30,000 — from these data I think you will be able to form a pretty good judgment of the comparative Entomological riches of the 2 countries wh[ich] I hope you will communicate to me as soon as convenient. The matter, however, will not be permanently settled 'till I have visited Celebes, the Moluccas &c. wh[ich] I hope to find as much superior to the Western Islands of the archipelago as the upper is to the lower Amazon — In other branches of Natural hist[ory] I have as yet done little. The Birds of Malacca & Borneo tho[ugh] beautiful are so common as not to be worth collecting — with the "Orang utan" I was [11]26successful, shooting 15 and proving I think satisfactorily the disputed point of the existence of 2 species. The forests here are scarcely to be distinguished from those of Brazil but by the various species of "Calamus" ("Rattan Palm") and the presence of "Pandani" — as well as by the rarity or absence of those Leguminous trees with finely divided foliage wh[ich] are so frequent in the Amazonian forest. The people and their custom I hardly like as well as those of Brazil, but the comparatively new settlements of Singapore and Sarawak are not good specimens — Here provision, & labor are dear & travelling both tedious and expensive — Servants wages are high & and the customs of the country do not permit you to live in the free & easy style of Brazil.
I keep a complete series of "Coleop[tera]s" and "Lepidop[tera]s" from ea[ch] Island, so as to study the Geog[raphical] distribution — Mr Saunders27 takes series of all the other orders of wh[ich] he has undertaken to publish lists — I wish you could work some locality on the N[orth] side of the river (Amazon) so as to [12]28ascertain how far it separates distinct faunas. I trust you have your Obidos29 & Barra collection kept quite separate — the birds of the lower Amazon are very distinct on the 2 sides — I put a locality ticket to every one of my specimens — of my "Longicornes," "Carabidae", "Buprestidae", & "Cetoniadae'30 I have made figures & short descriptions sufficiently accurate to determine how many of the species I may obtain for the future are identical with those of Malacca & Borneo. This enables me to send home my private collections when I leave each locality. For the future I intend keeping a daily collecting register of the no. of species of ea[ch] order & of ea[ch] principal group of "Coleop[tera]s" I capture. If you w[oul] d do the same you w[oul]d I think find it interesting for reference & for comparisons between your various stations & between us at some future day.
I once took 130 species of moths in an evening at a lamp on a verandah. I hope you are keeping plenty of duplicates especially of your "Longicornes" as I hope [13]31some day to be able to make exchanges with you, and have some idea of collecting all "Longicornes" if I continue to find them abundant & can get duplicates enough to exchange for the species of other countries.
I must tell you that the fruits of the East are a delusion. Never have I seen a place where fruits are more scarce & poor than at Singapore. In Sarawak & and at Malacca they are more abundant but there is nothing to make up for the deficiency of oranges wh[ich] are here so sour & disagreeable that they w[oul]d never be eaten even in England. There are only 2 good fruits the "Mangosteen" & the "Durian" — the 1st is very nice but not deserving of the high place generally given to it. The "Durian" is, however, a wonderful fruit quite unique of its kind, & worth coming to the Eastern archipelago to enjoy. It is totally unlike every other fruit — a thick, glutinous, almond flavored custard is the only [14]32Thing it can be compared to, but that it far surpasses. Both these, however, can hardly be had more than 1 or 2 months in the year, and in all towns & villages, except far in the interior, are dear. The "pla in with Spruce remember me most kindly to him & tell him I will write when I get into unknown ground.
May 10
The ship is at last in wh[ich] I have been waiting for nearly 3 months & in about a week I hope to be off for Macassar (in the Celebes) — the monsoon is however dead against us & we shall have to beat all the way, it will be, probably, a 40 days passage — But then I hope to be rewarded — Celebes is quite as unknown as was the upper Amazon before your researches or perhaps more so. In the Brit[ish] Mus[eum] Catalogues of "Cetoniadae", "Buprestidae", "Longicornes," "Papilionidae"33 &c. there are no specimens from [15]34Celebes & very few from Moluccas. & the fine, large insects wh[ich] have long been known by the old naturalists & some of wh[ich] have recently been obtained by Mad[am] Pfeiffer35 give good promise of what a systematic search may produce.
Wishing you good success & hoping to have an interesting letter form you in due course[.]
I remain, Dear Bates | Yours faithfully, | Alfred R Wallace. [signature]
H. Bates Esq.
P.S. What is your greatest no. of species of "Coleop[tera]s" collected in a day? — Mine is 70 of wh[ich] 17 were "Longicornes" —
A sketch of Anthribidae occupies the lower left quadrant of the page, a spotted beetle with a body measuring just over a centimetre and antennae about four centimetres long. Written beneath the sketch is, "Note. This species, on its arrival, has been named 'Cerastonema Wallacei' — by Waterhouse | F.B.[Signature]" This refers to Waterhouse, George Robert(1810-1888), British entomologist and Curator of the Museum of the Zoological Society of London. The initials are those of Bates, Frederick (1829-1903). British brewery manager and amateur entomologist; younger brother of Henry Walter Bates
To the right is a squiggly vertical line separating the note from the primary text.
Written vertically along the right side of the sketch are the words "some specimens have the antennae much longer."
Status: Draft transcription [Transcription (WCP364.3456)]
For more information about the transcriptions and metadata, see https://wallaceletters.myspecies.info/content/epsilon
Please cite as “WCP364,” in Beccaloni, G. W. (ed.), Ɛpsilon: The Alfred Russel Wallace Collection accessed on 28 April 2024, https://epsilon.ac.uk/view/wallace/letters/WCP364