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.
[Illustration: =Fig. 63.=--_Lophocateres pusillus._
A tiny introduced Beetle belonging to the Family
_Trogositidae_ that attacks dried fruit.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
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.
[Illustration: =Figs. 64 and 65.=--Life History of the
Cadelle.
64. _Trogosita mauritanica_ (Linn.).
65. „ „ Larva.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
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.
[Illustration: Plate XVII.--COLEOPTERA.
Family LUCANIDAE.
9. _Lamprima latreillei_ (W. S. Macleay).
11. _Cladognathus arfakanus_ (Lansb.).
Family CETONIDAE.
4. _Trichaulax macleayi_ (Kratz).
7. _Eupoecila inscripta_ (Janson).
8. _Chlorobapta besti_ (Westwood).
10. _Diaphonia olliffiana_ (Janson).
Family RHIPIDOPHORIDAE.
2. _Pelecotomoides conicollis_ (Castelnau).
Family SCARABAEIDAE.
1. _Bolboceras proboscidium_ (Schreibers).
3. _Onthophagus australis_ (Guérin).
5. _Trox dohrni_ (Harold).
Family TENEBRIONIDAE.
6. _Zopherosis georgii_ (White).
(Original photo. Burton.)]
[Illustration: _Plate XVII.--COLEOPTERA._]
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).
[Illustration: =Fig. 66.=--_Phyllotocus macleayi_
(Fischer).
The Honey Beetle, common on flowers in summer time.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
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.
[Illustration: =Fig. 67.=--_Diphucephala aurulenta_
(Kirby).
The Metallic Green Wattle Beetle. In Tasmania it damages
young apples by eating off the skin.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]