Australian insects

Family 36. Powderpost Beetles.
CIOIDAE.

Though small in size and number of species, these are very important beetles on account of the damage they do to rattan furniture and sapwood in unseasoned timber. Lyctus brunneus, a small elongated, reddish brown beetle about ⅙ of an inch in length, lives and breeds in wood, and is only too common about Sydney. A second species has been described from South Australia by Blackburn.

Family 37. Auger Beetles.
BOSTRYCHIDAE.

These beetles are easily recognised by their curious cowled thorax, with the head turned down beneath, and the last 3 joints of the antennae forming a well-defined club; the body is long and cylindrical, adapted for burrowing in dead wood. Specimens of these beetles can generally be found upon fallen trees or freshly-cut timber. Bostrychopsis jesuita, one of the largest of the group, about ½ an inch in length, is black, cylindrical, with the rounded thorax rugose in front, and the tip of the wing covers truncate. Bostrychus gibbicollis, about ⅓ of an inch, is dark reddish brown, with a spined thorax and the tips of the wing covers produced into blunt teeth. B. cylindricus, about the same size and similar colour, has elytra furnished with three curled spines on each side. It has been found damaging wine casks. In the Genera Apate and Rhizopertha, also found in dead timber, we have a typical form in Apate collaris, measuring ¼ of an inch in length, with a dull yellow thorax, dark brown wing covers spined at the tips.

Family 38. Mealworm Beetles.
TENEBRIONIDAE.

This is a very large family of beetles, generally dull brown or black in colour, but varying much in shape; many of the more typical forms are found under logs and stones, and might easily be mistaken at first sight for carnivorous carab beetles until the mouth parts and head are noticed. They have somewhat thickened antennae placed on the sides of the head; some have wings, others are wingless; most of them are slow, heavy beetles, very easily captured. The larvae are usually slender shining cylindrical brown worm-like creatures living in rotten wood, of which the introduced Mealworm is a typical example. Our species have been described by a great many English and foreign writers, chief among which are Pascoe, in the Journal of Entomology 1869, and Annals of Natural History 1869–80; Hope in the Transactions of the Entomological Society of London 1842–48; Bates in the same journal 1873; and later on in the Proceedings of the Australian Societies by Macleay and Blackburn. Carter has within this last year described a number of new species (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1905–6).

The Ironbark Beetle, Zopherosis georgii, is found in the northern scrubs of N.S. Wales, generally climbing on tree trunks; it is an elongated, flattened, dull brown beetle, slightly over 1 inch in length; the antennae thickened, and the whole of the upper surface covered with rounded irregular knobs; it is not unlike a caricature of a large click beetle.

The members of the Genus Pterohelaeus are smooth, shining, tortoise-shaped black beetles, found under dead bark on the trunks of trees. P. piceus, common in S. Australia and N.S. Wales, is just under 1 inch in length, but broad in proportion.

Helaeus subserratus, from Western Australia, is typical of a very curious group not only wingless, but having the elytra and abdominal segments soldered together into a broad flattened box with a wide thin flange running right round, continued round the thorax, and overlapping in front of the head, which latter is turned down and is thus situated in a regular frame; this one is dark brown, with the outer flange lighter coloured; it measures 1⅓ inches in length, and is broad and rounded in form. These beetles are usually found in the driest parts of the interior, where they live under stones or logs among the dust, and in spite of their size, remain so motionless that they can be very easily overlooked.

Saragus floccosus, found on tree trunks in the north of N.S.W., is a smaller tortoise-shaped insect, under ¾ of an inch; is convex and keeled down the centre of the thorax; and the elytra have a more narrow flange running right round but curving in and rounded on either side of the head. When alive, it has the whole of the upper surface covered with loose flocculent matter like soft sawdust, evidently as a protective covering, but this is easily brushed off when dead. Hypaulax tenuistriata is one of the common large black beetles found under dead bark; it measures about 1 inch in length; the head is small, projecting; the thorax broad, rounded, shining; and the broad wing covers are distinctly ribbed with punctured striae.

Chartopteryx childreni is one of our most remarkable and rare species; it is 1 inch long; the only specimen I have seen alive, I caught alighting on a tree trunk at Mosman, near Sydney; it is elongate, broad, oval in form, with the head and thorax turned down, and the convex, shining, black elytra deeply punctured and clothed with dull yellow moss-like material; the head and thorax are ornamented with fine white hairs, forming an elongated mark on either side of the latter and two parallel lines down the centre of the head and thorax.

Blepegenes aruspex is a shining coppery black coloured beetle measuring ¾ of an inch; it is slender in form, remarkably like a carab, with a small thorax that is produced into a spine on either side; the elytra are deeply ribbed; it is found under logs in the Illawarra district, N.S.W.

Cardiothorax howitti is also found under logs; it is an elongate beetle, black with a dull purple tint on the thorax, which is flattened and almost round, a regular rim running round the margin; it is arcuate behind the head, and produced into a spine on the hind margins; the wing covers are elongated to the apex, and ribbed. The members of the extensive Genus Adelium are found under logs; some species are quite common, clustering together in considerable numbers; they are all black or coppery tinted. These beetles are about ¾ of an inch in length; the thorax is roughened, and the wing covers more or less striated.

The Genus Chalcopterus, which now includes most of those described as Amarygmus, are black or brightly metallic coloured beetles; the head and thorax are small and curve downward; the wing covers are large, convex, and pointed at the tips. They are found crawling about on tree trunks, or hidden under dead bark, and give out a very pungent offensive odour when handled. Chalcopterus variabilis measures ½ an inch in length; its head and thorax are black, the elytra rich coppery red, and it is common about the Sydney scrubs.

The common Mealworm, Tenebrio molitor, has a world-wide range; it was introduced into Australia at a very early date, and not long ago a packet of seeds imported from England was found on examination by one of the inspectors of the Agricultural Department N.S.W. to be full of the shining wireworm-like larvae of these beetles. It is a common beetle in stables and produce stores.

Family 39.
CISTELIDAE.

These are delicate, elongate, long-legged beetles, with weak integument, and are closely allied to the Tenebrionidae, only differing from them in having comb-like or pectinate claws on the tarsi; and their larvae are like wireworms. The Genus Atractus comprises a number of slender beetles of bright metallic tints common upon the flowering shrubs in summer; Atractus viridis, ½ an inch in length, is bright metallic green, with the thorax and shoulders tinted with coppery red, the wing covers deeply marked with punctured striae. A. virescens is a smaller species with a more dull metallic coppery tint. The members of the Genus Allecula are larger beetles, with long slender legs and antennae, shining brown or black in colour, with finely striated elytra; the larvae are slender, dark, shining brown wireworms living in decaying wood. Allecula subsulcata is slightly over ½ an inch in length, of a uniform black colour, with the last three joints of the antennae and the last two of the tarsi pale ferruginous. The larvae breed in the rotten stems of dead grass trees, and the beetles are generally found hiding among the foliage.

Family 40.
LAGRIIDAE.

This is another small group containing few species, but Lagria grandis is one of our very common beetles, and can be collected on low scrub anywhere about Sydney. The larvae are to be found under logs or among damp leaves on the ground, and are thickset, black, shining creatures. covered with short reddish hair on the upper surface; short antennae standing out in front; and the tip of the abdomen is produced into a pair of pointed spines. The beetle is light reddish brown, closely covered with fine confluent punctures and short scattered brown hairs. It is slightly over ½ an inch in length, with a small head, slender, narrow thorax, and with the front of the wing covers forming a broad shoulder in front.

Family 41.
ANTHICIDAE.

These are small ant-like beetles, with the head having a regular neck and the thorax narrow and elongate; most of them are found among rubbish upon the ground, or along the edges of creeks and watercourses. It is chiefly owing to the researches of King, who collected and described a great number of the species found about Sydney (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1869), that we know much about this family.

Family 42.
PYROCHROIDAE.

This is a small group containing some beetles with the head attached to the thorax by a neck, and with the wing covers much broader than the thorax: Lemodes coccinea is a pretty little bright red beetle with black legs and antennae, the latter tipped with white; it measures slightly over ¼ of an inch in length; is common under logs in the Illawarra district. Another species, L. splendens, has recently been described by Lea (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1906) from specimens obtained by me at Noundoc, N.S. Wales.

Family 43. Pintails.
MORDELLIDAE.

This group, in which the Rhipidophoridae are now included, are very distinctive beetles; they have the head tucked down in front; the thorax large, broad, and rounded at the base, with the hind margins angular and fitting closely into the wing covers, which taper down to the apex; the end of the abdomen forms a stout spine-shaped tip extending beyond the wings.

They are very active little beetles; several species are very numerous and swarm over the flowers of the low scrub. Mordella leucosticta, ½ an inch in length, is black; the whole of the upper surface is thickly spotted and marked with dull white, and the legs and under surface are also mottled. M. limbata is a much smaller black beetle ⅙ of an inch in length, and has a pale silvery sheen: Tomoxia flavicans, from the northern rivers, is a shorter broader insect. Pelectomoides conicollis is 1¼ inches in length; is of a uniform dull brown colour, with pectinate antennae; the head is small, turned down, and the thorax is broad and rounded. This fine beetle is found about Sydney. Lea has described and listed the members of this family (Trans. Ent. Soc. London 1902).

Family 44. Oil and Blister Beetles.
CANTHARIDAE.

The true Blister Beetle is a slender insect with soft integument, and a small head produced into a neck behind; the thorax is small in proportion to the slender rounded abdomen and wing covers. A number of species have been described from this country by different writers, among whom Fairmaire has been chief (Stett. Ent. Zeit. 1880). Most of them belong to the Genus Zonitis, of which about 40 species have been described. Zonitis bipartita, under ½ an inch in length, has the head, thorax, base of the wing covers, and under surface of abdomen orange yellow, with the abdomen and rest of the elytra dark shining blue: Z. brevicornis is a very similar insect, but has the whole of the wing covers deep metallic blue.

The true Oil Beetles are more rare; unable to fly, they are found crawling about on the ground with the body distended and the wing covers overlapping each other at the base. Nothing is recorded about the larvae of our species of this family, but in other countries they are known to feed upon the eggs of locusts; others attach themselves to bees, and are thus carried into their nests, where they devour the eggs and afterwards the honey.

The Oedemeridae are somewhat similar looking insects to the Blister Beetle; Ananca puncta is found in the northern parts of N.S. Wales; it is a very slender long-legged beetle over ½ an inch in length, of a general dull yellow colour, with the head, thorax, and legs mottled with dull blue, and the whole of the elongated wing covers dull blue except a dorsal stripe of the prevailing yellow which widens out towards the apex.

Family 45. Woodborers.
SCOLYTIDAE.

This is a group the members of which are allied to the Weevils, but differ in having a short broad snout with clubbed antennae, and the tibiae toothed on the outer edge. Only a few species have been described from this country, but several of them are well-known pests, and like the smaller species of the Auger Beetles are usually attracted to dying trees. In the Genus Hylesinus we have one, H. porcatus, which attacks the terminal buds of both the wild and cultivated figs. It is a short thickset black beetle, about 2 lines in length, with the head turned down to the fore-legs, and the clubbed antennae 5 jointed; the head and thorax are rugose, and the wing covers finely striated; the whole insect is lightly clothed with fine hairs. The Ambrosia Beetle, Xyleborus solidus, is a common beetle in the bush, and has lately turned its attention to fruit trees; boring into the branch and then gnawing a chamber right round under the bark, she deposits her eggs at the end of the burrow, at the same time killing the branch and causing it to snap off. This beetle is about ⅛ of an inch in length, of a uniform black colour, with the legs and antennae reddish brown. It is stout and cylindrical in form; the head is turned down in front and hidden from above; the rounded thorax is nearly as large as the body, covered with short rasp-like points in front; the wing covers are flattened and squared off at the tips.

Family 46. Slender Weevils.
BRENTHIDAE.

These are remarkable looking beetles, very long and slender in form, with the snout never turned down but standing out straight in front of the head; the antennae not elbowed, but composed of a number of bead-like joints attached near the tip on either side; and the jaws situated at the extremity of the snout. In many of the larger forms the males are much bigger than the females, and have the snout much longer; they are chiefly found in the tropical scrubs, two small species however coming from the south. Trachelizus howetti, a shining reddish brown beetle about ¼ of an inch in length, has the antennae thickened to the tips; and Cordus hospes, a larger beetle of a somewhat darker colour, is found under dead bark on the tree trunks, and also sometimes in ants’ nests. Ectocemus pterygorrhinus comes from North Queensland, and is common on the low scrub about Cairns where timber has been felled; it is somewhat short and thickset; the male is about 1¼ inches in length, with the tip of the rostrum produced into an angulate process, and very long cylindrical antennae. The general colour is dark reddish brown, with the wing covers ornamented with four parallel rows of shining dull yellow bars. Ithystenus hollandiae, also from Cairns, is found in similar situations; it is very long and slender, 1½ inches long, blackish brown, with two parallel light reddish brown lines down the centre of the wing covers, and the extremities produced into a tooth at either side. Homocerus fossulatus, found under rotten bark, is of a general dull brown colour; is thickened and flattened, with the wing covers much roughened. The male measures about 1¾ inches in length, but the female is much smaller. Mesetia amoena is a very pretty, slender, bright reddish yellow beetle, with the head, legs, and sides of the thorax black, and a dark medium stripe down the thorax and elytron. It is about 1 inch in length, and is common in the scrubs about the Richmond River N.S.W.

Family 47. Carnivorous Weevils.
ANTHRIBIDAE.

These beetles are allied to, but very distinct from, the true weevils, and are usually found on the trunks of dead trees, where they hunt for and devour the small wood-boring beetles that are attracted to the dead twigs, or which breed out of fungus. They have a short blunt snout, and many have long slender antennae which are not elbowed; they are most plentiful in the northern scrubs and forests.

Ecelonerus albopictus is typical of those with short antennae clubbed at the tips; it is a stout thickset dark brown beetle, thickly covered with pubescence, and the whole of the under surface, front of thorax and middle and tip of the body blotched with white pubescence. It measures over ½ an inch in length, and is found in the northern parts of N.S. Wales.

Ancylotropis waterhousei is a good example of the long-horned forms; it measures over ½ an inch in length, but looks shorter as its head and thorax are curved downwards. It is a very slender beetle of a uniform brown tint, but thickly clothed with buff and grey down; the thorax tapers to the front, and the head is elongated but swells out again in front, and is furnished with long slender antennae. Doticus pestilans is known as the “Dried Apple Beetle,” from the habit that the beetle has of laying its eggs in any dried immature apples that are left over the season upon the trees; in its native state the larvae breed in the large wattle galls. It measures only about ⅓ of an inch, and is a short, thickset beetle, with the head turned downward, furnished with slender clubbed antennae. The general colour is reddish brown; it has a raised ridge on either side of the wing covers; the fore-legs are curiously prolonged with large tarsi, and it has a peculiar jumping habit. Pascoe has described most of our beetles belonging to this group (Journal of Entomology 1860, and Annals and Magazine of Natural History 1859).

Family 48. Weevils.
CURCULIONIDAE.

The Weevils or Snout Beetles are one of the largest and best defined groups of the Coleoptera, and though they comprise a great number of very different looking beetles in shape, they all have the front of the head produced into a more or less elongated snout with the jaws placed at the tip, and with the distinctly elbowed antennae standing out on either side of the snout, forming a regular angle. Most of them are provided with well developed wings, the elytra being usually very solid; and the whole insect is encased in thick armour plate integument. The majority are slow, sluggish beetles, that trust as a rule more to their shape and protective colouration harmonising with their surroundings, than to their activity. They feed chiefly upon foliage and bark, and when at rest cling to the twigs or stalks of their food plants, falling at the least alarm to the ground, where they remain perfectly motionless, with their legs and antennae tightly closed until the danger has passed.

Those living in the dry western country are represented by curious wingless forms with very short stout snouts, and are usually found under logs and stones in open grass lands; while in the tropical scrubs they are chiefly arboreal, and frequently richly coloured. They are all vegetarian in their habits both in the larval and perfect states; some infest seeds, others destroy the buds, foliage or roots of plants and do a great deal of damage to farms and gardeners’ crops. About 1200 described species are listed in Masters’ Catalogue, and a great number of new species have been added during the last few years by Messrs. Blackburn and Lea in the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of N.S. Wales, and Transactions of the Royal Society of S. Australia. Pascoe, one of the most prolific writers on this family, described a great many between the years 1869–1883 (Journ. Linn. Soc. & Ann. Nat. Hist.). They have been divided into a number of sub-families, among which only the most important can be noticed here.

The remarkable Long-necked Weevil, Rhadinosomus lacordairei, measures under ½ an inch in length; is of a uniform dull reddish brown tint with a silvery white spot on either side of the rounded elytra, which are produced into a spine on each side. It breeds in the cavity in the large Brachyscelid galls, feeding on the woody tissue; Lea says that in Tasmania it is a pest to strawberry growers.

The members of the Genus Myllocerus are dainty little oval weevils found resting upon grass stalks or among the foliage of small shrubs peculiar to North Queensland and North West Australia. Myllocerus carinatus is about ⅓ of an inch in length, and is finely striated and densely clothed with metallic green scales. Catasarcus spinipennis is another West Australian insect of a brownish buff tint, with the abdomen broadly rounded; and the hind portions of the elytra covered with sharp spines. About 40 species of this genus are described, all of which with one exception are confined to West Australia. Cherrus ebeninus is one of the large stout black weevils common in the bush around Sydney, where it is usually found clinging to the twigs of the blood-wood, Eucalyptus corymbosa. It is black, with broad rugose thorax and ribbed wing covers.

The Genus Leptops contains a large number of very characteristic beetles feeding upon the foliage of wattles and other scrub trees. They are usually grey, buff, or dark brown insects with thickened snouts and broad bodies. The Apple-root Borer, Leptops hopei, is sometimes a pest to the orchardist, damaging the roots of his apple trees; the beetle emerging from the soil crawls up the tree trunk, and laying her eggs upon the leaf, turns the edges over and gums them together with a sticky secretion; the young grubs hatch and crawl down to the roots. L. tribulus, often called by the Sydney boys the “Wattle Pig,” feeds upon the foliage of the black wattle; it is a much larger species, about 1 inch in length; dark brown to black in colour; the broad rounded body covered with short blunt spines, thickest towards the apex. The Grey-banded Leaf Weevil, Ethemaia sellata, described from S. Australia, has a wide range over the interior. The larvae are pale green legless creatures about ⅓ of an inch in length, lightly clothed with short hairs; they remain buried in the soil, coming out at night to feed upon plants, but if disturbed by a light they will drop to the ground and bury themselves very quickly. The beetle is ⅓ of an inch in length, dark brown, shaded with grey, which forms an irregular pattern on the thorax, legs, and elytra; rugose, deeply pitted; and the whole surface is clothed with white and brown scales.

The Amycterinae are a large group of weevils with such short thick snouts that they are quite unlike the typical forms generally found in open forest country among grass or hiding under logs or stones; they are wingless, the elytra soldered together forming a very thick solid integument. Macleay described a great number (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1865). Psalidura elongata, common in the interior, measures slightly over 1 inch in length; is of a uniform black colour with a reddish brown tint; the short head and flattened thorax are finely granulated, with the elytron closely ribbed and punctured. Talaurinus tuberculatus, about ⅔ of an inch in length, is black, very coarsely granulated on the thorax, with the whole of the flattened elytron thickly covered with blunt tubercules. Nearly 90 species or this genus have been described, chiefly by Macleay, ranging all over Australia. Amycterus draco is one of the most remarkable armour plated species in the interior; it is black, with a small deeply ribbed head and angulated thorax; and the broad, somewhat elongated elytron is turned down at the extremity and covered with rows of raised bosses. Acantholophus echinatus, as the generic name implies, represents a group containing a number of species covered with spines that extend even over the upper surface of the head and thorax. The Genus Cubicorrhynchus contains the smaller ground beetles, almost cylindrical, with short rounded head and thorax: they dwell under stones, and when exposed lie quite motionless as if dead, their dull brown tints matching the ground. C. morosus, about ⅓ of an inch in length, is of the usual form and colour, with a very wide range, and often very numerous in grass lands.

The Gonipterinae comprise a number of diverse forms found upon foliage clinging to the twigs. The Genus Oxyops contains a number of stout moderate-sized beetles which are remarkable for the curious habits of their legless slug-like larvae, which, covering themselves with a slimy secretion, crawl about over the surface of the eucalyptus leaves, feeding upon the epidermis and covering their backs with their excrement; when full grown they pupate on the ground among the rubbish beneath their food plant. Oxyops concreta has a narrow short head with the thorax broadest behind; the elytra broadly swollen, rounded, deeply striated, and clothed with fine scales. Bryachus squamicollis has a wide range over Australia, and is usually found clinging to the twigs of stunted gum trees; it measures about ½ an inch in length; is of a uniform dark chocolate brown, but thickly mottled all over with fine grey and black scales. This beetle forms rounded cells of a brown gummy substance (very much like large Lecanium scales) which are attached to the twigs, in each of which she places three eggs; from these emerge pale yellow oval larvae; when full grown the larva is an oval smooth rounded grub of a purplish tint, legless, flattened on the ventral surface, and with the head hidden from above, like a “pear-slug” larva; when adult it falls or crawls to the ground, and pupates among the rubbish. Mr. Gurney first discovered the curious egg-capsules on trees in the Bogan River district N.S.W. Gonipterus gibberus is a small reddish-brown beetle with a white blotch on either side of the elytra; it has an elongated head and thorax, and is usually found clinging tightly to the tip of a eucalyptus twig. Aterpus cultratus, typical of the next group, measures ⅓ of an inch in length; the dorsal surface is flattened; is of a general dull brown tint, with the head, front of the thorax and tip of the abdomen buff. Usually found under dead bark on tree trunks, its larva forms a loose cocoon of bits of bark on the stems of Melaleuca bushes. Lixus mastersi, the weed weevil, is very common in neglected gardens, as its larvae feed in the roots of Amaranthus and Chenopodium, causing them to swell out into cylindrical galls; the beetle is ⅓ of an inch in length, slender and cylindrical in form, of a light brown tint, but when freshly emerged is covered with a yellow mealy pubescence which soon rubs off.

The “Botany Bay Diamond Beetle,” as Donovan described it, Chrysolophus spectabilis, is one of our commonest and at the same time one of the most beautiful of our weevils. It has a very wide range all over Australia, and is found wherever the black wattle thrives, but also feeds upon many other species. It is very variable in size, measuring to 1 inch in length; is of a uniform black tint, but so thickly covered with patches of bright metallic green scales, that in freshly emerged specimens it seems more green than black. It deposits its eggs about the butt of the wattle tree buried in the bark; the stout fleshy grubs form irregular tunnels in the wood.

The Elephant Beetle, Orthorrhinus cylindrirostris, whose stout fleshy grubs do a good deal of damage to citrus trees, has a very wide range over Australia: it is a dark brown weevil, covered on the dorsal surface with fine buff and grey scales; the thorax is covered with irregular bosses which form ridges on the elytra. It measures about ½ an inch in length, and has a long slender snout turned down in front, and very long fore-legs terminating in large feathered tarsi; in its native state it feeds upon gum trees. O. klugi is a much smaller species that feeds and breeds in wattles, but is also known as an orchard pest, infesting the canes of vines, and also eating the leaf buds.

Eurhamphus fasciculatus is one of our largest and most remarkable looking weevils; it measures 2½ inches in length, and is of a general black tint, but the greater portion is finely clothed with grey and rusty red scales, which give it a uniform buff tint; it is further clothed with tufts of long soft reddish brown hairs forming a raised ridge down either side of the thorax, and are scattered in rows on the elytra intermixed with small tufts of long grey hairs, giving it a very remarkable spiny appearance. It is a rare insect as a rule, ranging from Pine Mountain, Queensland, to the Clarence River, N.S. Wales; but many years ago Masters when collecting in the north came upon a large dead pine tree in the scrub literally covered with hundreds of these great weevils boring into the dead timber with their long slender snouts, making a distinct scratching sound. It is therefore probable that they are confined to the strip of country where the Hoop or Maryborough Pine grows, and breed on it.

Tranes sparsus, ⅓ of an inch in length, is common among the coarse palm-like foliage of the Currawong; it is of a uniform reddish brown tint with a slender snout, rounded flattened thorax, and oval, flattened, finely striated elytra. A smaller black species, T. xanthorrhoeae, is found in the foliage of the grass trees. The Genus Belus contains a number of very slender weevils with the snout standing out in front of the head, long antennae, thickened thighs, and the slender elytra coming to a point at the apex. They feed upon wattles, and are very active, flying about in the heat of the day. Belus semipunctatus is about ¾ of an inch in length; of a uniform dark reddish brown tint, with a broad white stripe down each side of the thorax and down the centre of the back, with small spots on each side. B. bidentatus is a stouter thickset beetle; and is of a darker brown colour, with a rounded buff spot on either side of the wing covers. B. plagiatus is a smaller almost black species, richly variegated with reddish yellow spots and blotches; it comes from the more tropical scrubs of N.S. Wales and Southern Queensland. Rhinotia hoemoptera, a very handsome slender cylindrical weevil, is about ¾ of an inch in length, with the snout furnished with thickened antennae turned down below the head; it is rich black with bright brick red wing covers which have a fine dorsal black stripe down the centre. The curious large-headed larvae feed in the stems of the Sweet-scented Wattle, Acacia suaveolens. Eurhynchus acanthopterus is the type of another group, which has a shorter snout, and the head broad and rounded, fitting closely into the somewhat attenuated thorax; the body is broadly oval, and the wing covers furnished with short conical spines in the centre of the back. It measures about ½ an inch, and is of a uniform reddish brown tint. The Ant Weevil, Myrmacicelus formicarius, usually found crawling about on the trunks of wattle trees, is a shining black weevil about ⅙ of an inch in length, and is as ant-looking as its names suggest. The Genus Balaninus represents the tiny little rounded weevils with very long slender snouts adapted for feeding upon seeds. B. amoenus is black spotted with white; is almost oval in form, and about ⅙ of an inch in length. It feeds upon the ripe fruit of the little yellow fig, Ficus rubiginosa.

The Genus Laemosaccus contains a number of short flattened weevils of a general black or dark brown colour ornamented with white or buff down; they are generally found feasting upon the bark of freshly fallen tree-trunks, particularly wattle and eucalypts, in which they also bore holes and deposit their eggs. Laemosaccus electilis measures ¼ of an inch in length; is black with white pubescence on the under surface, and white markings on the tips of the wing covers, which are finely striated. My specimens come from Condobolin, N.S. Wales.

The members of the Genus Haplonyx contain a number of curious, short, broadly rounded beetles generally found clinging to the twigs of eucalypts, but their larvae breed in the fleshy galls of the Brachyscelid coccids, where they destroy the gall makers and pupate in the cavity. Haplonyx centralis is a typical dark brown species with a large white circle occupying the centre of the back. Perissops ocellatus, about ½ an inch in length, comes from the Tweed River N.S. Wales and Southern Queensland: it is of a general light brown tint; is oval and rounded in form, with the wing covers marked with buff, so that when viewed from behind it resembles a pair of eyes and nose on a man’s face.

Axionicus insignis is always found upon the trunk of the Kurrajong tree hidden in the crevices of the bark, where in spite of its size (¾ of an inch in length) it is very difficult to detect, owing to the exact blending of its white grey and brown markings with the tints of the bark. It lays its eggs in the injured bark; the larvae are typical obese legless white grubs; they feed between the bark and the wood often in such numbers as to kill large branches. They pupate in regular oval cocoons formed of gnawed wood and bark. Tepperia sterculiae breeds in the seed pods of the Kurrajong, and is a smaller but somewhat similar tinted beetle clothed with brown and grey scales, the latter forming a well defined patch toward the apex of the wing covers. The two species of the Genus Enteles are smaller, smooth, shining, black beetles, with the head and legs curving underneath the body; they are both found in the semi-tropical scrubs of the north. Enteles vigorsi is marked with two white transverse lines crossing the elytra; while E. ocellatus has more parallel lines crossing the transverse ones, making an eye-like pattern upon the back. The Grass-tree Weevil, Trigonotarsus rugosus, is 1½ inches in length; is of a uniform black colour; and of the typical Calandra or palm weevil shape, with a slender curved snout, and small head sunk into the thorax, with the dorsal surface of the thorax and elytra flattened. The obese white larva feeds in the roots of the grass-trees. Allied to this are the two tiny cosmopolitan grain weevils, Calandra orizae and C. granaria, which are destructive pests to all kinds of grain and other food stuffs.

Family 49. Longicorns.
CERAMBYCIDAE.

The longicorn beetles from their number, variety, size, and the damage they do to timber and plants, are well known beetles, and have always been a favourite group with collectors. They are usually elongate in form, with powerful gnawing jaws, and long slender many-jointed antennae standing out in front of the head, the basal joint often half encircled by the large compound eye; the elytron is always divided down the centre, and the large hind wings well adapted for flight are folded beneath them; the legs are strongly developed, well adapted either for running about or clinging to their food plant.

They deposit their eggs in bark or timber; the larvae burrow into the tissue beneath, upon which they feed; they often remain, long cylindrical or flattened naked grubs, for several years before they pupate in the end of their last gallery.

They are divided into three large sub-families by modern entomologists; our species have been chiefly described by Newman in “The Entomologist” 1842; “Annals of Natural History” 1840; and a number of other Journals. Pascoe contributed a great many papers to over half a dozen of the leading entomological societies in England between 1857 and 1875. Hope, in the Proceedings of the Entomological Society of London 1841, and other Transactions, added largely to our list, while Messrs. Boisduval, Germer, White, Saunders, and others described odd specimens. In our own Journals, Macleay and Blackburn have also dealt with these beetles.

The Prioninae comprise a number of large broad thickset beetles with the front coxae large and transverse, and the prothorax having well developed side margins. The determination of several of our commonest species was a matter of some doubt, so I submitted most of our common forms to Professor Lamare of Brussels, who has identified them and enabled me to speak with some authority.

Sceleocantha glabricollis is one of the shortest thickset forms; about 1¼ inches in length; of the usual uniform reddish brown tint; the small shining thorax furnished with a fine spine on either side; and the broad rounded elytron finely granulated. It is found along the southern coast of N.S. Wales. The common large white grub which bores in the trunks of the honeysuckle (Banksia serrata) growing along the coast of the south-east of N.S. Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, is the larva of Paroplites australis described in 1842 by Erichson; in most of our Museum collections it is known as Macrotoma servilis. It is variable in size, measuring to 2 inches in length, and is of a dull dark brown tint, with a flattened rugose thorax with serrate edges. Eurynassa australis is a large somewhat slender species 2¼ inches in length; the broad flattened dull coloured thorax is marked in the centre with two shining triangular patches pointing toward the head; the reddish brown elytra are finely granulated. E. odewahni is a smaller species, with the thorax more constricted, shining, rugose, and serrate on the margins; it is found in the interior, and has an extended range westward from N.S. Wales to W. Australia. Agrianome spinicollis comes from the north-east of N.S. Wales; it is a broader more flattened form, about 2 inches in length; the thorax is rounded and serrate on the sides; and the general colour is light reddish brown. Iotherium metallicum hardly measures over ½ an inch; is of a rich metallic purple tint; the thorax is produced into a broad spine on the sides; and the wing covers are broadly round at the apex. The male is a much smaller coppery tinted beetle, and was described under the name of Phaolus macleayi; it is usually taken on grass stalks in open forest country.

The Cerambycinae comprise a much larger division of the longicorn beetles, differing from the last group in having the first coxae not greatly extended transversely; the thorax not margined, and the last joint of the maxillary palpus usually broad. Pachydissus sericus is a slender silvery dark brown beetle about 1¼ inches in length, with the tip of the wing covers spined and the basal joint of the antennae thickened. It is generally found clinging to the rough bark of tree trunks. They deposit their eggs in the bark of Acacia longifolia; the larvae bore all through the trunk and larger branches; they have a wide range over the southern half of Australia.