worked out. I will therefore refer to one only, which I have myself recently
studied—the Cetoniadae or Rose-chafers—a group of beetles which, owing to
their extreme beauty, have been much sought after. From Java 37 species of
these insects are known, and from Celebes only 30; yet only 13, or 35 percent,
are peculiar to the former island, and 19, or 63 percent, to the latter.
The result of these comparisons is, that although Celebes is a single, large
island with only a few smaller ones closely grouped around it, we must really
consider it as forming one of the great divisions of the Archipelago, equal in
rank and importance to the whole of the Moluccan or Philippine groups, to the
Papuan islands, or to the Indo-Malay islands (Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and the
Malay peninsula). Taking those families of insects and birds which are best
known, the following table shows the comparison of Celebes with the other
groups of islands:—
PAPILIONIDAE AND HAWKS, PARROTS, AND
PERIDAE PIGEONS.
Percent of peculiar Percent of peculiar
Species. Species.
Indo-Malay region.... 56.......... 54
Philippine group .... 66.......... 73
Celebes......... 69.......... 60
Moluccan group ..... 52.......... 62
Timor group....... 42.......... 47
Papuan group ...... 64.......... 74
These large and well-known families well represent the general character of
the zoology of Celebes; and they show that this island is really one of the most
isolated portions of the Archipelago, although situated in its very centre.
But the insects of Celebes present us with other phenomena more curious and
more difficult to explain than their striking individuality. The butterflies of that
island are in many cases characterised by a peculiarity of outline, which
distinguishes them at a glance from those of any other part of the world. It is
most strongly manifested in the Papilios and the Pieridae, and consists in the
forewings being either strongly curved or abruptly bent near the base, or in the
extremity being elongated and often somewhat hooked. Out of the 14 species of
Papilio in Celebes, 13 exhibit this peculiarity in a greater or less degree, when
compared with the most nearly allied species of the surrounding islands. Ten
species of Pieridae have the same character, and in four or five of the
Nymphalidae it is also very distinctly marked. In almost every case, the species
found in Celebes are much larger than those of the islands westward, and at least
equal to those of the Moluccas, or even larger. The difference of form is,
however, the most remarkable feature, as it is altogether a new thing for a whole
set of species in one country to differ in exactly the same way from the