mottled brown beetles which in the larval state feed between the bark
and sapwood of different gum trees when the trees are dead or dying;
several species are common in firewood blocks about Sydney. The beetles
are remarkable for long antennae fringed on the inner edge with fine
hairs and short spines at the joints, and a single large spine on the
sides of the thorax. _Phoracantha recurva_ has a very wide range from
the North-west coast to Victoria; it measures under 1 inch in length;
is of a general dull yellow tint, with the apical half of the wing
covers crossed with a broad band of reddish brown. _P. tricuspis_ is a
much larger, darker reddish brown beetle with mottled wing covers that
lives in the timber of the ironbark gums. _P. semipunctata_, smaller
than the last, has a regular pattern of dark brown on its back; it
is common about Sydney N.S.W., and has a wide range over Australia.
_Epithora dorsalis_ is remarkable for its very long fringed antennae,
and is easily distinguished by its uniform reddish tint marked across
the centre of the wing covers with a broad patch of dull yellow. It
also has a wide range over the continent, and is often taken about
Sydney in summer on flowering shrubs. _Aphanasium australe_ is a
slender, light reddish brown beetle, under ¾ of an inch in length,
the larvae of which feed in the stems of the prickly Hakea bushes.
_Piesarthruis marginellus_ is a very distinctive dull reddish brown
insect with the centre of the wing covers pale brown; the smaller
more slender male is furnished with remarkable feathered antennae.
The larva breeds and pupates in the centre of the branches of _Acacia
longifolia_, and can be easily reared from infested wood, though it
is very rarely found on the food plant, for as soon as it emerges it
crawls up to the top of the tree and clings to the branchlets.
_Strongylurus thoracicus_ is a handsome brown longicorn brightly marked
with white on the sides of the thorax. Its larva is very destructive
in gardens, cutting off large branches of white cedar and pittosporum
bushes.
In the Genus _Uracanthus_ the beetles are long and slender, with
almost cylindrical bodies, and the thorax contracted slightly behind
the head. _Uracanthus triangularis_ in Victoria confines its attention
almost exclusively to the branches of the black wattle; but in N.S.
Wales I have bred it from a number of different shrubs. It measures
about 1 inch in length; is of a general uniform reddish brown colour,
but so thickly clothed with fawn-coloured pubescence that there is
only an angular bare reddish patch on the sides of the wing covers.
_U. cryptophagus_, the largest known species, is nearly twice the
length, more cylindrical in form, and of a uniform buff tint. In its
native state it fed in the northern scrubs of N.S. Wales upon the wild
lemon, from which it migrated to the cultivated orange, and the larvae
burrowing through the branches did a great deal of mischief to the
trees. _Syllitus grammicus_ is a slender reddish brown beetle with six
parallel grey lines running down the elytra, and is under ½ an inch in
length. _Lygesis mendica_ breeds on the twigs of the black wattle in
the neighbourhood of Sydney. It measures under ½ an inch in length;
is of a uniform reddish brown colour, and has a slender head and long
cylindrical thorax. The wing covers are rounded at the tips, and the
whole insect is clothed with stout white hairs. _Macrones rufus_ is a
long, slender, bright reddish brown beetle about 1¼ inches in length;
the thorax is roughened into rounded bosses; the body is narrow in the
centre, but swells out into a rounded apex; the wing covers narrow,
and not reaching to the tip of the abdomen give it a very wasp-like
appearance. It is usually taken upon flowers in the summer months.
[Illustration: =Fig. 91.=--_Strongylurus
thoracicus_ (Pascoe).
The Pittosporum tree borer, and larva.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
[Illustration: =Fig. 92.=--_Lygesis mendica_
(Pascoe).
The slender grey-haired Longicorn.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
[Illustration: =Fig. 93.=--_Uracanthus
cryptophaga_ (Olliff).
The great Orange-tree Borer.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
The Genus _Hesthesis_ contains a number of brightly marked yellow
and brown beetles that mimic flower-wasps both in colour and shape,
and are found in similar situations upon flowering shrubs. The wing
covers are shortened into rounded pads only covering the shoulders,
while the wings are exposed. _Hesthesis vigilans_, under ¾ of an inch
in length, is black, mottled on the thorax, and barred with two bands
of bright yellow on the abdomen, and one on the front of the thorax.
_H. ferruginea_, slightly larger, is bright yellow banded with black;
and _H. cingulata_, about the same size, is black, blotched upon the
thorax, and marked with three white bands on the abdomen. _Distichocera
macleayi_ has the smaller male black with feathered antennae, and
deeply ribbed wing covers tapering to the apex. The female, nearly
1½ inches in length, and broader and thickset in proportion, has the
dorsal surface clothed with rusty red pubescence. _D. maculicollis_ is
a much smaller species, hardly over ½ an inch in length in the male,
which is of a dull black faintly marked with white; the larger female
is rusty red except a parallel stripe of black down the centre of
the thorax. This species breeds in the stems of _Kunzea corifolia_;
commencing under the bark the larva gnaws irregular passages backwards
and forwards, finally hollowing out several large parallel chambers
toward the centre of the stem, in one of which it pupates. Among the
most beautiful of our flower haunting longicorns are the members of the
Genus _Tragocerus_, with stout angular thorax and broad deeply ribbed
wing covers almost truncated at the extremities. _T. lepidopterus_ is
variable in size and colouration in the sexes, the smaller male being
darker coloured than the large reddish brown female, which measures
nearly 1¾ inches in length; both have the wing covers mottled with
little patches of grey hairs. _T. spencei_ is a smaller species without
the white patches, but having dark wavy bands crossing the centre of
the back.
The members of the Genus _Clytus_ are active little ant-like beetles,
common in the more tropical parts of Australia, running up and down
on freshly fallen tree trunks in the bright sunlight, or hunting over
flowering shrubs; some are richly marked with golden yellow or red
on the rounded thorax. _Clytus curtisi_, measuring under 1 inch in
length, is black spotted and mottled with white. One of our commonest
and most widely distributed flower haunting longicorns is _Aridaeus
thoracicus_, a reddish yellow beetle with short rounded thorax, and the
wing covers crossed in the centre with two black V-shaped bands. It is
very variable in size, the largest measuring nearly 1 inch in length.
_Purpuricenus quadrinotatus_ is a very handsome black and bright red
beetle about ¾ of an inch in length, with a short broad almost globular
thorax, and a short body round at the apex. It is common along the
Flinders River N. Queensland upon low scrub, and I have taken them in
all variations of red and black; usually the head and thorax are black,
with the wing covers red blotched with black; a variety with the thorax
red is described as a distinct species.
The LAMIINAE comprise the third division which, usually stout and broad
in proportion, are found chiefly upon branches or twigs feeding upon
bark; and are frequently very numerous upon fallen timber in forest
clearings. They differ from the former group in having the front coxae
round and deeply embedded; the maxillary palpi pointed at the tips; and
the fore tibiae with a more or less distinct groove on the inner side.
_Microtragus mormon_ is typical of several closely allied genera of
short, thickly coated longicorns, with the rounded slightly spined
thorax and the tapering body ridged or coarsely punctured; they are
found upon logs or tree trunks on the ground, and somewhat resemble
the ground weevils. This species comes from Kalgoorlie, W. Australia,
but has a wide range over the western country; it is of a dull reddish
brown tint, and measures about 1 inch in length. _Ceraegidion horrens_,
not uncommon in the Illawarra district N.S.W., is a smaller darker
coloured beetle covered with stout spines upon the dorsal surface
of the thorax and elytra. The Genus _Monohammus_ contains a number
of very fine brown or mottled beetles with long stout antennae; the
small rounded thorax produced into a blunt spine on either side; and
the broad wing covers arcuate at the tips and sometimes spined on the
sides. _M. holotephrus_ is of a uniform dull buff tint and measures
over 1 inch in length; it comes from S. Australia and Queensland. _M.
ovinus_ is a much smaller species with the thorax spined on the summit
and sides; it is of a pale brown tint finely mottled with grey. It
has a wide range, being recorded from Kalgoorlie W.A., N.S. Wales,
Queensland, and S. Australia.
[Illustration: =Fig. 94.=--_Batocera frenchi_
(Blackburn).
The great Fig-tree Longicorn.
(Original Photo. Burton.)]
The tropical Genus _Batocera_, containing many of the largest and most
handsome of our longicorns, is well represented in our semi-tropical
scrubs. _Batocera frenchi_ has a very wide range from the Northern
Coast of N.S. Wales to Cape York. The great white grubs burrow in the
trunks of native figs and other forest trees, and the collectors in
Cairns, N. Queensland, capture the beetles by cutting down fig trees
and waiting for them at twilight when they come to feed upon the bark.
This species measures over 2 inches in length, has a spined rugose
thorax, broad wing covers, and immense stout spined curved antennae;
its general colour is slate grey to dark brown, with the elytra marked
with irregular oval white spots. _B. sapho_ is a more reddish brown
beetle, somewhat more slender, and with fewer spots on the wing covers:
it is found in the forests of Cape York, N. Queensland. _Rosenbergia
megacephala_ is larger still, and is of a beautiful creamy white tint,
with the basal portions of the elytra finely spotted with black; the
thorax is deeply ridged and spined: it is found at Port Darwin N.A.,
and Cairns, Queensland. Horace Brown informs me that this large beetle
frequents fig trees in the forests of N. Queensland, where they can
often be detected by the number of small branches scattered beneath,
which have been cut off by their powerful jaws. _Thyada barbicornis_ is
a very handsome greyish brown mottled beetle with an oval blackish spot
on each side of the elytra, and the antennae are so thickly fringed
with fine hairs that it forms a regular brush toward the extremities;
it measures under ¾ of an inch in length, and is common on the foliage
of native figs on the Tweed River N.S.W.
The Genus _Hebecerus_ contains a number of moderate-sized, grey or
brownish mottled beetles, many of which lay their eggs in the bark of
the wattle trees; the larvae feed and pupate in the tips of the dead
twigs. _Hebecerus australis_, a thickset greyish brown species about ½
an inch in length, has a wide distribution over Australia, and has been
described under half a dozen synonyms: _H. marginicollis_ is a smaller
beetle, with the sides of the thorax marked with buff. _H. crocogaster_
is smaller still, of a similar general tint, with the antennae barred
with grey and brown.
The Genus _Symphyletes_ contains a number of large and handsome
longicorns that are found clinging to twigs and branchlets; many of
them in the larval state burrow in the stems of wattles, gum trees
and other smaller shrubs. _Symphyletes neglectus_ is an elongate
dull brown beetle about 1 inch in length; it girdles the branches
of _Acacia longifolia_, laying its eggs under the bark of the dying
portion in which the little grub feeds in the early part of its life.
_S. nigrovirens_ is a much smaller beetle, with the head, thorax, and
base of the elytra clothed with dull yellow hairs; the rest of the wing
covers is deep green striped with white on the sides. It feeds upon a
number of small shrubs, but its commonest food plant is the stunted
prickly wattle (_Acacia juniperina_). _S. solandri_, a larger beetle
clothed with a dense coat of fine buff hairs, breeds in the flower
stalk of the grass tree, often cutting it right through and causing the
upper half, beneath which it pupates, to fall off. _S. vestigialis_
measures ¾ of an inch; it is brown, richly mottled with buff and grey.
It feeds upon wattles; it has a wide range over Southern Australia.
[Illustration: =Fig. 95.=--_Hebecerus
marginicollis_ (Boisd.).
The White-cheeked Longicorn.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
The Genus _Penthea_ comprises a number of more thickset beetles with
similar habits, and which have the upper surface of the thorax and
wing covers granulated or ribbed and these are either covered with a
dense pubescence or mottled all over in a very characteristic manner.
_Penthea vermicularia_, one of the commonest and with a very wide
range, is black with the antennae banded, and the elytra covered with
irregular wavy white markings. It is very variable in size, 1¼ inches
to under ¾ of an inch in length. _P. saundersi_, found in W. Australia,
is much larger, of a more shining dark chocolate brown tint, and more
deeply impressed with well defined spots, blotches and irregular buff
coloured markings. _P. sannio_, smaller than the last and with a more
constricted thorax, has the whole of the upper surface clothed with a
creamy grey pubescence overlaid with deep orange red, and irregular
dark lines crossing the wing covers; this beautiful beetle is a
native of Queensland. _Rhytiphora argus_ takes its name from the dark
brown eye-like spots all over its back showing through the rich buff
pubescence; it also ranges over a large part of Queensland. _Depsages
granulosa_ resembles a _Penthea_ in its robust form; it measures
over 1½ inches in length; is of a uniform dark dull brown tint, with
the elytra covered with fine granules or bosses. It is common about
Sydney, found clinging in summer time to the stems of gum saplings.
_Zygrita diva_ is a handsome little dark orange yellow coloured beetle
irregularly marked and mottled with black. It is very common upon grass
stalks in the open forest country of North Australia.
[Illustration: =Fig. 96.=--_Symphyletes
vestigialis_ (Pascoe).
The Buff-painted Longicorn.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
Family 50. Plant-eating Beetles.
CHRYSOMELIDAE.
These foliage-destroying beetles have a regular, thickened, more or
less oval or rounded form, with the thorax sometimes forming a neck;
but in other groups are rounded and fit closely into the head and
abdomen. The head, buried up to the eyes in the front of the thorax, is
furnished with short stout biting jaws, and slender filiform antennae
composed of many short segments; the tarsi are generally four jointed.
They are as a rule small insects, rarely measuring over ½ an inch in
length; their prevailing colours are red, yellow, or brown, marked with
black or bright metallic tints. They lay their eggs on the foliage
or twigs of their food plants, upon which the larvae feed when they
emerge, and when full grown crawl down and pupate in the soil beneath.
This is a very large family; about 18,000 species are described from
all parts of the world, and most of the typical groups are represented
in this country. We have had a number of workers on the Chrysomelids:
Baly (Ann. Nat. History 1862), (Jour. Linn. Soc. 1864), and (Trans.
Ent. Soc. of London 1877): Clark in the “Journal of Entomology” 1864:
Marsham (Trans. Linn. Society 1808): Chapius has described a number
(Soc. Entom. Belgium Vol. xvii.), and (Journal, Museum Godeffroy
xiv.): while Lea (Trans. Ent. Soc. London 1904) has monographed the
CRYPTOCEPHALIDES; and Blackburn revised the Genus _Paropsis_ (Pro.
Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1896 and 1901), adding many new species.
The SAGRIDES are very distinctive beetles, with the thorax elongated
in front and broad behind; some of the more tropical forms are of rich
metallic tints, with the thighs of the hind legs greatly enlarged; and
our beautiful representative species, _Sagra papuana_, is known to
collectors in the North Queensland scrubs as the “Kangaroo Beetle.”
It measures 1 inch in length, and the swollen hind legs fringed with
reddish hairs and a large angular spine are fully another inch in
length. It is a uniform deep metallic blue. _Carpophagus banksiae_
measures ½ an inch in length; is of a uniform dark reddish brown,
with the elytra irregularly striped and banded with dark yellow; the
thighs of the hind legs are thickened, and the under surface is clothed
with fine grey hairs. It has a wide range, and is found about Sydney
clinging to the low scrub. _Mecynodera coxalgica_ is a larger, broader,
dull reddish brown insect, clothed with a lighter tinted pubescence,
and is found in similar localities.
The CRYPTOCEPHALIDES are a group of short, oval or truncate beetles,
with long slender antennae: the sexes often differ in size and
markings; they are usually found feeding upon the tender tips of
the branches of wattle, young gum, and other low shrubs. _Elaphodes
tiqrinus_ is a small, oval, reddish brown beetle, thickly clothed with
golden yellow pubescence forming a mottled pattern over the elytra; it
feeds upon the foliage of the black wattle. The members of the Genus
_Ditropidus_ are small oval beetles, similar in shape and habits, black
and shining; over 100 species have been described from Australia. The
Genus _Cadmus_ contains some very handsome ovate insects, with long
slender antennae; they chiefly frequent the young eucalypts: the larvae
have the curious habit of living in jug-shaped cocoons fitting closely
to the body, with the horny flat forehead closing the opening at the
apex; when moving along the fore-legs are extended like those of a
bag-moth. _Cadmus rubiginosus_, our largest common species, is under
½ an inch in length; it is of a general reddish brown colour, with
darker markings. _C. litigiosus_ is a smaller yellow beetle; the head
and thorax are black above, and the elytra yellow, finely punctured
and spotted with black. The Genus _Cryptocephalus_ comprises a number
of similar shaped beetles with smaller wrinkled head and thorax, and
the tip of the abdomen truncate. _Cryptocephalus scabrosus_ is black,
very rugose on the upper surface, with the tip of the elytra tinged
with reddish brown: it measures about ¼ of an inch, and is common
about Sydney. _C. viridinitens_ is slightly larger, of a uniform dark
metallic green on the upper surface.
The EUMOLPIDES are represented by one of our most beautiful species,
_Spilopyra sumptuosa_, common on low scrub on the northern rivers of
N.S. Wales: it is about ½ an inch in length, and is of a fiery coppery
red and deep metallic tint, giving out beautiful shades of colour in a
bright light.
The Genus _Edusa_ contains a number of bright metallic coloured beetles
of oval form, which are chiefly found among the foliage of eucalypts.
_Edusa distincta_ is of the usual bright coppery red tint, with
greenish head and thorax; it measures nearly ⅓ of an inch in length.
_Rhyparida didyma_ is a dull yellow beetle, with a narrow parallel
stripe of black down each side of the elytra; it is of the usual
elongate oval form with the head turned down in front. They are found
clinging to grass stalks; this and several other species are common on
the North West coast of Australia.
The CHRYSOMELIDES are one of the typical groups; many of them are
rich in bright metallic tints; are either rounded or oval in form;
and their larvae are active six legged grubs that crawl about the
foliage. _Aesernoides nigrofasciatus_ is a handsome, broad, convex,
black beetle, with the elytra crossed with three broad irregular
bands of dark orange yellow; it measures nearly ½ an inch in length,
and is common on several shrubs in the Northern River scrubs. The
Genus _Phyllocharis_ contains a number of more elongated beetles with
thicker antennae; they are chiefly found upon grass. _Phyllocharis
cyanicornis_ measures slightly over ⅓ of an inch in length; the general
colour is dark orange, with the antennae and legs black; and the
dorsal surface of the thorax and elytra are irregularly blotched with
shining blue-black. It has a wide range over Australia and Tasmania.
_P. cyanipes_, a larger species from N. Australia, has the head,
thorax, blotch on each side of base, and tips of elytra light yellow,
with the rest of the wing covers shining black. _Lamprolina perplexa_
is a smaller, elongate, metallic, dull bronze coloured beetle, with
yellow head and thorax; it is common upon the foliage of the native
blackthorn, _Busaria spiniferous_.
The larvae of several species of the Genus _Calomela_ feed upon the
foliage of the black wattles: they are short, squat grubs, with black
heads and small green oval bodies. _Calomela paralis_ measures 2½ lines
in length; its general colour is dark orange yellow, with a broad
parallel band of rich metallic green occupying the centre of each wing
cover and tapering down to the tips; the elytra are deeply and finely
punctured. Twenty-five species are described from various parts of
Australia, chiefly by Baly (Trans. Ent. Soc. 1856–1863: and Ann. and
Mag. N.H. 1862).
The Genus _Paropsis_ is the most extensive and characteristic of all
our plant-eating beetles, and some of our common species are very
plentiful about Sydney. Marsham wrote a monograph of the species
(Trans. Linn. Soc. 1808), placing them in the Genus _Notoclea_; in
Masters’ Catalogue 269 species are listed; since then, Blackburn has
revised the Genus (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1896–1901), and added a
number of new species.
The beetles are found chiefly upon the foliage of young eucalypts, and
lay their yellow spindle-shaped eggs in a ring round the small twigs:
the young larvae when first hatched cluster together, but as they
increase in size they scatter all over the foliage upon which they
feed. They are very active, short, stout grubs, with three pairs of
well developed legs; when full grown they crawl down and pupate in the
soil. The beetles are very convex and broadly rounded; most of them are
more or less yellow, brown, or black in tint; some are very richly and
delicately shaded with metallic tints, which however unfortunately fade
after death. _Paropsis variolosa_, one of our largest species, measures
¾ of an inch in length, and is nearly as broad in proportion; it is of
a general yellowish brown tint mottled with lighter yellow and closely
punctured; the under surface except the legs is black. _P. alternata_
is a smaller, dark brown beetle, the elytra banded with parallel
lines of black and reddish brown: _P. immaculata_ is about the same
size; dull reddish brown, with the outer half of the elytra darkest;
it is usually found feeding upon the foliage of the black wattle. _P.
liturata_ is slightly smaller than the last, with the wing covers
irregularly spotted with pale yellow. It is common on the eucalypts
about Sydney, and has a wide range over the State. The small green
larvae of _P. pictipennis_ feed upon the foliage of _Leptospermum_; the
beetle is a small form, dull yellow marked with bright spots, but fades
into a dull brown when dead.
[Illustration: =Fig. 97.=--_Calomela paralis_ (Lea).
The Green Striped Wattle Beetle.
(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]
The HALTICIDES are popularly known as “flea beetles,” as they have the
thighs of the hind legs swollen out into rounded lumps which enable
them to jump to a considerable distance: specimens are often found
feeding upon sedges about watercourses. _Nisotra submetallica_ is a
tiny, shining green beetle, with a light reddish brown head and thorax;
it is often a pest in the herb bed, where it feeds upon mint. _Arsipoda
macleayi_ is a much larger, deep metallic blue beetle with very large
thighs; it has been found eating the surface of vine leaves in the
Gosford district N.S.W., and covering them all over with brown blotches.