By George Beccaloni, March 2018
[In preparation]
Alfred Russel Wallace (ARW) collected an estimated 5000 new species (mostly animals) during his 8 year trip to the 'Malay Archipelago' (1854-62) and an unknown number during his earlier 4 year trip to Amazonia (1848-52) [many of his specimens were destroyed when his ship caught fire on the way back to Britain]. He personally named and described 307 new species (12 palms, 120 butterflies, 70 beetles and 105 birds) in 21 scientific articles and one book. At least 4,700 other new species collected by him and his assistants were described in about 350 publications by leading amateur and professional naturalists. About 250 of these species were named after Wallace, usually as wallacii or wallacei.
Below is a selection of a few of the most 'iconic' (well known/beautiful/unusual) new species that Wallace collected.
AMAZONIA
1) Plants
Leopoldinia major Wallace, 1853
Leopoldinia piassaba Wallace, 1853
Catinga Palm (Euterpe catinga Wallace, 1853: ):
Mauritia carana Wallace, 1853
MALAY ARCHIPELAGO
1) Insects & Spiders
Friula wallacei
Wallace's Cyriopalus Beetle - (Cyriopalus wallacei)
Resplendent Jewel Beetle - (Chrysochroa wallacei)
Wallace’s Longhorn Beetle (Batocera wallacei), a species discovered by Wallace on the Aru Islands and named after him by Thomson in 1858.. This species probably has the longest antennae of any beetle.
Wallace's giant bee (Chalicodoma pluto Smith, 1860: ). Collected by Wallace on Bacan Island, Indonesia in 1859. 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
Rajah Brooke's Birdwing Butterfly (Ornithoptera brookiana Wallace, 1855: 104 (= Trogonoptera brookiana)): Named in honour of Sir James Brooke the ruler of Sarawak, Borneo. The species was described from a specimen from Sarawak which had been given to Wallace. He writes the following about his capture of this species in The Malay Archipelago: "My collection of butterflies was not large; but I obtained some rare and very handsome insects, the most remarkable being the Ornithoptera Brookeana, one of the most elegant species known......This species, which was then quite new and which I named after Sir James Brooke, was very rare. It was seen occasionally flying swiftly in the clearings, and now and then settling for an instant at puddles and muddy places, so that I only succeeded in capturing two or three specimens.."
Wallace's golden birdwing butterfly (Ornithoptera croesus). 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
Wallace's Fairywren (Todopsis [now Sipodotus] wallacii).
'I was so fortunate as to discover a new species (Megapodius wallacei [now Eulipoa wallacei, the Moluccan Megapode]), which inhabits Gilolo, Ternate, and Bouru. It is the handsomest bird of the genus…and it differs from the other species in its habits. It…comes down to the sea-beach to deposit its eggs, but instead of making a mound…it burrows into the sand to the depth of about three feet…and deposits its eggs at the bottom. It then loosely covers up the mouth of the hole…'
The Sulawesi Myna (Basilornis celebensis)
Wallace's Standard-Wing Bird of Paradise (Semioptera wallacei), ‘...an entirely new form of Bird of Paradise, discovered by myself in the island of Batchian, and especially distinguished by a pair of long narrow feathers of a white colour . . . [which] are capable of being erected at pleasure.’
The Aru Giant Kingfisher (Dacelo tyro). It ‘…must be regarded as one of the finest of Mr. Wallace’s discoveries...’ wrote John Gould in 1860.
Yellow-and-green Lorikeet (Trichoglossus flavoviridis), a new species named by Wallace from specimens from the Sula Islands. It is also found on Sulawesi but the one specimen Wallace had from there '…was carried away by a rat, while drying, and was never recovered.'
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."
The Golden Monarch (Carterornis [formerly Monarcha] chrysomela), ‘…by some authors considered to be the most beautiful of all flycatchers…’, collected by Wallace on the Aru Islands; and (below), the Sunda Minivet (Pericrocotus miniatus), '...which looks like a flame of fire as it flutters among the bushes...', obtained by Wallace in West Java.
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