By George Beccaloni, March 2018
Wallace discovered around 5,000 species new to science on his collecting expeditions to South America and the 'Malay Archipelago'. Here are a selection of a few of the most 'iconic' ones.
AMAZONIA
1) Plants
Leopoldinia major Wallace
Leopoldinia piassaba Wallace
Euterpe catinga Wallace
Mauritia carana Wallace
2) Fish
Altum Angelfish - (Pterophyllum altum)
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO
1) Insects & Spiders
Friula wallacei
Wallace's Cyriopalus Beetle - (Cyriopalus wallacei)
Resplendent Jewel Beetle - (Chrysochroa wallacei)
Wallace's longhorn beetle (Batocera wallacei). This species was discovered by Wallace on the Aru Islands, Indonesia and named after him by Thomson in 1858.
Wallace's giant bee (Chalicodoma pluto) was collected by Wallace on Bacan Island, Indonesia in 1859 and was named by Smith in 1860. This species is the largest bee in the world. Females (like the specimen illustrated) have huge jaws which they use to collect resin to line their nests, which they excavate in arboreal termite nests. For more information see http://www.pollinators.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/giant-bee.pdf
Raja Brooke's Birdwing
Wallace's golden birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera croesus) was collected by Wallace in Bacan Island, Indonesia and named by him in 1859. He writes the following about his capture of this species in his book The Malay Archipelago: “The beauty and brilliancy of this insect are indescribable, and none but a naturalist can understand the intense excitement I experienced when I at length captured it. On taking it out of my net and opening the glorious wings, my heart began to beat violently, the blood rushed to my head, and I felt much more like fainting than I have done when in apprehension of immediate death. I had a headache the rest of the day, so great was the excitement produced by what will appear to most people a very inadequate cause.”
2) Reptiles & Amphibians
Wallace's flying frog (Rhacophorus nigropalmatus) was discovered by Wallace in Sarawak, Borneo and named by Boulenger in 1895 (not based on a specimen Wallace collected, however). Wallace writes the following about his capture of this species in his book The Malay Archipelago: "One of the most curious and interesting reptiles which I met with in Borneo was a large tree-frog, which was brought me by one of the Chinese workmen. He assured me that he had seen it come down in a slanting direction from a high tree, as if it flew. On examining it, I found the toes very long and fully webbed to their very extremity, so that when expanded they offered a surface much larger than the body......This is, I believe, the first instance known of a "flying frog," and it is very interesting to Darwinians as showing that the variability of the toes which have been already modified for purposes of swimming and adhesive climbing, have been taken advantage of to enable an allied species to pass through the air like the flying lizard." This watercolour was painted by Wallace in Sarawak and was used as the basis of the woodcut illustration of this species in The Malay Archipelago.
Cyclemys ovata Gray, 1863: 178.
3) Birds
Spizaetus nanus Wallace, 1868 (now Nisaetus nanus), Wallace's hawk-eagle - described by Wallace from a single specimen from Sarawak collected in 1856.
Wallace’s Scops Owl Otus silvicola
Moluccan Megapode Eulipoa wallacei
Wallace's Standard-Wing - (Semioptera wallacei)
Dacelo tyro
The white-rumped kingfisher (Caridonax fulgidus) was collected by Wallace on Lombok Island, Indonesia and named by Gould in 1857. Wallace writes the following about his capture of this species in his book The Malay Archipelago: "I obtained here eight species of Kingfishers; among which was a very beautiful new one, named by Mr. Gould, Halcyon fulgidus. It was found always in thickets, away from water, and seemed to feed on snails and insects picked up from the ground after the manner of the great Laughing Jackass of Australia."
The little paradise-kingfisher (Tanysiptera hydrocharis) was collected by Wallace on the Aru Islands and named by Gray in 1858. It is found on New Guinea and surrounding islands
The New Guinea bronzewing (Henicophaps albifrons) was collected by Wallace on Waigeo Island, Indonesia and named by Gray in 1862. Wallace writes the following about his capture of this species in his book The Malay Archipelago:"...a most curious ground-pigeon of an entirely new genus, and remarkable for its long and powerful bill."
4) Mammals
Common tube-nosed fruit bat (Nyctimene albiventer)
The striped possum (Dactylopsila trivirgata) was collected by Wallace on the Aru Islands, Indonesia and named by Gray in 1858.
The Moluccan cuscus (Phalanger ornatus) was collected by Wallace on Bacan Island, Indonesia and named by Gray in 1860. Wallace writes the following about this species in his book The Malay Archipelago: "The figure represents Cuscus ornatus, a new species discovered by me in Batchian, and which also inhabits Ternate. It is peculiar to the Moluccas, while the two other species which inhabit Ceram are found also in New Guinea and Waigiou." This illustration is from Wallace's book The Malay Archipelago.
The little Celebes cuscus (Strigocuscus celebensis) was collected by Wallace on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia and named by Gray in 1858.
Rheithrosciurus macrotis
Bay Cat