Australian insects

The Genus Carpophilus contains 11 described species, most of which have a wide range over Australia; two are well known about Sydney from their habit of crawling into damaged fruit and feeding round the stone, causing it to decay very rapidly; they are also said to cluster round the fruit stalks, and by gnawing the base cause the fruit to drop. Carpophilus pilipennis is a small reddish brown boat-shaped beetle, with the wing covers cut off at the hind margin, exposing the tip of the abdomen; it measures 1½ lines in length. C. aterrimus is a somewhat larger flatter species of a uniform black colour, with the whole of the upper surface finely punctured; the legs and antennae are reddish brown. The abdomen is not so pointed as in the first species and much more of it is exposed on the dorsal surface. A curious little species, Pocadius pilistriatus, about ⅙ of an inch in length, is an elongate rounded brown beetle clothed with fine hairs. It feeds and breeds in the seed cases of the Kurrajong; the larvae are reddish brown grubs, elongate in form; they have three jointed antennae, and short black jaws, with well developed legs, and the tip of the abdomen bears two pairs of spines, the first pair erect, the second at the extremity but turning upwards.

Family 15.
TROGOSITIDAE.

These are beetles of moderate size with five jointed tarsi, the first so small that unless closely examined it is not noticeable. They are found chiefly under dead bark or wood, but are carnivorous in their habits, and very dissimilar in form.

The cosmopolitan “Cadelle,” Trogosita mauritanica, frequently found in bagged wheat, where the larvae gnaw out the embryo of the grain, is world wide in its range. It is a flattened, shining, black beetle; it was once placed among the Heteromera; and at first sight might be taken for a flattened carab.

The Genus Leperina contains a number of curious, elongate beetles flattened on the under surface; the dorsal surface is convex, and rounded at the extremities, with the integument covered with mottled grey, brown, and black tufts of scales imitating moss, and probably of a protective character, for they are generally found clinging to bark. Leperina decorata was described by Erichson from Tasmania in 1842, but it has a wide range over the mainland. It measures from ¼ to ½ an inch in length; its ground colour is light chestnut brown mottled with black; the sides of the thorax deeply blotched with creamy white, and the back marked with indistinct patches of whitish scales.

Pascoe described some of ours (Annals of Nat. Hist. 1872), and the Journal of Entomology 1860. Macleay described others in 1871; Reitter in 1876–77; Olliff (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1886); and later Blackburn (Trans. Royal Soc. S.A. 1891).

Family 16.
COLYDIDAE.

These are small, reddish brown or black beetles, elongate in form, with four jointed tarsi, the coxae of the two pairs of fore-legs globular, and those of the hind legs transverse. They are usually found under dead or decaying bark, or among rotten wood. Several members of the Genus Bothrideres are found about Sydney; they have the thorax flattened and the elytra ribbed.

About 70 species of this family have been described from this country, chiefly by Macleay 1871; Pascoe in the Journal of Entomology 1860; Reitter in 1877 in several German journals; and later by Blackburn 1891; and Olliff in the Memoirs of the Australian Museum 1889 on species from Lord Howe Island.

Family 17.
RHYSODIDAE.

This family consists of only a few known species; Olliff has described one species, Rhysodes lignarius (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1885), a pitchy black shining beetle about ⅓ of an inch in length; it was found in rotten wood at Yass, N.S.W.

Family 18. Bark Beetles.
CUCUJIDAE.

The members of this group are very curious beetles, most of our species being found under dead bark on the trunks of the smooth gums; both the beetles and their larvae have adapted their form in such a remarkable manner to their surroundings that they are often as flat and thin as a bit of paper, while others living in more roomy quarters are quite normal in shape.

Hectarthrum brevifossum is a slender, somewhat cylindrical, shining black beetle, with thickened antennae composed of eleven bead-shaped joints; the head is depressed in front, with the thorax more elongated, and the slender ribbed elytra rounded at the tips.

Platisus integricollis is a reddish brown beetle, the basal joints of the antennae elongated and the apical ones bead-shaped; the head is angular, buried in the short broad thorax; the body is flattened, with the elytra slightly ridged round the edges. The larva is as flat as a knife blade, with a large head armed with stout jaws; the thoracic segments are furnished with short thick legs; it has seven simple flattened abdominal segments, with an eighth spade-shaped one, on which is a four-pronged trident-like process standing up at the apex, and a small spine at either side. The insects both in the beetle and the larval stage are often to be found under the same bit of bark.

Brontes lucius, found in the same situations, is a darker reddish insect with the antennae very long and slender; the front of the thorax is spined on the sides; the elytra slightly convex, elongated and rounded at the extremities. B. militaris can be easily distinguished from the last species by its darker colour, more flattened smooth elytra, with two oval light brown blotches on the basal half of the wing covers. About 60 species are described from Australia; among the chief writers are Grouvelle (Bull. Soc. Ent. France 1877); and other Journals 1876–1883, &c.; Olliff (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1885); Reitter 1878, and Blackburn 1892.

Family 19.
CRYPTOPHAGIDAE.

In Masters’ Catalogue only one species (Cnecosa fulvida) is recorded, described by Pascoe in the “Journal of Entomology” 1865, from Sydney. Since then Blackburn has described 12 more species (Trans. Royal Soc. of S.A. 1887). They are all minute beetles which feed upon mould. In Europe the larvae of several genera live in the nests of bumble bees, and the perfect insects in flowers.

Families 20–21.
LATHRIDIDAE and MYCETOPHAGIDAE.

These are composed of minute beetles found on fungus. Macleay in 1871 described some; Blackburn others (Trans. Royal Soc. S.A. 1887–1891); most of these were found in fungi or under bark. They are very small, the largest about ⅒ of an inch in length. In Europe the larvae of some species are covered with curious hairs, and the perfect beetles of others live in ants’ nests; but nothing is known about the habits of our species.

Family 22. Bacon Beetles.
DERMESTIDAE.

This is a well-known group, for the hairy larvae do a great deal of mischief to sheepskins by gnawing holes in them when they are piled on each other; getting into bacon and other animal foods; even gnawing holes in bones. The beetles have somewhat short antennae clubbed at the tips; five jointed tarsi; the coxae of the fore-legs conical, the hind ones cylindrical.

The typical Genus Dermestes contains 5 species found in Australia; most of them have been introduced from other parts of the world, and several have penetrated far into the interior.

Dermestes cadaverinus measures over ⅓ of an inch; the upper surface is clothed with pale pubescence, and the under-surface thickly clothed with white hairs. Its general form is elongate; the head is tucked under the front edge of the thorax, which forms a slight hood.

D. vulpinus is slightly larger; has the same elongate form; is black, with the dorsal surface covered with short brown hairs, and the under surface with more buff coloured pubescence. Both these species have a very wide range, and can be found under dead animals in the bush, in sheepskins, bacon, &c., and I have even taken larvae in bags of grain. Under favourable conditions these beetles increase in countless numbers; quite recently, Mrs. Black, writing from N. Queensland, says that toward the end of the drought when the country was covered with bones and dead stock, whenever the station hands camped to eat their dinners, these beetles would swarm out in thousands from under logs and stones to pick up the bits of food scattered about. Gilbert in Gould’s “Birds of Australia,” records a similar instance on the Hautmann’s-Abrolhos Islands off the coast of W. Australia, a great nesting place for the Noddy Tern, where immense numbers of the young birds are killed by the lizards, which only eat the brain and marrow. The remains cumbering the ground were food for Dermestes lardarius, which swarm over the islands in immense numbers.

This is the common European Bacon Beetle, and is listed in Masters’ Catalogue as found in Australia, but I have never seen an Australian specimen of this very distinct beetle, and think Gilbert may have mistaken the species.

The members of the Genus Trogoderma are small, broad, and rather flattened black beetles, generally found under bark on tree trunks in the dead pupae of moths upon which they feed.

Trogoderma froggatti is short and broad; it measures under ⅙ of an inch; is a shining black beetle, with the elytra clothed with dark scattered hairs; it was bred from larvae taken close to Sydney. T. apicipenne is slightly larger, and darker black, very thickly clothed with black hairs; a dull red blotch on either side of the apical half of the elytra gives it a very distinctive character. These beetles and their hairy larvae feed upon the remains of dead caterpillars under the dead bark, pupae and other organic matter.

The Anthrenus are known as “Museum beetles,” for they are the greatest pests that curators of Museums have to deal with; their small hairy larvae attack every kind of specimen, and are most destructive to pinned insect collections, though the adult beetles are generally found in the gardens frequenting flowers.

Anthrenus varius is our greatest pest; it is an introduced species, variable in size, the largest measuring about 1½ lines; it is almost round, with the small head furnished with clubbed antennae tucked down when at rest or disturbed; the ground colour is black, but it is so thickly clothed with grey and brown pubescence that it has a mottled buff appearance. Blackburn states that this is the species that has been confounded with A. museorum, which he says is not found in Australia. A. nigricans is about the same size; black, with a delicate fascia of fine white hairs which give it a very distinctive character.

About 44 species of Dermestidae are recorded from Australia: Fabricius and Linneaus described the earlier ones: Macleay others from Gayndah 1871. Reitter described more in several German publications: and Blackburn all the later ones (Trans. Royal Soc. S.A. 1891).

Family 23. Pill Beetles.
BYRRHIDAE.

These are small beetles, found under stones. They take their popular name from their rounded form, which is more noticeable from the fact that their legs and antennae are retractile. Thirteen species are described from this country.

Microchaetes sphaericus, described by Hope from W. Australia, is also found in N.S. Wales; it is a small, rounded, black beetle, under 2 lines in length; is very rugose on the upper surface, which is covered with tufts of brown scales which give it a curious roughened appearance and a brown tint.

Family 24.
GEORYSSIDAE.

This family is a small obscure group. They are small beetles with short clubbed antennae, inhabiting damp wet ground. Only a dozen are described from all parts of the world, two of which are peculiar to Australia. King described one from Parramatta under the name of Georyssus australis: Macleay the second from Gayndah, Queensland.

Family 25.
PARNIDAE.

These are aquatic beetles living under stones or close to water; they are thickly clothed with fine silky hairs like a waterproof coat; their antennae are thickened, and sometimes very short. Six species were described by King (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1864); and two others by Messrs. Blackburn and Lea (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1894–95). Most of these belong to the typical Genus Elmis, the members of which are found clinging to stones under water.

Plate XVII.—COLEOPTERA.

Family Lucanidae.

Family Cetonidae.

Family Rhipidophoridae.

2. Pelecotomoides conicollis (Castelnau).

Family Scarabaeidae.

Family Tenebrionidae.

6. Zopherosis georgii (White).

(Original photo. Burton.)]

Family 26.
HETEROCERIDAE.

This group contains a number of small beetles that are semi-aquatic in their habits; these are also clothed with fine hairs, and have short clubbed antennae with the two basal joints enlarged. They are found burrowing in mud or wet sand close to water. Only seven species are recorded from this country, most of them belonging to the Genus Heterocerus; Westwood described two (Proc. Ent. Soc. London 1874): Macleay another from Gayndah 1871: and Blackburn four others (Trans. Roy. Soc. S.A. 1887–91).

Family 27. Stag Beetles.
LUCANIDAE.

This is the first group of the Lamellicorn beetles, which are defined by the structure of their short antennae composed of 9–10 joints ending in a three-jointed lamellated club. In the Stag Beetles the antennae are ten-jointed, and in the typical forms have the mandibles, especially in the males, produced in front of the eyes like horns. Australia is rich in these beetles, both in number and beauty of form and colouration. The chief writers upon them are Macleay (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1885); and Westwood (Trans. Ent. Soc. London 1885–63–71).

Rhyssonotus nebulosus is a dark brown beetle mottled with black upon the dorsal surface; the small narrow head is furnished with projecting horns with several distinct points; the thorax is broad, curiously divided into rounded areas interspersed with depressed punctured patches; the body is rather short; the wing covers very indistinctly ribbed and mottled with black. It measures slightly over 1 inch in length, and has a wide range over N.S. Wales and Southern Queensland. I have bred this beetle from the fleshy white grub of the usual Lamellicorn Beetle type taken under rotten logs.

In the Genus Lamprima we have 12 described species of our beautiful “Gold Beetles,” which in the larval state live in rotten wood, from which the beetles emerge and crawl up the twigs of the young gum saplings; in favourable localities they can often be taken in great numbers while mating. They are all rich metallic green, gold, blue, or coppery in tint; the horns, projecting and turning up in front, are clothed with fine hairs along the inner margin; the thorax is very convex, rounded on the sides; the fore-legs very robust; the body not twice the length of the thorax, and rounded at the apex. Many species are so variable that it is probable that when carefully studied the number of species will be much reduced.

Lamprima latreillei is our commonest species; it measures 1¼ inches in length; the head is rich coppery red, the rest metallic green; the thorax deeply and coarsely punctured. It is however a very variable species both in size and colouration; in a large series we can find them all shades to metallic blue; with stout horns or long horns; and ranging from the dimensions given to ½ an inch smaller.

L. rutilans is the southern form found in Victoria: M. insularis is only found in Lord Howe Island. Phalacrognathus muelleri, one of the largest and most beautiful of all our beetles, was named by Macleay after Baron von Mueller, from specimens obtained from Cairns, North Queensland; it could be best described as a giant gold beetle, 2 inches long; of a brilliant green and coppery red tint. The male has the horns greatly produced in front of the head.

Lissapterus howittanus measures nearly 1½ inches, and is broad in proportion; the abdomen is shorter than the head and thorax combined; the horns curve round in front and are thickened and serrate at the base; the rugose head forms a ridge in front, fitting closely into the punctured thorax. The female is about 1 inch in length; has the head more flattened, and furnished with short, stout, toothed mandibles. This curious beetle is peculiar to Victoria.

The Genus Ceratognathus contains 7 species of our smallest Stag Beetles, none of which measure ½ an inch; they are black or brown; the mandibles of the male are produced into short curved horns with a square flange on the outer basal margins. I obtained the larvae of the species named after me by Blackburn in considerable numbers in the outer bark of Eucalyptus robusta. The larva is a white, shining, semitransparent grub with a slender abdomen; the pale brownish head is round and slightly elongate, with stout three-toothed mandibles; with long slender legs; and with the dorsal surface of the body clothed with fine ferruginous spines interspersed with hairs.

Figulus regularis is a small, shining, elongate black beetle measuring slightly over ½ an inch; it has short angular mandibles, finely punctured thorax, and striated elytra. It has a wide range over Australia, and is very common under decaying logs.

The Passalides are a group of what might be called flattened hornless Stag Beetles (some of very large size), that are found under rotting logs. Aulacocyclus kaupi, measuring 1¼ inches, is shining black; has short curved mandibles in front; the head is excavated in the centre, with a short, bent, finger-like horn curving forward above the hollow; the thorax is broad; and the elytra ribbed. The larva is dull white, long, slender, and somewhat cylindrical; it has a small head, and very long legs furnished with sickle-shaped claws. When full grown, they pupate in elongate, oval, smooth, brown cocoons of earth and woody matter.

Kaup in 1871 published a Monograph of the Passalidae, in which many of our species are described.

Family 28. Digger and Chafer Beetles.
SCARABAEIDAE.

The group contains an immense number of handsome beetles, among which are some of the giants of the beetle world, though there are also many tiny ones; most of them in the earlier stages of their lives are thick, fleshy, white grubs that live in the ground or decaying woody matter, and sometimes do a great deal of damage to the roots of grass and cultivated crops. Though these beetles vary much in form and size, they have the antennae always produced at the tip into a laminate or pectinate club, which when expanded forms a comb or brush-like process.

Kirby divides this family into eleven sub-families; Westwood into ten; while Sharp reduces them to five, which is quite sufficient for our purpose.

The first comprise the Coprides, or true Dung-burying Beetles; they feed upon animal droppings, boring vertical shafts beneath fresh dung, and carrying portions several inches under ground; on this they not only feed, but also deposit their eggs in rounded balls of the same material. In the more tropical parts they are also attracted to dead animals, which they feed on in the same manner. They have a shovel-like rim round the front of the head, often ornamented above with spines or horns both on the head and thorax, particularly in the male sex; and their legs are admirably adapted for digging.

The Sacred Beetle, worshipped and carved on the monuments by the ancient Egyptians, Ateuchus sacer, is typical of the group.

Cephalodesmius armiger is a black beetle, about ⅓ of an inch in length; it has a small head produced in front along the outer margin into four spines or horns standing out straight in front, the two middle ones longest; the thorax is finely punctured; and the wing covers are slightly striated.

Temnoplectron rotundum, about the same length, is a shining black beetle; the head is flattened and turned down; the whole of the dorsal surface is smooth, and the wing covers are oval toward the apex.

The Genus Onthophagus contains most of our typical Dung Beetles; over 60 species have been described, chiefly by Macleay, 1864–1887–1888, and Harold 1869.

Onthophagus pentacanthus is ¾ inch in length; the male has a large slender horn rising up from the centre of the head; a curved shorter one on either side; and a short two-pronged process in the centre of the thorax, which is finely granulated above, and clothed with reddish hairs on the under side.

O. kershawi has the head armed with a similar horn but without the side ones on the thorax; the central ones are longer and more slender than those on the process of the previous species. O. cuniculus, one of our commonest species, is only about ¼ inch long; the head and thorax are bright metallic green; the central portion of the latter is produced (in the male) into a conical point; the wing covers are shining black and rugose. Another common species, O. granulatus, is slightly smaller; it has the dorsal surface flattened; the head and thorax dull metallic blue; and the wing covers are mottled, light chocolate brown and finely granulated; the whole insect is covered with short reddish hairs, lightest on the dorsal surface. O. rufosignatus, which I once took in numbers busily engaged burying a dead wallaby in N.W. Australia, is slightly over ¼ inch in length; it is black with the centre of the thorax and sides of the elytra richly blotched with red.

The members of the Genus Bolboceras are even more remarkable in regard to the peculiar forms into which the head and thorax are produced in many species; most of them are reddish brown, and thickly clothed with coarse reddish hairs on the under surface. In structure they are somewhat similar to the former species. They are commonly taken at night flying to the lamp or camp fire.

Bolboceras sloanei is a broad hemispherical beetle, just under 1 inch in length; the male has a great horn standing up in the middle of the head, and a shorter one on either side of the thorax, with an excavation above and below them; the female is about the same size without any appendages, and the front of the thorax is hollowed out and the hind portion very rugose. B. proboscidium is common in the southern districts; it is smaller than the last species; of a darker reddish tint. The male has the front of the head produced into a lance-shaped process, standing out straight; this tapers toward the tip, which turns down like a hook, and has a short blunt spine on the upper surface. The female has a small truncate head, quite unlike the male. About 30 species were described in Masters’ Catalogue; Blackburn in his Monograph of the group lists 43 species (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1904).

Members of the Genus Trox feed chiefly on decaying animal matter, and are to be found under dead animals, and a few in caves among the accumulated dung of bats; they are curious dull brown insects, convex and rounded on the upper surface; the head is so small and retractile that it appears to be wanting. Trox dohrni, from Central Australia, one of our largest species, is just under 1 inch; is almost black, covered with a regular armour plate of shining black bosses and ridges all over the dorsal surface. T. australasiae, our common species, is about half the length, and is dull brown, with the bosses on the elytra more regular and ridged.

The Melolonthides are mostly small beetles with the tip of the abdomen not always covered; they feed chiefly upon the foliage of plants. The Genus Phyllotocus contains about 27 described species of small reddish brown beetles with long black or yellow legs: some species are very abundant about Sydney, swarming over the flowers of native scrubs; they even come to the garden plants to feed upon the honey.

Phyllotocus macleayi has even been found swarming round bee-hives, probably attracted by the smell of the honey. It is a smooth, shining, yellowish brown beetle about ⅓ of an inch in length, with the apical portion of the wing covers blackened. P. marginatus is smaller than the last, and of the usual dull reddish colour; the head, centre of thorax, and stripe down the centre of the wing covers black; the whole lightly clothed with fine hairs. Diphucephala aurulenta, typical of another group of bright, metallic coloured, broad bodied beetles, measures ¼ of an inch in length, and has the dorsal surface of a rich reddish-copper tint, thickly and coarsely punctured; the under surface and legs are deep green, clothed with fine grey hairs. It is common upon the foliage of the black wattle about Sydney. D. rufipes, a smaller beetle, is coppery green with reddish legs; is not uncommon about Sydney. D. colaspidoides, a southern species, is metallic green; the thorax smooth; the elytra deeply and thickly marked with punctured striae. Maechidius tibialis, representing another group, is a flattened, reddish brown beetle over ⅓ of an inch; the head is produced into two shell-like flanges in front of the eyes; the thorax is finely punctured; and the elytra ribbed, with closely punctured striae. I have found both the beetle and its larva, a soft white grub, in numbers in the open galleries of the termitaria built by our common White Ant (Termes lacteus) in the Shoalhaven district, N.S.W., where they seemed to live in harmony with the swarms of White Ants.

Xylonychus eucalypti is a large cockchafer-like beetle about 1 inch long; it is of a delicate pale grass-green colour; its under surface and legs darker and thickly clothed with fine hairs. This beetle feeds about Sydney upon the foliage of the Swamp Mahogany (Eucalyptus robusta), and is not uncommon in early summer. The members of the Genus Liparetrus are small, dark reddish brown, or almost black beetles, often thickly clothed with fine hairs; the wing covers are generally shorter than the abdomen. Many species swarm over the tops of the young gum trees devouring the foliage. Nearly 100 species of this extensive group have been described from Australia, chiefly by Macleay and Blackburn (Proc. Linn. Soc. of N.S. Wales, 1886–1888).

Liparetrus marginipennis, common about Sydney, is black; it measures under ⅓ of an inch; the elytra, except the basal edges, are dark reddish brown; the whole insect is thickly clothed with light brown hairs that form a fringe round it. L. hispidus is a smaller dark brown beetle, thickly clothed with dull yellow hairs.

Lepidoderma albo-hirtum is a large cockchafer; it measures 1¼ inches; all the dorsal surface of the head and thorax and both dorsal and ventral portions of abdomen are reddish brown; ventral surface of head, thorax and legs black. The whole of the upper and portion of the under surface are so thickly clothed with fine pale scales that it has a uniform grey tint. The larva, a large white grub, is a well-known pest to the Queensland sugar planters, for it eats off the roots of the growing cane; they are so numerous in some districts that as much as a shilling a pint is paid for these sugar cane grubs.

The Rutelides comprise a number of large beetles, popularly called Cockchafers; some species swarm out in immense numbers, stripping the foliage off the native bush and sometimes attacking the shade-trees in the gardens. Most of their larvae are large, white, subterranean grubs, either feeding on roots of grass and plants, or living in or under decaying logs. Dr. Ohaus has just published a “Revision des Anoplognathides” 1904, in which he describes 72 species included in 13 genera. Repsimus aeneus has a dark blue to coppery tint; the tip of the abdomen is reddish, and the hind legs are thickened. They are found clinging to low bushes, and are common about Sydney.

Calloodes grayanus is a very handsome bright green beetle with the outer margins of the thorax and wing covers edged with yellow; it measures 1¼ inches long; is found in Queensland, but seldom in numbers. The two beautiful, little, metallic gold coloured species placed by Macleay in this genus have been removed by Ohaus into Anoplognathus, which now contains 41 species. Among these are our large reddish brown cockchafers. A. viridaeneus, the “King-beetle,” is our largest cockchafer; it measures 1½ inches and is broad in proportion; has a general bright metallic reddish golden sheen; and the tip of the abdomen is deep green. It is usually found clinging to the foliage of the smaller gum trees in early summer. A. velutinus takes its name from the velvety patches of curious little white scales scattered all over its dull brown coat; it is found about Sydney, but is not plentiful.

A. porosus is a light brown beetle; the wing covers are marked with tiny dark spots that form irregular, short, parallel lines; the head and thorax are shining; it is ¾ of an inch in length. It, and A. analis, a large reddish shining beetle furnished with a tuft of hairs at the tip of the abdomen, are two of our commonest species; their larvae have been found destroying strawberry plants by eating off their roots; and they are frequently met with when digging over the garden in early summer.

Anoplostethus opalinus, just under 1 inch in length, is a very beautiful pale opaline green beetle, and is peculiar to Western Australia.

The Dynastides contain the giants of the family, and in several genera the males have the head and thorax greatly enlarged and produced into blunt spines and horns; while the female has them of the usual rounded form. Oryctes barbarossa is one of our largest black lamellicorns; it comes from N. Australia. Pentadon australis is a shining black beetle about ¾ of an inch in length, which has been found damaging young maize plants about Sydney. The Queensland Elephant Beetle, Xylotrupes australicus, in the larval state feeds upon decaying vegetable matter, from which the beetles emerge and climb up the first tree to hand, and upon which they cling during the day, but come buzzing round to the lamps at night. The male measures 2 inches in length; is of a uniform black colour; the head curves out in front into a double-pronged horn; and the front of the thorax is produced into a second swollen one curving downward over the horns on the head, arcuate and toothed on either side of the tip. The female as usual in this group is smaller, and the head and thorax are of the ordinary rounded structure.

The Cetonides comprise the beautiful “Rose Chafers,” with their shorter, broader, flattened bodies, small heads, and the angular thorax broadest behind. Australia is rich in these flower-haunting beetles, and some species are very abundant in the summer months. A great number were at one time placed in the Genus Schizorrhina, but in 1880 Kraatz in a paper on the revision of the family (Deutsche Ent. Zeit. xxiv.) divided them into a great many new genera, in some cases with very little reason.

The members of the Genus Lomaptera are chiefly found in the more tropical parts of this continent, and are easily distinguished from the other groups by the shape of the thorax, the hind margin produced into an angular wedge into the centre of the elytra; while in the other typical Rose Chafers the thorax is truncate, and a wedge-shaped piece separated from the thorax occupies the centre of the back. Lomaptera wallacei is of the usual flattened form; uniform rich shining green; and measures just an inch in length. It is found upon flowers in the tropical scrubs of North Queensland. L. duboulayi, about the same size, is of a duller green tint, with the outer margin of the head, thorax, elytra and under-surface dull yellow: L. cinnamea, slightly smaller, is of a uniform shining reddish brown colour.

Dilochrosis atripennis is one of our largest typical cetonids; it measures over 1½ inches in length and is broad in proportion; it is shining black, with the sides of the thorax and elytra, except a stripe down the centre (broadest in front), rich reddish brown. It is not uncommon about Cairns, N. Queensland, and ranges down, according to Masters, to the extreme north of N.S. Wales. The Fiddler, Eupoecila australasiae, about ¾ of an inch in length, is black and reddish brown, marked upon the thorax and elytra with green stripes, forming a fanciful resemblance to a lyre upon the back, from which it takes its popular name. The larvae of this and the following species, (thick fleshy white grubs) feed in the rotting trunks of dead grass trees, forming stout oval cocoons in the larval stage; and the beetles are very abundant upon the Angophora flowers in the early summer.

Micropoecila cincta is another common species about Sydney; is slightly smaller; of a general black colour, the outer edges of the thorax and wing covers broadly margined with reddish yellow; and its life history and habits are identical with the “Fiddler.”

Polystigma punctata is one of our smaller common species; is of a dull yellow colour irregularly but finely spotted all over the upper surface with black dots. A second species, described under the name of P. octopunctata, is I think only a variety; my specimens all come from the Shoalhaven, N.S.W. Cacochroa gymnopleura, about the same size, is black, rather downy on the under surface; and is remarkable for having a variety as common as itself, with reddish brown thorax and elytra.

The members of the Genus Trichaulax are remarkable for having the elytra deeply furrowed, and these depressions filled with close short hairs. They are all large fine beetles over an inch in length; Trichaulax philipsii, taken about Sydney on the flowers of the blood-wood late in the summer, is marked with grey hairs. T. marginipennis is common to N.S. Wales and Queensland; it has bright reddish hairs completely clothing the tips of the wing covers and abdomen.

Diaphonia dorsalis is a large common species, of a general black colour, with the upper surface of the thorax and elytra yellowish brown variably marked with black in the centre. It often comes flying about the garden with a loud hum, and even sometimes comes in through the open window.

D. olliffiana is a very rare species about the same size, with the upper surface reddish brown and the wing covers irregularly marked with black blotches. All the specimens known, about half a dozen in number, come from the same locality, Colo Vale, N.S.W., and nothing is known about their habits. Glycyphana brunnipes is common on the flowering scrub about Sydney, and has a wide range round the coast of Australia; it measures about ⅓ of an inch, and varies from dull brown to green in colour, irregularly spotted and marked.

Family 29. Jewel Beetles.
BUPRESTIDAE.

This is one of our largest and most typical groups of the Coleoptera, containing a great number of large beetles rich with metallic tints, chiefly found upon flowering shrubs, and most plentiful on the coastal districts of Victoria, New South Wales, and West Australia. They are elongate in form, with the head short, fitting closely into the broader thorax, and furnished with large eyes and slender, slightly serrate antennae. The abdomen is long with closely fitting wing covers, and well-developed wings which enable them to fly well, though they usually drop to the ground when disturbed. The larva is a slender flattened white grub with small black jaws and head; the thoracic segments are very broad behind and rounded to the much narrower abdominal segments. They are wood borers, feeding in the sapwood under the bark, and finally burrowing into the solid timber where they pupate; some of the smaller ones feed in dead wood; and a few form regular galls upon the roots or branchlets of shrubs.

Plate XVIII.—COLEOPTERA.

Family Buprestidae.

(Original photo. Burton.)]

The Banksia beetle, Cyria imperialis, has a wide range and is common about Sydney upon the foliage of the stunted honeysuckle bushes (Banksia); the larvae feed in the stems. It measures 1½ inches in length; is of a uniform shining black colour, richly marked on the upper surface with bright yellow forming four irregular bands across the elytra, and the under surface is lightly clothed with grey hairs. The Genus Diadoxus contains two very distinct species, the larvae of which feed chiefly on the stems of our native cypress pines, and sometimes attack and destroy introduced pine trees. Diadoxus scalaris, very variable in size, measuring from ¾ to 1¼ inches, is a slender pale yellow beetle, with the hind margin of the head and thorax marked with black, and the wing covers so thickly mottled with reddish brown that the yellow only forms a row of blotches down the back. It has a wide range from N.S. Wales to West Australia. Diadoxus erythrurus known in the west as the “pine scrub beetle,” is a much smaller insect slightly over ½ an inch; the head and thorax are almost black; the wing covers are dark, the basal portion has a double blotch of yellow on each side followed by a row on either side of three spots; the under surface has a greenish tint when alive. The larvae of this species first feed round the stem under the bark, cutting the sap wood, and where the infested tree is small, cause it to snap off.

The large rich metallic green or coppery Chalcophora are more tropical beetles, the largest of which are restricted to Queensland and North Australia; Masters lists 24 species in his catalogue, chiefly described by Saunders (Trans. Ent. Soc. London 1872), and Waterhouse in the same Journal three years later.

Chalcophora vittata measures nearly 1¾ inches in length, and is broad in proportion; its general colour is deep metallic green, with the head and thorax shaded with rich coppery tints; the elytra are finely ribbed and are powdered with a yellow pubescence lining the parallel striae, and also forming two spots on the sides. Chalcophora farinosa is a smaller and more slender species with a narrow thorax, and pointed wing covers; in the neighbourhood of Cairns, N.Q., I used to take them in the early morning resting on the wild banana leaves.

Nascio parryi is a small black beetle with a long thorax of a uniform width; the wing covers are short in proportion, and curiously marked with reddish orange. It is generally found upon the foliage of eucalypts, but nothing is known about its life history. The members of the Genus Melobasis, of which about 30 have been described, are small, brilliantly coloured metallic green and gold beetles. Melobasis splendida, not much over ¼ of an inch in length, is bright green, the thorax and elytra marbled with dull purple. The larvae feed in the dead branches of Acacia longifolia.

Julodimorpha bakewelli is found in South and Western Australia; it is a large handsome beetle with a deep coppery red thorax and deep yellow wing covers. It is elongate, but more cylindrical in form than the Stigmodera.

The typical Australian Genus Stigmodera contains about 240 described species which are found in open scrubby country where flowering shrubs are abundant; the extensive scrubs round Sydney, and similar class of country on the west coast of the continent are the head quarters of most of the larger species. Stigmodera tibialis measures 2 inches in length, and is broad in proportion; the head, thorax and under surface black, with the wing covers reddish chestnut with two irregular bands of dull orange yellow across the apical half. S. heros is half an inch longer, one of the giants of the group; it has the under surface dark bronzy brown, the dorsal surface deep dull red; the thorax finely punctured, and the elytra coarsely striated. Both these beetles range from South to Western Australia. S. pascoei is a handsome rare species from Western Australia, measuring under 1 inches in length; it is of a rich yellow tint with the upper surface of the head, thorax, and legs rich metallic coppery red, and the apical third of the finely striated elytra black with a fiery red sheen. S. thoracica, slightly smaller, is black on the under surface except the sides of the thorax and tip of abdomen; the dorsal surface is yellow, except the head, a band through the centre of the thorax, and the tip of the wing covers which are bluish black. S. fortnumi is one of the few large species found in the interior; it measures 1¾ inches in length, and is broad in proportion; the under surface is rich metallic green marked with yellow; the upper surface yellow with the greater part of the thorax and three broad bands across the elytra deep metallic blue.

Stigmodera grandis sometimes measures 2 inches, and is the largest species found about Sydney; its general colour is dark bronzy brown with the outer edges of the thorax and elytra margined with yellow. The common jewel beetle, Stigmodera variabilis, is very abundant when the Angophora is in bloom; its general colour on the under surface, head and thorax is bronzy black, with the edge of the latter and the wing covers bright yellow; the markings upon the latter are most variable; specimens are sometimes thickly barred with black, others without a spot upon them, so that it is difficult to get two alike. S. macularia is purple to black, with the wing covers bright yellow deeply pitted all over with purple dots. S. jacquinoti might be easily mistaken for the last, which it resembles both in size and markings, but the tips of the wing covers are produced into sharp spines; and the markings are coarser; it is a much rarer beetle than the former, which is one of the commonest large species. S. gratiosa is the type of a group from W. Australia, all of a rich metallic green tint with deeply punctured wing covers; it has the head and thorax bronzy green and very finely punctured, with the elytra green and very coarsely punctured; its length is about ½ an inch, and it is short and broad in proportion. This brilliant little beetle is plentiful in some districts, and specimens set in gold are often used for earrings and brooches, for which its solid integument makes it adaptable.

Calodema regalis from the scrubs of Southern Queensland and the extreme north of N.S. Wales, is possibly our most beautiful beetle in shape, size, and colour. Measuring nearly 2 inches in length and broad in proportion, the whole of the under surface, head and thorax are rich metallic green, with two conspicuous blotches of dark red on the dorsal surface of the thorax; the wing covers are bright yellow, almost smooth, slightly spined at the tips, with a very fine pencil of green down the sides of the inner edges.

The members of the Genera Ethon and Paracephala form galls; the first are short, thickset beetles of a dull coppery tint, with wavy markings on the wing covers. Ethon corpulentus and E. marmoreum make rounded galls upon the roots of Dillwynia cricifolia, sometimes as many as twenty on one plant clustering round the base of the stem. E. affinis forms galls upon the stems of Pultenea stipularis. Paracephala cyaneipennis forms galls on the branches of the stunted Casuarina (C. distyla), growing about Sydney. It is a slender dull metallic green beetle about ⅓ of an inch in length. The Genus Cisseis contains a number of very pretty little metallic tinted beetles, the larvae of which feed in the wood of Acacias and other small shrubs, and the perfect beetles feed upon the foliage. Cisseis 12-maculata, a pretty deep blue-black beetle covered with large white spots, is found on the grass tree; C. leucosticta, C. similis, and C. maculata upon the black wattle.

Family 30. False Click Beetles.
EUCNEMIDAE.

The beetles in this group form a sort of connecting link between the Flower Beetles and the Clicks: many of them are very like the latter, but they cannot jump; they have a large terminal joint in the palpus, and the antennae when resting are hidden in the grooves along the under side of the thorax.

Sixteen species are listed in Masters’ Catalogue, all of which, with one exception, are described in Bonvouloir’s Monograph of the family (Annals of the Soc. Entom. France 1871–7).

Family 31. Click Beetles.
ELATERIDAE.

These beetles are found in many different situations, upon flowers, hidden under bark, or in cracks on the tree trunks. They are well known from their habit of flying in to the lamp at night, and falling on their backs go skipping all over the table. They are elongate in form, with slender serrate antennae, and a small head deeply sunk into the thorax, which is rounded in front, truncate on the hind margin and with a slight spine on the edge; while on the under side the thorax is furnished with a process that fits into a groove in the first segment of the abdomen, which enables it to get enough leverage, by pressing the head down when on its back, to jump a considerable distance upward. The larvae are slender, cylindrical, shining brown grubs popularly known as “Wire Worms,” and some European species are said to do considerable damage by eating off the roots of grass and crops.

About 350 species have been described from Australia, most of them dull brown or black in colour, though a few are brightly tinted or marked. Agrypnus mastersi measures 1 inch, and is of a uniform brown colour clothed with fine buff down; it ranges from Queensland to Western Australia. The Genus Lacon contains a great number of short, broad, dull brown clicks usually found under bark or stones. Lacon caliginosus, half an inch in length, is dull brown; it ranges from Tasmania to Queensland. Alaus gibboni comes from the Richmond River; it measures 1¾ inches, and is broad in proportion; its true colour is black, but it is so thickly clothed with fine short grey down that it is almost a dull white. A. sericeus is a smaller beetle clothed with an admixture of buff and chocolate down; I have found them pupating in decaying bark on dead trees on the Richmond River. Tetralobus cunninghami is typical of a group of the large cylindrical “clicks,” in which the male has feather-like antennae, and the thorax is rounded. It is 1½ inches long, dark brown, with the under surface of the thorax clothed with reddish hairs. These large clicks are generally found in the interior on the trunks of trees. The Genus Monocrepidius contains a number of slender black or brown insects usually living on flowers or foliage. Ophidius histrio, 1 inch long, is black, richly marked with dark yellow lines forming four parallel bars down the thorax, and a more irregular lance-shaped pattern on the wing covers; this is another fine species from the Northern Rivers, N.S.W. Anilicus semiflavus is found on the Angophora flowers about Sydney; it is ½ an inch long, black, with the basal half of the elytra bright red.

Family 32. Feather Horns.
RHIPIDOCERIDAE.

This is not a big family; the species are confined to the warmer parts of the world, and are chiefly distinguished by the peculiar structure between the tarsal claws, and the beautiful feathery antennae of the males. Rhipidocera mystacina, our typical form, is ¾ of an inch in length, elongate in form, with narrow sloping thorax and large feather-like antennae; the general colour is black, with the sides of the thorax and whole of the wing covers thickly spotted with white downy dots. I have often taken this insect in numbers in the North-West of Victoria.

Family 33. Fire-Fly Beetles.
MALACODERMIDAE.

The members of this family have a softer integument than most beetles. They do not all emit light; the true “fire-flies” and “glow-worms” belong to the sub-family Lampyrides.

The Genus Metriorrhynchus contains about 50 small, elongate, flattened beetles of a dull red colour marked with black; the wing covers are deeply ribbed but soft and flabby. The larvae are curious, smoky black creatures with blunt spines along the sides of the body, and live under stones or logs. M. rufipennis, one of the largest, is ¾ of an inch in length; the head and thorax are black and roughened; the wing covers are light red, deeply ribbed and reticulated: Waterhouse figured and described many of these (Trans. Entom. Soc. 1877). Our true fire-flies belong to the Genera Luciola and Atyphella. On these Olliff has written an interesting paper entitled “New Species of Lampyridae with notes on the Mount Wilson Fire-fly” (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1889). Our fire-flies are small, light brown beetles, which during the day cling to the foliage, flying about at night, emitting a bright flash of phosphorescent light from the tip of the abdomen as they move their wings. Several species are found on the Blue Mountains and in the tropical scrubs of North Queensland; they are very brilliant after night-fall: Luciola flavicollis, ¾ of an inch, is our common species. The Soldier Beetles, chiefly belonging to the Genera Telephorus and Selenurus, are common upon low bushes and flowering shrubs. Telephorus pulchellus, ½ an inch in length, is a slender, dull orange coloured beetle; the dorsal surface is shining blue black except the apical half of the thorax, which is bright yellow. This beetle sometimes appears in great numbers; I have seen the Melaleuca scrub on the Blue Mountains black with them.

Family 34. Hunting Beetles.
CLERIDAE.

There are many handsome little beetles in this family which spend their time hunting over logs, tree trunks, or in flowers to catch smaller insects which they devour; most of them lay their eggs in the bodies of the pupae of wood moths and other insects. A freshly fallen tree is a good locality to look for Clerids, as they find many small beetles attracted by the withering bark: in Europe the larvae of several groups infest the nests of wild bees.

Natalis porcata, 1 inch in length, is black covered with a whitish down, and is found under the dead bark on tree trunks; it is probably parasitic upon the grubs of longicorn beetles (Phoracantha). Cleromorpha novemguttatus measures only ⅕ of an inch; it is rich metallic blue, lightly clothed with black hairs, and the elytra spotted on either side with white dots: it is common in the flowers of the Angophora in early summer. The Genus Aulicus contains a number of bright metallic green or blue beetles which live on flowering shrubs; about 20 species are described, chiefly by Cheverolet (Memoirs of the Cleridae 1878). Aulicus instabilis, one of the smallest, is only ¼ of an inch in length; it has a wide range over Australia. Trogodendron fasciculatum is another widely distributed species, and may be often seen flying about in the height of summer; if captured it bites most viciously. I have on several occasions pulled its body off, leaving the head with the jaws buried in my finger: it is parasitic on the pupae of our large wood moths. It is variable in size, about 1 inch in length, thickset and broad in proportion; is dark brown, with bright yellow antennae, and broad black fasciae at the base and apical half of the elytra. Zenithicola obesus, ⅓ of an inch in length, is like the last in general form, but with dull yellow thorax and shining black elytra marked with white: Z. australis, a slightly larger species, has a black thorax. The members of the Genus Eleale are elongate, dark metallic green or blue beetles clothed with fine hairs and deeply punctured wing covers; they also live among flowers. Tarsostenus zonatus is typical of the small, slender, cylindrical clerids that infest the gall-making coccids, and are often bred from these galls. It has a bright reddish brown head and thorax, and green wing covers barred across the centre with white. Lemidia hilaris, ⅙ of an inch long, is a short broad beetle of a shining black tint, with the basal half of the elytra red. The Red-legged Ham Beetle, Necrobia rufipes, an introduced species, is found all over the world. In the interior it swarms under dead animals, feeding upon fresh bones; and is also often found about cheese and other preserved foods in the pantry.

Family 35. Anobiums.
PTINIDAE.

These beetles are small insects, with the head hidden under the thorax; they have filiform, pectinate or slightly clubbed antennae; and several species are world wide in their range, for as they live in all kinds of dried food stuffs they are easily introduced into new countries. Gibbium scotius is a curious little beetle hardly over ¹⁄₁₂ of an inch in length, with a bright shining brown body, and the legs and antennae covered with yellow scales; it feeds upon feathers, and is often found in birds’ nests. Anobium paniceum is known as the “Biscuit Weevil,” but feeds upon all kinds of things; I have found it in boots, seeds, drugs, botanical specimens, and it is said to have been found burrowing through sheet lead. The Cigarette Beetle, Lasioderma serricorne, is another little brown beetle common in Sydney in waste tobacco. Olliff has described a number of Australian species (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1886); and Westwood others (Ent. Soc. 1869), among which are several members of the Genus Ectrephes, which live in ants’ nests.