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Raja Ampat Islands

The Raja Ampat Islands are rather large islands northwest of the Birdshead Peninsula. The four largest islands are Waigeo, Batanta, Salawati and Misool, with wealthy nature and rather undisturbed forests. Waigeo is famous for its biodiversity in birds, Salawati is known from some important butterfly species, but little is known from Batanta. Misool is rather well known because of the many naturalistic visits in the past. The fauna is for the greater part papuan, but there are definitely some moluccan elements, rather expected considering the vicinity of the Moluccan Islands like Halmahera and Seram. The island Gebe takes a peculiar place in this region. Its fauna is for the greater part Papuan, but it belongs politically to the Moluccas.

The largest city in the neighbourhood is Sorong, at the northwest point of the Birdshead Peninsula. It is an unpleasant place to be, with it's oil industry, dirty harbour, cleared coastline and backland. The city is crowded and noisy with busy (taxi) traffic. In the wide surrounding the results of large scale logging are still visible, with erosion of the red coloured soil causing trouble. It is, however, the place to be when you have to go to the Raja Ampat Islands. Motorized longboats take you where ever you want to go to the nearby islands, but Misool should be reached by larger long distance boats.

Base of map by onearth.jpl.nasa.gov (modified with geographic names by Papua-Insects)

for an empty map with clear view click here

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Entomological expeditions

• 1826 - Dumont D'Urville visits Offack (on Waigeo).
• 1858 - Alfred Russel Wallace collected on Waigeo and Salawatti.
• 1861 - Ch. Allan, assistent of Alfred Russel Wallace, enters the Birdshead Peninsula at Sorong and spents a month in the mountains. He also visited Mysol (Misool).
• 1875 - The Italian naturalist O. Beccari visits Sorong and discovers Wai Samson and the mountains Morait and Aas at West Birdshead Peninsula.
• 1883 - 1884 The French naturalist F.H.H. Guillemard visits Waigeo, Batanta and Mysol (Misool). He collected birds, butterflies and other insects.
• 1889 - For 9 years the German collector H. Kühn collected in New Guinea and the adjacent islands. He collected also on Mysol (Misool).
• 1915 - In order of J.J. Joicey (owner of the private Hill Museum) A.E. Pratt and his sons collected in February to April 1915 on Waigeo.
• 1916 - W.J.C. Frost collected butterflies on Mysol (Misool).
• 1928-1929 - From December 1928 till May 1929 Prince Leopold from Belgium visits the Dutch Indian Archipelago. He also visited Misool and Weeim. Apart from other animals he collected also insects ((type)material in ISNB, Brussels).
• 1938 - Miss Lucy E. Cheesman visits Waigeo to collect insects.
• 1996 - Expedition of the Zoological Museum of Amsterdam to Sorong and Batanta, by Arnold de Boer, Gerrit Withaar, Piet Zumkehr, Herman de Jong and Rob de Vos.
• 2009 (March) - The Entomological Society of Latvia (Lettland): D.Telnov, M.Kalnins, K.Greke and Z.Pipkaleja studied insects and non-marine Mollusca on Misool Island.