Article

Insects

From Munshipedia, the MBRAS digital historical encyclopedia

Insects

Insects have been a persistent subject of natural-historical investigation in the Malay Peninsula and Borneo since the late nineteenth century, attracting attention from museum curators, colonial naturalists, and field observers alike. The Society’s literature documents a range of entomological findings—from the first recorded case of parthenogenesis in the order Orthoptera to mass butterfly migrations in the Perak highlands, from phasmid pests of cultivated orchids in Sarawak to the microfauna of pitcher-plant pitchers in Singapore. These records collectively reveal a tradition of observation that moved between the spectacular and the minute, between the economic and the purely taxonomic, and that was shaped by the institutional contexts of the Raffles Museum, the Sarawak Museum, and the National Museum in Singapore.

Members & Sub-Topics

Taxonomic Discovery and Descriptive Entomology

The earliest entomological contributions in the Society’s literature are characterised by the description of new species and the documentation of previously unknown biological phenomena. In 1902, R. Hanitsch, Curator of the Raffles Museum, Singapore, published a short note recording what he identified as the first case of parthenogenesis in the order Orthoptera, based on his rearing of the phasmid Eurycnema herculanea Charpentier at the Raffles Museum between 1897 and 1898 [1]. A single female, received in January 1897, produced eggs that hatched into all-female offspring without any contact with males; the first generation reached maturity by August 1897 and began laying eggs by September, while a second generation hatched in 1898, one female of which laid eggs on 15 September 1898, though these failed to develop, likely owing to artificial rearing conditions [1, pp. 33–34]. Hanitsch noted the remarkable developmental variation in hatching time, ranging from 165 to over 240 days, and observed the insects’ ability to regenerate lost legs during moulting, though the replacements never reached full size [1, pp. 34–35]. The note also provides a detailed morphological description of the adult female, whose total length reached up to 230 mm, including measurements of the head, thoracic segments, abdomen, legs, wings, ovipositor, and eggs, and situates the finding within the broader context of known parthenogenetic cases across insect orders [1, pp. 35–36].

At the other end of the taxonomic scale, D. H. Murphy described in 1965 a new species of onychiurid springtail, Tullbergia (Stenaphorura) gibsoni, from grassland soils in Singapore, dedicating it to the memory of Dr. Gibson-Hill [2]. The species is distinguished within the subgenus Stenaphorura by a unique pseudocellar formula (11/122/22221) and the absence of a smooth protuberance on Ant. IV and an anterior integumental lobe on Abd. VI, features that align it most closely with S. quadrispina C.B. [2, p. 24]. Murphy noted that all previously known Stenaphorura species had been described from Europe, with only a single extra-European record from Western Australia (Womersley, 1939), making this the first formally described species from the region [2, p. 22]. The holotype female and allotype male are deposited in the British Museum (Natural History), London, with a reference set of paratypes in the National Museum, Singapore [2, p. 25].

Ecological and Behavioural Observations

Beyond taxonomy, the Society’s literature records a number of ecological and behavioural observations that illuminate the interactions between insects and their environments. In 1928, Cedric Dover, Louis Fage, Stanley Hirst, W. H. T. Tams, and Ekendanath Ghosh published a multi-author article documenting the fauna associated with Nepenthes pitcher-plants on Singapore Island [3]. The authors noted that Culicid larvae are the most abundant insect associates, but that a minute thread-like worm, not classifiable within Anguillidae or Mermithidae, is the most common organism, particularly in N. ampullaria [3, p. 1]. A small Noctuid moth was described as a regular associate of N. rafflesiana, with larvae living and pupating on the pitcher’s conducting surface while the adult consistently escapes unharmed [3, p. 1]. The most curious associate identified was a small red spider attracted to N. gracilis by insect remains, which moves freely over the gland-studded pitcher surface without being harmed by the secretion [3, p. 1]. The authors also drew parallels with the well-known Sarracenia associates of North America, such as the blue-banded anthophorid bees and the Culicid Wyeomyia smithi, whose eggs hatch only when pitchers refill with water, and with the broader leaf-base faunas of Bromeliaceae, which include invertebrates and even vertebrates [3, p. 1].

In 1927, the Rev. R. Cardon documented a mass migration of Catopsilia pomona (F.) observed in Upper Perak in May 1927, moving from north to south [4]. Cardon described encountering the migration between Lenggong and Lawin, where thousands of the butterflies flew in dense swarms along the road, with some resting so thickly on wet ground that they were at risk of being run over by vehicles [4, p. 314]. He confirmed through netting that the migration was composed almost exclusively of C. pomona, with only a few C. pyranthe, C. chryseis, and C. scylla present as non-migratory associates [4, p. 314]. Among his captures, Cardon identified two female forms: a new form bidotata with two patches on the underside of the posticae, and the common catilla form with a large discal reddish patch [4, pp. 314–315]. The migration lasted approximately four days, from 26 to 29 May, after which only isolated individuals remained [4, p. 315]. Cardon briefly compared this event to a 1902 migration of Delias aglaia parthenope in Singapore and to Rev. L. C. Biggs’s 1881 account of D. aegialea migrations in Java [4, p. 315].

Economic and Agricultural Significance

The economic dimensions of insect activity in the region are attested in a brief but notable note by H. N. Ridley, published in 1894 alongside G. F. Haviland’s observations on an infant orang-utan [5]. Ridley described two species of Phasmidae (stick insects) identified as pests of cultivated orchids in Sarawak: a species of Pyloemenes near P. coronatus Westw. and Datames Oileus Westwood, the latter previously known only from a unique specimen in the British Museum [5, p. 204]. Both were noted as voracious leaf-eaters of epiphytic orchids, a finding of direct relevance to the orchid trade that was then developing in the region [5, p. 204]. This is among the earliest records in the Society’s literature that explicitly links insect behaviour to agricultural or horticultural loss.

A further, if more oblique, reference to the intersection of birds and insects appears in a short note by A. W. Hamilton, “Some Malayan birds and insects,” published in 1925 [6]. The record, however, provides no substantive detail beyond its title, and its content cannot be assessed from the available archival evidence.

Research and Documentation

The Society’s literature on insects spans a period of more than six decades, from Hanitsch’s 1902 note on parthenogenesis to Murphy’s 1965 description of a new springtail species, and reveals several shifts in emphasis and methodology. The earliest contributions are dominated by museum-based rearing and morphological description: Hanitsch’s work at the Raffles Museum and Ridley’s identification of phasmid orchid pests in Sarawak both reflect the practice of the colonial-era naturalist who combined field collection with laboratory observation. The mid-period, represented by Dover et al.’s 1928 pitcher-plant fauna study and Cardon’s 1927 migration account, shows a growing interest in ecological interactions and large-scale behavioural phenomena, with the former employing a multi-author collaborative format that drew on the expertise of specialists in different taxonomic groups. The later contribution, Murphy’s 1965 springtail description, marks a return to fine-scale taxonomic work but one conducted within a more rigorous framework of type deposition and comparative morphology, with specimens distributed between the British Museum (Natural History) and the National Museum, Singapore [2, p. 25].

The records also reveal a consistent pattern of firsts and rarities: the first recorded parthenogenesis in Orthoptera [1], the first formally described Stenaphorura species from the region [2, p. 22], a phasmid species previously known only from a single type specimen [5, p. 204], and a new female form of Catopsilia pomona [4, pp. 314–315]. This emphasis on novelty and rarity is characteristic of the natural-historical tradition in which the Society’s contributors worked, and it underscores the value of the archival record as a repository of foundational observations that established the baseline for subsequent entomological research in the region.

MBRAS Sources

References

  1. Hanitsch R (1902). On the parthogenetic breeding of Eurycnema herculanea, Charpentier JSBRAS 38: 35–38.
  2. D.H. Murphy (1965). Tullbergia (Stenaphorura) gibsoni n. sp. (Collembola, Onychiuridae) from grass land soils in Singapore JMBRAS 38(2): 22–25.
  3. C. Dover (1928). Notes on the fauna of pitcher-plants from Singapore Island. C. Dover {and others JMBRAS 6(3): 1–27.
  4. R. Cardon (1927). On a migration of Catopsilia pomona (F. JMBRAS 5(2): 314–315. Read on JSTOR
  5. Haviland G.F and H.N. Ridley (1894). Notes on an infant maias JSBRAS 26: 204–206.
  6. Hamilton A.W (1925). Some Malayan birds and insects JMBRAS 3(3): 31–32.