hairs of the head, seldom or never going on the coarser hair of the
body; the pale-coloured eggs are glued to the hairs, from which
emerge larvae closely resembling the adults. _Pediculus vestimenti_
lives in the clothes of unclean persons, only coming on the skin
to suck up blood; it differs merely in being darker and broader in
general appearance. The Crab-louse, _Phthirius inguinalis_, is a very
short-bodied creature which clings with its large claws to the stouter
hairs of the body. In ancient times all these were very common, and a
loathsome disease called _Phthiriasis_ was said to be due to them. The
domestic animals, hogs, cattle, horses, &c., are infested with distinct
species.
Sub-Order IV. MALLOPHAGA.
Biting Lice.
The classification in which this group should be placed is not yet
definitely settled; Sharp places them in the Order NEUROPTERA between
the PSOCIDAE and the TERMITIDAE: Cholodkovsky combines them with the
sucking lice and creates a new Order, PSEUDORHYNCHOTA (Zool. Anz.
xxvii. 1903); while Kellogg has given them the rank of an Order under
the group name MALLOPHAGA.
They are certainly not lace-wings in the strict sense of the word; and
their habits are so similar to those of the preceding division that I
propose to place them as the fourth group of the Order HEMIPTERA.
They consist of biting lice infesting animals and birds, and feed
chiefly upon the hair, feathers, scales, or excretions of their hosts
by means of stout biting jaws, but are also said to be furnished with
an apparatus enabling them sometimes to suck up the blood. They all
have flattened bodies encased in horny integument, lightly clothed
with stout hairs; the antenna contains from 3 to 5 short joints, and
the eyes when visible are situated behind the antennae; the thorax is
narrow, apparently composed of two divisions; the short stout legs
are provided with 1 or 2 fine claws well adapted to their parasitic
habits. The wings are wanting, and the oval abdomen contains from 9 to
10 segments. They attach their eggs to the hairs or feathers of their
hosts, and the larvae develop upon the body.
Though some members of the group might be confounded with the ANOPLURA,
they are easily distinguished from them by the structure of the mouth,
and the different shaped claws at the extremity of the tarsi. While
the sucking lice are always confined to a particular host, the biting
lice are not so exclusive, for the same species may be found upon
several dissimilar birds or animals, and it is not uncommon for several
distinct species to infest the same host.
A number of European writers have studied and described these parasitic
creatures; Denny (Monographia Anoplurorum Britanniae 1842) described
all the British species, which he illustrated with coloured plates:
Piaget’s “Le Pediculines,” Leyden 1880, is a more important work, and
was followed by a supplement in 1885; the first contains a description
of all the species known up to that date, and the second adds 100 new
species which he had examined. Taschenberg in 1882 published a fine
Monograph, which however was never completed.
In America the chief writers have been Osborn and Kellogg; the
first in Bulletin 7, Division of Entomology U.S. 1891, dealing with
“Insects affecting domestic animals, Chapter v., Mallophaga,” figures
and describes a large number, among them some new species. Kellogg
describes a great many new species (New Mallophaga i., ii., iii.,
1886–89, Proceedings California Academy of Sciences, Vol. vi.),
and also gives a great deal of information about the structure and
classification of these insects. He says: “I propose therefore, in
the light of the present position of the Mallophaga as an independent
order of insects, to rank the Nitzschian families as sub-orders, the
Nitzschian genera as families, and the Nitzschian sub-genera, the
genera of the present day writers, as genera.”
In this classification two sub-orders are created, ISCHNOCERA,
containing two families, viz.: TRICHODECTIDAE, in which the members
have 3 jointed antennae and tarsi with one claw, and found upon
animals; and PHILOPTERIDAE, lice with five jointed antennae and two
tarsal claws, which infest birds. The second sub-order, AMBLYCERA, also
comprises two families, viz.: GYROPIDAE, with four jointed antennae and
one tarsal claw, infesting animals; and second the LIOTHEIDAE, with
four jointed antennae and two tarsal claws, chiefly found upon birds,
but in Australia also found upon marsupials.
There are about 1,000 species of these lice described from all parts
of the world, but the genera are few in number. Very little work has
been done in Australia on the Mallophaga: Piaget described a species
on the wombat for which he created the Genus _Boopia_, naming it _B.
tarsata_ (1880). In his Supplement (1885) he described a second on
the red kangaroo as _Boopia grandis_; and others on Australian birds,
among them _Menopon infumatum_ on the “Laughing Jackass,” and _Menopon
pallipes_ on the “Swamp Quail.”
In 1902 (Victorian Naturalist) Messrs. Le Souëf and Buller published
two papers dealing with these parasites; the first entitled
“Descriptions of some Mallophaga on Australian Birds,” and a second
“Descriptions of some new Mallophaga from Marsupials,” illustrated with
drawings. They describe the kangaroo louse, _Heterodoxus macropus_, as
common upon wallabies and kangaroos in most parts of Australia. The
female is a pale chestnut-coloured insect about 1½ lines in length,
with the typical conical blunt head, 4-jointed antenna, and elongate
oval abdomen fringed with hairs, and barred with black between the
segments. The Genus _Boopia_ contains the wombat louse described by
Piaget, and three other species found on wallabies. A fifth species,
_Latumcephalum macropus_, is also parasitic upon wallabies. The Native
Companion or Australian Crane is infested by a species described
by these writers under the name of _Lipeurus giganteum_; it is of
a uniform dull white colour, with an angular head, and measures ¼
of an inch in length. Three species are found upon the Lyre-bird,
namely: _Lipeurus menura_, _Nirmus menura_, and _Menopon menura_.
The white ibis has a distinct species, and another is found upon
the sulphur-crested cockatoo. The emu is the host of an elongate
dark-coloured species measuring up to 2 lines in length; the “Apostle
Bird” and the “Rosella” parrot have each a distinct parasite.
[Illustration: =Fig. 175.=--The Kangaroo Louse.
_Heterodoxus macropus_ (Le Souëf and Bullen).
(Drawn from the type W.W.F.)]
When these insects are carefully collected probably our fauna will be
found to be rich in curious and interesting forms, judging from the
number of undetermined species in my own collections. They can be very
easily collected in small spirit tubes as soon as the animal or bird
is shot, but like the “Louse-flies” they soon leave the dead body, and
all sportsmen know this to their cost when carrying their game any
distance.
Order IX.--THYSANOPTERA.
These insects are often called PHYSAPODA in allusion to their
bladder-shaped feet; but though some are wingless, the name
THYSANOPTERA seems much more suitable, for all the typical forms have
both pairs of wings beautifully fringed with hair-like filaments, hence
the name “fringe-wings.”
Thrips have few affinities with any of the other orders, and their
exact position in any system of classification has puzzled most
entomologists. The remarkable structure of the mouth, which has
been studied by Messrs. Jordan and Garman, appears to consist of a
compound of biting jaws and a sucking style. Uzel has figured it
in his “Monographie der Ordnung Thysanoptera” 1905, but the exact
manner in which they take their food is not yet clearly understood.
The integument is very thick and opaque, and the head comes to a
cone-shaped point at the mouth adjacent, to the ventral surface of the
sternum, so that the complicated structure of the mouth is difficult to
study. The eggs are laid upon the food plant, and the young undergoing
a series of moults resemble the adult in general form, and the
distinction between the larval and pupal forms, though noticeable, is
very slight.
The members of this Order sometimes appear in immense swarms and do a
great amount of damage to cultivated plants and field crops. They are
widely distributed over the world, and many species are cosmopolitan,
having been spread with the introduction of their food plants. The
group is well represented in Australia by many remarkable and striking
species, some of which form distinct galls. This Order contains the
single family THRIPIDAE.
Family 1. Thrips.
THRIPIDAE.
These are elongate, black, or brown, with 6 to 9 jointed antennae
standing out in front of the head; large eyes; with ocelli (usually
absent in the wingless forms). The elongate head comes to a cone-shaped
point at the extremity; the mouth consists of a pair of jaws with a
pointed style between them. The thorax, as broad or slightly
broader than the body, is elongate, and furnished in the typical forms
with two pairs of delicate oar-shaped wings with a simple medium
parallel vein in the centre of each fore wing, and both pairs fringed
with delicate feather-like filaments; both pairs are attached at
the base to the dorsal surface of the thorax, and when at rest are
folded down the centre of the back. The legs are short and simple, but
sometimes the thighs of the front pair are thickened; the tarsi consist
of two short simple joints, the last bladder-shaped. The abdomen is
slender and is rounded at the extremity, and in one division ends in a
slender tubular process. Most of them are minute creatures; the giant
among them comes from Australia, but this only measures ½ an inch in
length. Though most species are vegetarian in their habits, feeding
upon the surface of plants or the pollen of flowers, a few are said to
devour mites and other tiny creatures.
[Illustration: Plate XXXVII.--THYSANOPTERA.
Family THRIPIDAE.
1. _Idolothrips spectrum_ (Haliday). Giant thrips.
2. _Thrips tabaci_ (Lindeman). Rose and Onion thrips.
3. _Kladothrips rugosus_ (Froggatt). Gall thrips.
4. _Kladothrips rugosus_ (Froggatt). Larva.
5. 5_a_. 5_b_. Various stages of galls
(_K. rugosus_) on Acacia foliage.]
[Illustration: _Plate XXXVII.--THYSANOPTERA._]
In Uzel’s Monograph only 135 species are catalogued, half of which are
European. Haliday (Entomological Magazine 1836) divided all the known
species into two groups or sub-families, viz.: _Terebrantia_, in which
the females have an external toothed ovipositor (including all the
typical European forms); and the _Tubulifera_, in which the ovipositor
is hidden and the tip of the abdomen is produced into an elongated
tubular process (most of our indigenous species fall into this latter
group).
_Heliothrips haemorrphoidalis_, an introduced species, is our commonest
thrips, and is world-wide in its range. It measures about ¹⁄₁₆ of
an inch in length, is stout in proportion; has the head and thorax
rugose, and is of a uniform black tint with very light-coloured wings.
It not only infests and damages a great number of garden plants, but
is spreading to our native bushes, for I have taken them on young
eucalypts far away from any gardens. The Giant Thrips, _Idolothrips
spectrum_, was described by Haliday from specimens collected by Charles
Darwin in 1836; he described the sexes as different species; and a
smaller dark variety was given a third specific name. It is a very
common insect in Eastern N.S.W., hiding among the foliage of dead
eucalypts; when disturbed it runs about with its wings and elongated
body turned upward in the manner of a small “rove beetle.” It has an
extended range from Tasmania to Southern Queensland. I recorded its
life-history (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1904), where the different stages
of development are figured. Its large size, long antennae, elongated
neck-like prothorax, and red spined abdominal segments and tubular
appendage are very distinctive characters.
The most remarkable THRIPIDAE however are those that infest many
of our forest shrubs, such as _Acacia_, _Hakea_, _Callistemon_, and
other scrub trees in Central Australia. These live in galls which they
produce by puncturing the edges of the young leaves and causing them
to curl over; or by attacking the leaf buds and aborting the tips of
the twigs into irregular masses of thin woody galls; or again, the leaf
is pierced from the under side by the female thrips, causing the leaf
to blister on the upper surface, which gradually expands into an oval
or rounded gall as large as a small marble, and into which most of
the leaf is often absorbed, leaving only the leaf stalk and the tip,
which forms a short tail curving up from the basal scar. Many of these
galls are closely packed with small semitransparent larvae and pupae in
all stages of development, the offspring of the single female thrips
that first caused the gall. Noting this remarkable habit of Australian
thrips, so different from that of all other known species, I forwarded
specimens and galls to Dr. Sharp, who notes the fact in the Cambridge
Nat. Hist.: Insects. It seems apparently to be a case of the survival
of the fittest, for in the dry intense summer heat of the interior
these delicate insects could not live on the outer surface of the
foliage, while, enclosed in these galls, they can survive the hottest
and driest season. Species of gall-making thrips have been recorded
recently from Java. Uzel described one of these gall-making species,
_Phloeothrips tepperi_ (Acta Societatis Entomologicae Bohemiae 1905)
from specimens obtained in S. Australia by Tepper, and which form oval
galls upon the “Mulga,” _Acacia aneura_. This species is also common in
the western parts of N.S. Wales upon the same tree, which also bears
two other distinct thrips galls.
I have figured a remarkable rugose gall, obtained near Tamworth, N.S.
Wales, upon a short-leaved acacia (Agricultural Gazette N.S.W. 1906);
the maker of this gall will not fit into any known genus, and therefore
I propose for it the name of _Kladothrips rugosus_. It has an elongate
rounded head, with the thighs of the fore-legs greatly thickened and
the apex of the tibia produced into two blunt claws.
THE COLLECTION AND PRESERVATION OF INSECTS.
A collector’s outfit will vary considerably in different kinds of
country, and depend to a certain extent upon the particular group of
insects he is interested in. But there are some things he will require
on every tramp through the bush. For general collecting the first
thing needed is a strong leather bag; a large-sized school bag that
can be slung over the shoulder is preferred by some entomologists, as
it leaves their hands free; others carry a hand-bag; but a combination
of both, with handle and also swivels to which a shoulder strap can
be attached, is sometimes used, so that it can be carried either way.
I prefer the hand-bag, though it has its disadvantages, and one is
that when shaking or sweeping the scrub it is apt to be left behind,
and time spent in returning for it; and if the scrub is thick, may
have to be searched for. The bag should not be too big, for in a long
day’s tramp it becomes a burden, and if string and paper be carried,
galls, infested twigs, and foliage can always be made up into a bundle
and attached to the bag when an extra good find has been made. Some
collectors have the bag divided into compartments or pockets, which are
very handy at times for bottles and tubes, but it must be borne in mind
that every piece of leather adds weight.
With regard to nets, they must be adapted for the work they are to do;
and first in importance comes the butterfly net. If one is in camp
a simple net can be constructed with a ring of stout fencing wire,
fashioned into a circle with the two ends bent down for about six
inches, and tightly lashed to a straight sapling about eight feet in
length; round the ring is sewn a strip of stout calico, to which is
attached a mosquito net bag about 18 inches long, tapering to a rounded
tip, and about 15 inches in diameter; this net is however a fixture and
cannot be taken to pieces and folded up for travelling. Where nets can
be obtained from dealers’ shops, there are some very neat and handy
ones for packing up in small compass, such as the three fold net. The
handle, like an ordinary light walking stick, is fitted at the end with
a tubular Y; the base of the Y fits on to the handle, and the arm on
either side receives the ends of the cane ring; the cane is shod with
brass and jointed in three places, and there is a sheath to draw over
each joint to form the ring; the net is then slipped on. A short stick
is handy for many things; but when necessary a long sapling can be cut
for a net-stick.
[Illustration:
=Fig. 176.=--Collecting Net for Butterflies showing the
ring fitted into ferrule; and folded up.]
For catching wasps, flies, and other small insects a little hand-net
about nine inches in diameter, made of mosquito net and a bit of
fencing wire, is much more handy than the large butterfly net. When
dragging water-holes or creeks a bag of cheese-cloth placed on the
butterfly net ring will be found very serviceable, and will stand
much rough use. A stout umbrella will be found one of the most useful
collecting appliances when hunting in scrub or forest country. If
the bushes are beaten or shaken with one hand while holding the open
umbrella below them, the collector will be surprised at the number
of fine things, large and small, that come tumbling down into the
umbrella, including many that he would never see otherwise. In the
dry western scrubs I find the early hours of morning between daylight
and eight o’clock to be the best time for beating and shaking, as
everything that falls then is more or less torpid; later in the
day they begin to get very active and fly off when disturbed. Some
collectors go to the trouble of having a special umbrella made of white
material or lined with calico, so that the fallen insects can be more
easily noticed, but the advantage is slight. Mr. Masters suggests the
use of a sheet spread under the bushes, and the whole tree beaten and
shaken. This method in suitable country has its advantages.
The killing bottles come next in importance, and the first and most
commonly used is the cyanide bottle. An empty 1 oz. quinine bottle
makes one of a very serviceable size, but any other light wide-mouthed
bottle will answer the purpose. Place a piece of cyanide of potassium
about 1½ inches square and ½ an inch in thickness at the bottom of the
bottle, and then pour in enough liquid plaster of Paris to embed and
cover it; drain off any surplus moisture with blotting paper; and when
the plaster is set hard, close the bottle with a tight-fitting cork.
It is an advantage to coat the top of the cork with red sealing-wax,
so that if it is dropped or left behind, the bright cork will make
it more conspicuous. Young collectors may get the insects covered
with particles of damp plaster and perhaps spoilt; to prevent this,
the plaster should be covered with scraps of paper, moss, dry grass,
or some such material, to absorb the moisture and keep the specimens
clean. The dead insects should always be turned out of the cyanide
killing bottle on returning from a day’s hunt, for if kept long in the
bottle they will often become more or less discoloured.
[Illustration: =Fig. 177.=--Glass-bottomed Box, handy
for catching small moths.]
A killing bottle favoured by museum and professional collectors is a
similar bottle, but, instead of using cyanide, a pad of cotton wool is
placed in the bottom, on to which some chloroform is poured to charge
the bottle. But when collecting is brisk and the cork constantly being
taken out for fresh captures, the chloroform evaporates, and the bottle
must be re-charged at intervals. When one is collecting different kinds
of small specimens it is advisable to carry several small tubes charged
with chloroform, and if a circular pad of blotting paper be carefully
cut and pressed down on the wadding, the little creatures will not
get their legs and antennae tangled in the fibre of the cotton. If
delicate winged insects remain long in the moist atmosphere of the
tube, their wings stick to the sides or curl up, so that it is wise
to turn them out every now and then into pill boxes carried for the
purpose, and any special treasures should be rolled up in soft paper.
At one time most English entomologists used chopped laurel leaves in
the bottle instead of cyanide; this foliage gives off a certain amount
of hydrocyanic acid vapour, sufficient to kill insects, at the same
time keeping them clean and relaxed so that they are easily mounted.
[Illustration: =Fig. 178.=--Killing Bottle
In which a piece of cyanide of potassium is placed, and then
covered with plaster of Paris.]
The collector’s bag should contain several empty tins of all shapes
and sizes, to carry the hundred and one things found in a day’s
collecting, such as live larvae, cocoons, galls, eggs, &c. When hunting
for small moths the lepidopterist always carries a pocket full of
small glass-bottomed boxes; the glassed portion is used to slip over
the resting moth, which, when disturbed, at once flies upward to the
glass, and the lid of the box is slipped under. These delicate little
creatures are taken home alive, and can be killed in a jar and mounted
while quite fresh. A stock of small tubes containing methylated spirit
can be packed in one of the empty tins; these are very necessary to
keep separate from one another specimens of ants, termites, or other
insects taken direct from their nests. On a long trip one also wants
a larger bottle or jar of spirit in which scorpions, millepedes,
centipedes, and such-like creatures can be stored.
[Illustration: =Fig. 179.=--Chloroform Tube, used for
killing small, delicate insects.]
[Illustration:
=Fig. 180.=--Butterfly set upon corked and grooved board
to show the process of mounting.]
When timber is found infested with beetle or moth larvae, it should be
secured and brought home, where it can be placed in a tin trunk, glass
jar, or proper breeding cage and the perfect insects bred out. When
engaged at this very profitable work a small hatchet and hand saw are
needed to cut the branches. At all times a stout old butcher’s-knife
should be among the kit, as it is useful for digging round the roots of
trees and under logs, tearing bark off tree trunks, and if it be jagged
on one edge will make a rough saw. A newspaper or two is handy for many
things, among others to make envelopes in which to place butterflies.
Specimens collected in camp must be kept in good condition until
they can be properly mounted at home; in a dry country this is not
difficult, but in the wet season in a semi-tropical climate both
botanical and entomological specimens are very liable to damage.
Most collectors put all the hard-bodied insects such as beetles
into a wide-mouthed jar of methylated spirits, where they will keep
indefinitely, but any beetles that are clothed with fine hairs or
floury pubescence should be carefully pinned in a box, and, unless very
large, will dry quickly. Some entomologists place their captures of
this kind in clear carbolised sawdust in tins or jars: I have packed
small specimens in circular tins in the following manner:--First a
layer of camphor covered with a circular sheet of blotting paper
fitting close into the tin, then the insects fresh from the killing
tubes, and after sprinkling the insects with camphor a layer of
blotting paper, and so on. Thus many thousands of micro-coleoptera,
hemiptera, &c., could be securely packed and added to day by day until
the tin was full, when a wad of cotton wool was placed on the last
sheet of paper, and the tin put aside or posted to its destination.