BORNEO

 

Just after we were dropped off where the road cut through the edge of the rainforest, it started to rain, and from 6.00 pm to 6.15 pm it rained for about 15 minutes. It was not enough to put a damper on the evening, as it was still quite warm and humid, and it was just enough to stir things up to make it an interesting evening. We sheltered under some trees where the nearby road had been split in two.

We soon had our light-sheet strung up. Annoyingly, just as I was grabbing a small tree to tie one end of the supporting rope to, a large jewel beetle flew out of it towards the forest. We fired up both generators, so we could hang a globe on long sticks on either side of the sheet. I had installed a new spark plug in my generator as it had been labouring lately 

Prudently, we plugged our ears with bits of tissue. Better safe than very ,very sorry. Soon after dark the usual compliment of moths started to arrive, and several small males of Chalcosoma mollemkampi came in quite early in the evening. About eight males of this species came in that night altogether, as well as a number of females. A huge brownish Melolonthenid [Scarabidae] with white markings was common.

 I'm checking the light-sheet for interesing moths and beetles. Borneo, May 1996.

By late evening the moths numbered in the thousands, and included several huge species. The relatively common Lucanid Prosopocoilus occipitalis also arrived, most of which were found by torchlight resting on the outer leaves of nearby bushes. The arrival of a male of the lucanid Odontolabis latipennis was interesting as we had not seen this species alive before. A Mormolyce also flew in, a different species to that which had come in to light the previous night. Two Mormolyce to light in two consecutive nights was enough to confirm our supposition that they must be attracted to light quite regularly.

As with the previous evening, the temperature refused to drop below about 26 degrees C, and so it was another hot and sweaty night. We drank all of the six bottles of soft drink and several litres of local water that we brought in the clear plastic mineral water bottles which we had saved aside once their original contents had been drunk.

There was no transport back to the village, the road we were near being rarely travelled during the day and completely deserted at night, so when we decided to pack it up we walked back to the village, carrying everything including the generators. We were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the house an hour or so later, and everybody was asleep, but out in the older part of the house, complete with widely-spaced see-through springy bamboo slats for flooring, there was a welcome meal of various vegetable curries and fish awaiting our return.

The following evening, one of the villagers had found on the road outside a Slow Loris, a small and shy primate, and brought it into the house, causing much amusement to everyone gathered there.

I was invited to share in a jar of Tapai, the local brew made from tapioca, and still fermenting even as you drank it through a narrow verticle straw. The idea was to drink as much as you can in one continous draw until the level dropped to a predetermined point, then add water from a bucket to top the jar up again for the next person. I found it to be quite acceptable, and enjoyed trying to outdrink the locals.

Later that evening, a big tropical storm washed out a promising night's lighting, much to the chagrin of my fellow travellers. It brought a beautiful cooling breeze to this incredibly hot, humid and peaceful place. I drank the welcome coolness in as I sat out the front on the old wooden verandah in the ghostly light of a flourescent tube, watching the flashes of thundering lightning over the forested hills to the north. I knew that at that moment this was where I wanted to be more than anywhere else in the world.

 

Borneo, May 1996.

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There's little in entomology to compare with going to the tropics with friends, travelling hard, experiencing the local culture and scenery, and seeing alive for yourself some of the world's most exotic beetles, butterflies and moths.

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Text & photo Ó Allen Sundholm, 1996-1998