There are many very beautiful Moths and Butterflies. In 1897 I brought home about 300 specimens of Philippine butterflies for the Hon. Walter Rothschild.
The White Ant (termes), known here as Anay, is by far the most formidable insect in its destructive powers. It is also common in China. Here it eats through most woods, but there are some rare exceptions, such as Molave, Ipil, Yacal, etc. If white ants earnestly take possession of the woodwork of a building not constructed of the finest timber, it is a hopeless case. I have seen deal-wood packing-cases, which have come from Europe, so eaten away that they could not be lifted without falling to pieces. Merchantsʼ warehouses have had to be pulled down and rebuilt owing to the depredations of this insect, as, even if the building itself were not in danger, no one would care to risk the storage of goods inside. The destruction caused by anay is possibly exaggerated, but there is no doubt that many traders have lost considerable sums through having had to realize, at any price, wares into which this insect had penetrated.
Bats are to be seen in this Colony, measuring up to 5 feet from tip to tip of their wings. They are caught for the value of their beautiful soft skins, which generally find a sale to Europeans returning home. Bat-shooting is a good pastime, and a novelty to Europeans. Small Bats frequently fly into the houses in the evening.
Deer and Wild Boars are plentiful, and afford good sport to the huntsman. In Mórong district—in Negros Island—and in Rizal Province, on and in the vicinity of the estate which I purchased—I have had some good runs. Monkeys, too, abound in many of the forests. In all the islands there is enjoyment awaiting the sportsman. Pheasants, snipe, a dozen varieties of wild pigeons, woodcock, jungle-fowl (gallus bankiva), wild ducks, water-fowl, etc. are common, whilst there are also turtle-doves, calaos (buceros hydrocorax), hawks, cranes, herons, crows, parrots, cockatoos, kingfishers, parroquets, and many others peculiar to the Archipelago which I will leave to ornithologists to describe.[2] One curious species of pigeon (calanas nicobarina) is called in Spanish Paloma de puñalada because of the crimson feathers on its breast, which look exactly as if they were blood-stained from a dagger-stab.[3] In 1898 I saw some specimens of this pigeon in the Hamburg Zoological Gardens. There are several birds of gorgeous plumage, such as the oropendolo (Spanish name).
It is a curious fact that these Islands have no singing birds.
The Locust Plague is one of the great risks the planter has to run. In 1851 the Government imported some Martins from China with the hope of exterminating the locusts. When the birds arrived in the port of Manila they were right royally received by a body of troops. A band of music accompanied them with great ceremony to Santa Mesa, where they were set at liberty, and the public were forbidden to destroy them under severe penalties. At that date there were countless millions of locusts among the crops. These winged insects (Tagálog, balan͠g) come in swarms of millions at a time, and how to exterminate them is a problem. I have seen a mass of locusts so dense that a row of large trees the other side of them could not be distinguished. Sailing along the Antique coast one evening, I observed, on the fertile shore, a large brown-coloured plateau. For the moment I thought it was a tract of land which had been cleared by fire, but on nearing it I noticed that myriads of locusts had settled on several fields. We put in quite close to them and I fired off a revolver, the noise of which caused them to move off slowly in a cloud. When locusts settle on cultivated lands, miles of crops are often ruined in a night by the foliage being consumed, and at daybreak only fields of stalks are to be seen. In the daytime, when the locusts are about to attack a planted field, the natives rush out with their tin cans, which serve as drums, bamboo clappers, red flags, etc., to scare them off, whilst others light fires in open spaces with damp fuel to raise smoke. Another effective method adopted to drive them away is to fire off small mortars, such as the natives use at provincial feasts, as these insects are sensitive to the least noise.
The body of a locust is similar in appearance to a large grasshopper. The females are of a dark brown colour, and the males of a light reddish-brown. The female extends the extremity of her body in the form of an augur, with which she pierces the earth to the depth of an inch, there to deposit her eggs. In two or three weeks the eggs hatch. Every few days the females lay eggs, if allowed to settle. The newly-born insects, having no wings until they are about ten days old, cannot be driven off, and in the meantime they make great havoc among the crops, where it is difficult to extinguish them. The method employed to get rid of them is to place a barrier, such as sheets of corrugated iron roofing, at one side of a field, dig a pit in front of the barrier, and send a number of men to beat round the three sides of the field until the young locusts jump in heaps into the pit. I have heard planters say that they have succeeded, in this way, in destroying as much as 20 tons of locusts in one season. I do not know the maximum distance that locusts can fly in one continuous journey, but they have been known to travel as much as 60 miles across the sea. Millions of unwinged locusts (called lucton) have been seen floating down river streams, whilst, however, the winged insect cannot resist the heavy rains which accompany a hurricane.
It is said that the food passes through the body of a locust as fast as it eats, and that its natural death is due either to want of nourishment, or to a small worm which forms in the body and consumes it. It is also supposed that the female dies after laying a certain number of eggs. Excepting the damage to vegetation, locusts are perfectly harmless insects, and native children catch them to play with; also, when fried, they serve as food for the poorest classes—in fact, I was assured, on good authority, that in a certain village in Tayabas Province, where the peasants considered locusts a dainty dish, payment was offered to the parish priest for him to say Mass and pray for the continuance of the luxury. In former times, before there were so many agriculturists interested in their destruction, these insects have been known to devastate the Colony during six consecutive years.
In the mud of stagnant waters, a kind of beetle, called in Visaya dialect Tan͠ga, is found, and much relished as an article of food. In the dry season, as much as fifty cents a dozen is paid for them in Molo (Yloilo) by well-to-do natives. Many other insects, highly repugnant to the European, are a bonne bouche for the natives.