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.
[Illustration: =Figs. 68.= and =69=.--Life History
of the Shining Cockchafer.
68. _Anoplognathus porosus_ (Dalm). 69. Larva. 69a. Pupa.]
_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.
[Illustration: =Fig. 70.=--_Pentodon australis_
(Blackburn).
The larva and adult feed upon grass roots and sometimes
damage growing corn.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
_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.
[Illustration: =Figs. 71= and =72=.--Life History
of the Queensland “Elephant Beetle.”
71. _Xylotrupes australicus_ (Thorn), Larva. 72.
_Xylotrupes australicus_, Male Beetle.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
* * * * *
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.
[Illustration: =Fig. 73.=--_Merimna atrata_ (Lap.
et Gory).
A Buprestid Beetle that has the curious habit of flying into
the fire.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
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.
[Illustration: =Fig. 74.=--_Cisseis leucosticta_
(Kirby).
A Leaf-eating Flower Beetle, common on the Black Wattle.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
_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.
[Illustration: Plate XVIII.--COLEOPTERA.
Family BUPRESTIDAE.
1. _Stigmodera fortnumi_ (Hope).
2. _Stigmodera macularia_ (Donov.).
3. _Stigmodera pascoci_ (Saunders).
4. _Stigmodera thoracica_ (Saunders).
5. _Cyria imperialis_ (Donov.).
6. _Stigmodera variabilis_ (Donov.).
7. _Calodema regalis_ (Lap. et Gory).
8. _Chalcophora vittata_ (Waterhouse).
9. _Julodimorpha bakewelli_ (White).
(Original photo. Burton.)]
[Illustration: _Plate XVIII.--COLEOPTERA._]
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.