Alfred russel wallace and malay archapeliago12/22/2023 "Some years ago, on looking over some insect drawers in my collection, Mr. Marchant (1916) in his book about Wallace published the following note that Pickard-Cambridge who named this species had sent him: Wallace's Two-clubbed Spider ( Friula wallacei Pickard-Cambridge, 1897: 1009). This peculiar spider, a member of the subfamily Gasteracanthinae, is currently only known from the single specimen Wallace collected in Sarawak, which is preserved in the Oxford Museum of Natural History, UK. Illustration of Euterpe catinga from Wallace, 1853. Wallace (1853) writes "The preparation of the fruit of this species is sweeter and more finely flavoured than that of any other, and is therefore much sought after." The stems are used in house construction, the leaves are used for thatching temporary shelters, and mature fruits are occasionally used to make a drink. Illustration of Leopoldinia piassaba from Wallace, 1853.Ĭatinga Palm ( Euterpe catinga Wallace, 1853: 27). The trees are much infested by venomous snakes, a species of Craspedocephalus, and the Indians are not unfrequently bitten by them when at work, and sometimes with fatal consequences." It is said to grow again in five or six years, the fibres being produced at the bases of the new leaves. It is cut with knives by men, women and children, from the upper part of the younger trees, so as to secure the freshest fibres, the taller trees which have only the old and half-rotten portion within reach, being left untouched. Till within these few years the fibre was all manufactured into cordage on the spot, but it is now taken down in long conical bundles for exportation from Pará to England, where it is generally used for street sweeping and house brooms, and will probably soon be applied to many other purposes. It twists readily and firmly into cordage from the fibres being rough-edged, and as it is very abundant, and is procured and manufactured by the Indians, piassaba ropes are much cheaper than any other kind of cordage.īefore the independence of Brazil, the Portuguese government had a factory at the mouth of the Paduarí, one of the tributaries of the Rio Negro, for the purpose of making these cables for the use of the Pará arsenal, and as a government monopoly. It is well adapted for this purpose, as it is light (the cables made of it not sinking in water) and very durable. "It seems to have been used by the Brazilians from a very early period to form cables for the canoes navigating the Amazon. The water resistant, long, tough yet flexible, brown fibers are produced abundantly on the margins of the old frayed leafstalks which hang down covering the trunk to the very base in a dense, beard-like mass. A palm from the Rio Negro Basin of Amazonia named by Wallace in his book Palm Trees of the Amazon and Their Uses. It is famous for being a source of piassava fiber, used for brooms, ropes, hats and baskets. Piassava Fiber Palm ( Leopoldinia piassaba Wallace, 1853: 17). I have selected taxa which are still recognised as being valid species i.e. taxa which are not now regarded as being junior synonyms of other species, or ones which have not been reclassified as subspecies. At least 250 of these species were named after Wallace, usually as wallacii or wallacei īelow is a selection of a few of the most 'iconic' (well known/beautiful/unusual) new species that Wallace collected during his 12 years of collecting in the tropics. At least 4,700 other new species were collected by him and his assistants and these were described in about 350 publications by leading amateur and professional naturalists. He personally named 307 species (12 palms, 120 butterflies, 70 beetles and 105 birds) in 21 scientific articles and one book. Alfred Russel Wallace collected an estimated 5,000 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).
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