Chapter VIII: Introduction (6)

The Genus _Silphomorpha_, in which over 40 species have been described, are yellow and black, or yellow and brown beetles up to ½ an inch in length; all their parts fit close together into a convex or oval form very like some of the water-beetles.

_Silphomorpha colymbetoides_ and _S. nitiduloides_ are found about Sydney. The first has the head and thorax reddish brown, the elytra pale yellow broadly blotched in the centre with black: the second, much larger (¼ of an inch in length) is blackish, and the centre only of each wing cover blotched with dull yellow.

The members of the Genus _Adelotopus_ are mostly black, narrow, and shield-shaped, with the tips of the wing covers truncated; while in _Philophloeus_, though very thin and flattened, they have the head and thorax well divided from the broad abdomen; and are dull yellow, striped, and barred with darker brown.

Turning from these we come to the giant of all our carabs, _Hyperion schroetteri_, which lives in cavities in tree trunks, where it is often found by splitters in the red gum forests in Victoria and N.S. Wales. I have taken it at night round the camp fire on the Murray frontage. It is shining black, and measures 2½ inches in length, but being narrow in proportion it appears much longer than it really is; while with its large elongate head and immense jaws it is a very formidable-looking creature.

The next in order is a large and interesting group, the SCARITIDES, which are not only wingless, but have the wing covers soldered together into one solid armour plate; their legs are adapted for digging, and many of them live in underground tunnels of considerable length. In most species the head, armed with large powerful jaws, fits close into the thorax, so that they move together; and in some groups the insect appears to be formed only of two parts, for the head and thorax taken together are as long and broad as the abdomen. After a heavy fall of rain in the interior, some species may be found in numbers under logs and stones, driven out of their holes and deep burrows. They are much sought after by collectors; and Macleay, Blackburn, and Sloane have described a number of curious species.

_Eutoma tinctilatum_, found about Sydney, and typical of the elongate slender Scaritides, was described by Newman many years ago, and figured by Westwood in his “Arcana Entomologica 1841”; it is a shining black beetle about 8 lines in length.

_Carenum bonelli_, the commonest Sydney species of this genus, measures about ¾ of an inch and is broad in proportion; it is black, with bright metallic green tints on thorax and elytra.

The members of the Genus _Philoscaphus_ are short and broad, with the elytra covered with rows of warts.

_P. tuberculatus_ has a wide range over the western country; it measures over 1 inch in length; is black; the head and thorax are broader than the body; the latter oval, with the elytra finely rugose.

The Great Ground Scaritid Beetle, found in the interior.]

The Genus _Euryscaphus_ contains the giants of the group.

_Euryscaphus titanus_, a shining black beetle, is nearly 2 inches in length, and measures ¾ of an inch across the elytra; while _E. lobicollis_, a smaller beetle, has the body still broader in proportion to its size; both these and several other fine species are not uncommon on the Western Australian goldfields about Kalgoorlie.

The allied CLIVINIDES, recently monographed by Sloane (Proc. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1896) are like elongate miniature Carenums furnished with dilated fore-legs adapted for digging; they are generally taken along the edges of swamps and watercourses under logs or the debris on the soft mud. They are world wide in their distribution, and are most plentiful in the warmer portions of the globe: Australia is rich in species: Sloane lists 55 species in his paper.

_Clivina basalis_ has a wide range over S. Australia, Victoria, and N.S. Wales; it measures ¼ inch; is black, with the basal portion of the elytra and the legs red.

_C. australasiae_, slightly larger, is all black; it has a similar range, and is also recorded from New Zealand and Lord Howe Island.

The next group comprise the typical _Chlaenius_; they are rather long-legged beetles with a small head and somewhat heart-shaped thorax forming a slight neck behind, and with a broad, oval, convex abdomen. They are active beetles, generally found under stones or wood near water-holes; many of them have a greenish dull metallic tint. _Chlaenius puncticeps_ is black, with the legs and an irregular blotch at the apical half of each wing cover dull yellow. _C. maculifer_, from Queensland, is smaller; _C. laeteviridis_ is dull green with the edges of the wing covers yellow; _C. marginatus_ is a larger and brighter green beetle with the wing covers marked with yellow in a similar manner.

_Promecoderus concolor_, typical of the genus, is a shining black beetle about ½ inch in length, of a curious cylindrical shape with the head turned down in front. These beetles are found all over the interior in dry country under stones or logs. The allied Genus _Parroa_ was formed by Castelnau for several curious beetles taken in the interior near the Paroo River. _Parroa noctis_, from Kalgoorlie, W.A., measures over 1 inch in length, and is a rounded solid-looking black beetle. The bulk of the species once included in the Genus _Harpalus_ is now divided up into a number of groups; most of the small black carabs running about in the suburban gardens in the early summer belong to this division.

The FERONIDES comprise a number of our largest carabs: _Catadromus australis_ measures nearly 2 inches in length, is broad in proportion; it is shining black with the wing covers broadly ridged, and their margins and the hind portion of the thorax richly marked with bright metallic green. _C. lacordairei_ is smaller, and similar in general form, with the thorax smaller and the metallic colouration on the thorax running right round to the hind margin of the head. Both these beetles are found along the edges of swamps and lagoons in the Murray country living under dead logs, where their black banded larvae may also be found, sometimes feasting on small frogs.

All the beetles known under the Genera _Homalosoma_ and _Trichisternus_ have been placed in the new Genus _Castelnaudia_ by the Russian entomologist Tschitscherini, as both the former names were preoccupied. This group contains many large handsome beetles, chiefly confined to our coastal forest country, where they live under dead logs.

_Castelnaudia renardi_ is one of the common species in the Tweed River scrubs; it measures 1½ inches in length; is black with the parallel striae on the elytra widely apart; the head very large, is turned down and furnished with long powerful jaws.

_C. imperiale_, from Southern Queensland, is a very handsome species; it is about the same size as the former but has the thorax and elytra more flattened; and the head, thorax, and margins of the wing covers are rich metallic green.

In November I took several specimens on the top of Mt. Tambourine, S. Queensland, under deeply buried logs by the roadside, where they live in broad excavated galleries; in two nests I found three larvae and eggs. The former, probably by their size only a few weeks old, were elongate, flattened, light brown to ochreous coloured creatures, with the head and dorsal surface of segments chocolate brown. The head is broader than long, flattened, and furnished with long curved brown jaws, and has also a stout incurved tooth near the base of each jaw. They were very active creatures and lived for over a month in captivity. The eggs were dull yellow, ⅜ of an inch long, broadly rounded, and were enclosed in a thin clay shell like the rind of an orange.

The Genus _Notonomus_ has been recently revised by Sloane (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1902); in this paper he enumerated 72 species, a number of them previously undescribed. These beetles are apterous, and confined to the coastal forests of Eastern Australia. Sloane says: “From the Grampians in Western Victoria, along the coast of Eastern Australia as far north as the Burnett River in Queensland, and many species are very restricted in their range.”

_Notonomus australasiae_ is one of the commonest species around Sydney; it measures under ¾ of an inch in length, and is of a uniform black colour; the broad thorax is arcuate behind the head, swelling out and broadly rounded on the sides; it has a rich blue metallic tint, and a distinct medium suture; the wing covers are distinctly striated, forming broad parallel ridges.

Passing over a number of more or less important genera we finish with the Genus _Bembidium_, which contains a number of small active beetles generally found along the edges of swamps.

_B. ocellatum_ is a shining black beetle under ⅙ of an inch in length, with a broad head, and the thorax rounded on the hind margin.

Family 3. Water Beetles.

DYTISCIDAE.

This group contains the first division of the Water Beetles; these have the antennae bare and filiform; short palpi and undivided eyes; the legs fringed with hairs, the front pair not longer than the hind pair, adapted for swimming. They live in the water both in the larval and beetle stage; the former are slender, elongate creatures, with a body consisting of twelve segments; the head is broad and furnished with powerful hollow jaws; they are very voracious creatures, devouring all sorts of aquatic insects, and even the smaller and weaker of their own species. When full grown they pupate in cells which they form in the soft mud.

These beetles are perfectly at home in the water, and breathe by coming to the surface; turning head downwards, and with the tip of the wing covers slightly raised, they draw in a supply of air which occupies a cavity on the back, and when the elytra are closed down, the beetle can remain under water until the supply is exhausted. Many species can be easily captured in the water with a small hand-net; on a warm summer night numbers leave the water and come flying in to the lighted lamps. Many are very small, few over ½ an inch in length; they are quite as numerous in the colder waters of the globe as in the tropics, and many species have a very wide distribution.

We have representatives of most of the typical genera; our species have been described by Clark (Journal of Entomology 1862), and Sharp (Trans. Dublin Soc. 1882).

The members of the Genus _Bidessus_ are small, brown, boat-shaped beetles not much over ½ an inch in length; about 18 species are listed in Masters’ Catalogue; _Bidessus bistrigatus_ has the head marked with black and the wing covers clouded with dark brown; it has a wide range over Australia. _Antiphorus gilberti_ is more than twice the size, has the wing covers mottled, and is common in the waters of Victoria and South Australia. _Macroporus howetti_ is dark brown, more shining and slightly larger, the dark markings forming two irregular black bands connected by a dorsal stripe. _Hydroporus collaris_, from the north-west coast of Australia, measures under 2 lines in length; it is all black with the dorsal surface convex and finely rugose. _Platynectis 10-punctata_ was described by Fabricius at a very early date from Australia; it is common along the edges of the Murray lagoons, where it is to be found in the soft mud under the water-weeds. It is a smooth, shining black beetle, with very convex wing covers. _Rhantus pubescens_ is an oval beetle, under ½ an inch in length, of a dull brown colour, with the whole of the wing covers granulated with black. _Colymbetes lanceolatus_ is a more elongate insect of a similar brown colour, the back of the head and wing covers marked with irregular parallel black lines, thickest in the middle. _Copelatus acuductus_ is a larger shining black beetle, typical of the genus, of which about twenty species are described from this country.

_Cybister tripunctatus_ is one of our largest species; it measures over 1 inch, and is broad and flattened in proportion; it is of a blackish or dark olive colour, margined right round from the front of the head to the tips of the wing covers with a dull yellow stripe. As children we often pulled these beetles out of the water hanging on to the bait used for catching crayfish, and we called them “clocks,” why I do not know. This species has a very wide range over Australia, and it is recorded from Lord Howe Island. It was once known under the name of _C. gayndahensis_. A second species has been described by Blackburn under the name of _C. granulatus_ from the Northern Territory of South Australia. _Eretes australis_ is another widely distributed species; it measures about ½ an inch; is broad and flattened, and is of a general yellowish brown tint, marked with black between the eyes, and the wing covers are finely punctured with close black spots.

Family 4. Whirligig Beetles.

GYRINIDAE.

This family, small in number of species, is well known to all lovers of Nature, for it contains the water beetles that float about in shoals on the margin of any quiet stream or waterhole, or dart about like bits of silver, twisting and turning round in most remarkable gyrations, from which they take the popular name of Whirligig Beetles.

They are distinguished from the last family (which they resemble in the earlier stages of their development) in having very short antennae; the fore-legs much longer than the two hind pairs; and in having the eyes on either side divided, thus having two eyes looking down into the water and two above, so that they can see both sides at the same time, an admirable adaptation of vision for beetles living so much on the surface of the water and liable to be attacked from above or below. The tip of the body is not covered by the elytra, and when diving downward they carry a bubble of air attached to the extremity. These beetles are well represented in Australia, and have been described by Clark previously mentioned, Regimbart (Annals Soc. Ent. France 1882), Macleay (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1871), and Boisduval in the “Entomology of the voyage de l’Astrolabe.” Our common species about Sydney, _Macrogyrus canaliculatus_, is of the usual boat-shaped form, silvery black, with the wing covers finely striated; it measures about ½ an inch in length. _M. oblongus_ is a somewhat smaller species not so broad in form; is browner, and the wing covers are very slightly striated; it is also found in the vicinity of Sydney. _M. paradoxus_ was described and figured by Regimbart from Australia with no exact locality, but I have collected it on the North West coast of Australia, and seen others from Southern Queensland, so that it has a wide range. It is not much over ¼ of an inch in length; is dark olive; the outer margin is dull yellow, and it has a few fine striae on either side of the elytra. I have found the pupae of one species, probably _M. oblongus_, in clay cells attached to a bit of board on the bank of a waterhole in the western country of N.S. Wales.

Family 5. Clubbed-horned Water Beetles.

HYDROPHILIDAE.

This family is also known under the Group _Palpicorna_ in reference to the clubbed antennae, and made to include a second family, which are very closely allied but are terrestial in their habits.

These beetles have five jointed tarsi; short clubbed antennae, with the palpi slender and much longer than the antennae. Most of the beetles are vegetarian in their diet, though many of them in the earlier stages of their existence are carnivorous.

These are the largest of the Water Beetles; and the typical species are ovate and very convex in form; the thorax very broad; the tibiae slightly spined on the edges, terminating in a stouter spine at the apex; the tarsi ciliated. They are poor swimmers when compared with the two last groups.

Most of our species have been described by Macleay (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1871), and Blackburn (Pro. Linn. Soc. 1888). _Hydrophilus latipalpus_ is of the usual boat-shaped form; shining black; and the wing covers are very finely marked with punctured parallel striae. It measures nearly 1½ inches, and is found about Sydney. _H. albipes_ is a much smaller beetle of similar form and colour; it is found in the Murray River districts.

Family 6. Rove Beetles.

STAPHYLINIDAE.

These peculiar beetles can be readily distinguished from most of the other families by their abbreviated elytra, which do not protect more than a third of the abdomen leaving the hind portion quite bare; while the well developed hind wings are tucked away out of sight under them, but can be quickly extended and used for flight. The apical segments of the abdomen are very flexible, and most species have the habit of turning up the tip of the body when running along; others have the power of discharging a strong scent, in some cases with quite a pleasant odour.

They are slender elongate insects with stout jaws, and the antennae thickened or clubbed at the extremities; the tarsal joints are variable in number. Rove Beetles are found in many different situations, but chiefly upon the ground in the vicinity of manure, decaying vegetable matter, dead animals, and even on the seashore hiding under stones and seaweed, though most of them only seek these places to devour other small creatures, for they are carnivorous in their habits. Some of the foreign species are found living in the nests of ants, but I do not think any with this peculiarity have been recorded from Australia.

The principal writers on our Staphylinidae are Macleay (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1871), and Fauvel in his work on “Les Staphylinides de l’Australie et de la Polynesie” (1878). In 1886 Olliff commenced his revision of the Staphylinidae of Australia (Proc. Linn. Soc.), but this only ran into the third part and was never finished. Others have been described by Blackburn (Trans. Royal Soc. S.A. 1887). About 400 species have been recorded from this country representing most of the typical sub-families.

The Genus _Aleochara_ contains a number of small short black beetles with thickened antennae; those in _Homalota_ are even smaller but more slender; several species are found under cowdung.

_Quedius luridipennis_ measures over ⅓ of an inch in length; the shining black head and thorax are almost globular, the latter the larger; the broad flattened fore wings are red; the margins of the abdomen are flanged and slightly spined, and the tip fringed with three tufts of bristles.

The Devil’s Coach-horse, _Creophilus erythrocephalus_, is our largest common species and has a very wide range; it measures over ¾ of an inch in length and is very broad in proportion; its general colour is black with the head bright red, the eyes and a rounded spot between them black; the elytra have a metallic purple tint. It can be often found in stables, or hunting round dead animals in the bush; when disturbed it cocks up its head, turning up the tip of its body at the same time in a very comical manner, from which habit the allied European species has probably derived the above popular name.

_Actinus macleayi_ is slightly longer but more slender, and is our most beautiful species of this somewhat dull coloured family; the head and thorax are rich metallic coppery green, the elytra deep metallic purple; the basal portion of the abdomen is black, and the tip, antennae, and legs bright yellow. It is a native of the tropical scrubs of North Queensland; in the neighbourhood of Cairns I captured specimens in tins I had baited with bits of meat and had sunk in the ground to trap Carabidae, and into which they had been attracted by the food.

_Xantholinus erythrocephalus_ lives in the stems of rotting grass trees, where the beetles can be collected in all stages of development; the beetle measures over ½ an inch in length; is of a much more elongate form; black; the elytra dull red, and the tip of the abdomen yellow.

_Paederus cruenticollis_ is one of our commonest species, and is often found under stones in the bush; it is a very distinctly marked little beetle about ¼ of an inch in length, slender in form with long thickened antennae; black, with the thorax and centre of the abdomen red, and the elytra deep metallic blue.

_Sartellus signatus_ is a curious little yellow beetle quite unlike the typical Rove Beetle; it is short and rounded in form, with the fore wings much longer than usual; is of a uniform light yellow colour, with a curious reddish brown mark in the centre of each elytron. It is common on our sandy beaches, where it hides under the seaweed and rubbish and feeds chiefly upon dead barnacles.

Family 7. Ant Beetles.

PSELAPHIDAE

This group includes a number of small beetles that have the elytra usually not covering more than half of the abdominal segments; the antennae thickened toward the tips; maxillary palpi large, and the tarsi three jointed. The ordinary collector is very apt to pass over these small creatures, but many interesting forms are found in this country by sifting rubbish, or examining debris along the water’s edge, which can be gathered up in a stout bag and afterwards shaken over a sheet of white paper. I have captured them along the edges of lagoons in summer time by pouring buckets of water over the dry cracked mud, and as they were drowned out gathering them into small tubes. They can also be taken with a sweeping net when on the wing; in Europe many species are found in ants’ nests. Westwood believes that they feed chiefly upon _Acari_ and other small creatures.

Large numbers have been described from this country, chiefly through the researches of the Rev. R. L. King (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1865). Messrs. Sharp, Westwood, Schaufers and Blackburn added to this number; while in 1900 Raffray published his Monograph on the family (Pro. Linn. Soc. N.S.W. 1900), in which he described 45 new species, and brings the number known up to 200.

_Pselaphus lineatus_, a reddish beetle, measures 1½ lines in length, and is found about Sydney; it has a wide range over N.S. Wales, Victoria, and South Australia.

Lea (Pro. Royal Soc. Victoria 1905) records four species of the Genus _Articerus_ found in ants’ nests, all of which appear to have a wide range; _A. curvicornis_, originally described by Westwood from ants’ nests in Melbourne, is also found in Tasmania, S. Australia and N.S. Wales.

Family 8. Comb-horned Beetles.

PAUSSIDAE.

These are remarkable looking beetles, easily distinguished by their broad flattened toothed antennae curving round on either side. The head is short and angular on the sides; the thorax flattened; and the elongate elytra truncate at the apex and not quite covering the tip of the abdomen. Most of the species are of moderate size, and reddish brown in colour; they are confined chiefly to Africa, the East Indies, and Australia. Most of the African species are said to dwell in ants’ nests, but though I have had several records of species being found under stones in ants’ nests, most of ours are found under logs, bark, or crawling about on the grass or ground. This family attracted the notice of entomologists at a very early date; Latreille formed the family to contain the two genera _Paussus_ and _Cerapterus_, which he called _Paussili_, afterwards changed by Leach to _Paussides_. Donovan described the first species from this country in 1815. Westwood has written a great deal about them; he monographed the family (Proc. Linn. Soc. 1849–1850); in his “Arcana Entomologica” he described a great many from Australia and other countries; others in the “Annals of Natural History,” 1851; and again figured others in his “Theosaurus Entomologica,” Oxen. 1874. Macleay added 32 new species (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1873), all belonging to the Genus _Arthropterus_; while Blackburn placed 3 more to the list 1891–1892, one of them in the typical Genus _Paussus_.

_Arthropterus brevis_ is one of our smallest species; it measures slightly over ¼ of an inch in length; the antennae are rather short and broad; the thorax broad and rounded on the sides; the elytra expanded slightly to the truncate tips, leaving the apical portion of the abdomen exposed. This is our commonest species, and can be sometimes obtained in numbers near Sydney under the papery bark of the ti-trees.

_A. humeralis_ comes from the Wellington district, and measures under ¾ of an inch; the antennae are large; the head angular; the body long, narrow, and rounded to the extremity, with the elytra short and truncate above the tip of the abdomen. General colour dark reddish brown, lightly clothed with short scattered brown hairs.

Family 9. Ant Beetles.

SCYDMAENIDAE.

The members of this family are minute creatures of which little is known. Sharp says: “Allied to the _Silphidae_, with the hind coxae separated, and the facets of the eyes coarser; tarsi five jointed; the number of abdominal segments visible six.”

It is owing to the Rev. R. L. King that we first knew anything about this group in Australia; he described about 15 species (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1864); to which 2 more have been added by Macleay and Sharp.

_Heterognathus carinatus_ was described by King from the nest of small black ants found in the neighbourhood of Parramatta; Lea has lately recorded it from the nests of ants (_Iridomyrmex nitidus_) taken in the Mallee country of North Western Victoria. He says: “It can be distinguished from all its congeners by the prothorax having a short longitudinal carina at the base, on each side of which is a transverse impression.”

Family 10. Burying Beetles.

SILPHIDAE.

The typical European species are popularly known as Burying Beetles from the curious habit they have of excavating the ground beneath any small dead bird or animal they find, and finally burying it under the soil. This family contains a number of interesting beetles both large and small; the antennae are thickened or clubbed; the tarsi 4 or 5 jointed; and the whole dorsal surface flattened. They are poorly represented in this country, but there are several large distinctive species found about dead animals or decaying vegetable matter. A large number of blind Silphids are found in the caves of Europe and America, but I have never found any as Australian cave fauna.

Thirteen species have been described from this country by a number of different writers, chief of which is Blackburn (Trans. Royal Soc. S.A. 1891–94).

_Necrodes osculans_ comes from Queensland; I found it common about Cairns, feeding amongst decaying matter in the scrub. It measures over 1 inch; is a broad flattened beetle of a general black colour; the elytra mottled with dull orange, ribbed, and truncate at the extremity, showing the tip of the abdomen. The head is small, turned down in front, but furnished with large clubbed antennae; the thorax is finely punctured and rounded in front.

_Ptomaphila lachrymosa_ is a dull reddish brown beetle, with the centre of the head and thorax black, the head small and somewhat hidden by the large flattened thorax; the elytra round, somewhat depressed; both marked with irregular parallel black ribs and bosses; they feed about dead animals. Length about 1 inch.

In the following family, TRICHOPTERYGIDAE, only two species are described, one from Tasmania, and the other from West Australia. They are minute beetles with fringed wings, the middle joints of the antennae smallest.

Family 11. Round Fungus Beetles.

SCAPHIDIDAE.

The members of this family are small, broad, short insects that live in fungus, and are very active. Macleay described several species from Gayndah (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1871): Reitter and other foreign writers have added to the list.

_Scaphidium punctipenne_, though described from Queensland, is also found in the neighbourhood of Sydney. It is a small rounded seed-shaped insect, but with slender legs and slightly clubbed antennae; its upper surface is deep orange yellow irregularly barred with black.

Family 12. Mimic Beetles.

HISTERIDAE.

When touched these beetles contract their legs and pretend to be dead, from which habit they take their family name from _Histris_, the Latin for a stage mimic. They are shining black, or metallic coloured beetles; many are flattened and broad in shape, with the elytra truncate at the apex, leaving the tip of the abdomen uncovered; the exposed integument is however very much thickened, and all the parts fit close together; the antennae are thick, clubbed at the apex; the legs short and stout. Most of the flattened forms are found under bark, others in or under dead animal matter; both the beetles and their larvae are carnivorous.

This family is well represented here: Macleay described some from Gayndah; Marseul described others in the Annals Museo Genevre 1879, and the Annals Ent. Belg. 1870; Schmidt in the Ent. Nachr. 1892; and a few are described by other writers.

_Hololepta sidnensis_, one of our commonest species, can be collected in early summer by chopping up the dead grass tree stems; but I have never been able to find the larvae. It measures ½ an inch, and is shining black; it is very much flattened and broad in proportion to its length; two stout horns project in front of the eyes, coming together at the tips; the thorax is slightly impressed in the centre, and punctured on the sides; the elytra is smooth and shining, but the exposed abdominal plates are spotted with large punctures. Many of this genus are found under bark or crawling about on tree trunks.

_Platysoma strongulatum_ is a broadly flattened black insect about ⅙ of an inch long; the head is small; the thorax truncate; the elytra smooth in the centre, with four distinct striae on each side, straight at the apex, with the tip of the abdomen turning downwards. This is another common Sydney species found at the base of the flower stalks of the “grass trees” (_Xanthorrhoea_).

_Saprinus laetus_, typical of another group, is a short, thickset, rounded, oval beetle, ¼ of an inch in length, with the upper surface convex; the head is small, shining green; the thorax broad, bright metallic pale copper; and the short truncate elytra and exposed tip of the abdomen deep metallic green. This almost seed-shaped beetle is usually found under dead birds or animals lying in the bush. It has a very wide range over Australia.

Family 13.

PHALACRIDAE.

Only one species of this family is listed in Masters’ Catalogue, described by Erichson from Tasmania in 1842; but in Blackburn’s paper (Trans. Royal Soc. S. Australia 1891) 16 new species are described from all parts of Australia. They are short oval beetles, very small, the largest not much over ¹⁄₁₂ of an inch in length; black or brown in colour.

_Litochrus palmerstoni_ is of a uniform ferruginous colour, with the apex of the elytra pale testaceous; without the punctures of the other species; of the typical oval form; and only ⅘ of a line in length and ¹⁄₂₄ of an inch in width. This tiny creature comes from the Northern Territory of S. Australia.

This family is not an important one, but is well represented in Europe and America, where the larvae live in flowers, boring their way down the stems and pupating in earthen cocoons.

Family 14. Fruit Beetles.

NITIDULIDAE.

These are all small black or brownish beetles that breed and feed upon decaying vegetable matter, and some are very partial to ripe fruit. Some have well developed wing covers, but in others these are very short, reminding one of the smaller Rove Beetles, but the club of each antennae consists of three joints, and fewer abdominal segments are exposed to view. About eighty species have been described from Australia, chiefly by Reitter (Verh. Ver. Brünn, 1874–75, and other Journals); Murray in his Monograph of the Family; Macleay (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1871); and Blackburn (Trans. Royal Soc. S. Australia 1891).

_Brachypeplus binotatus_ is one of our commonest species, widely distributed over Australia; it is a typical form of the family, about ⅕ of an inch in length; of a general dark brown colour, with reddish brown antennae and legs; the abbreviated wing covers leaving the abdominal segments exposed, the latter marked with deep orange yellow. Olliff (Agricultural Gazette N.S. Wales 1893) describes and figures this beetle and its larva, which he describes as feeding upon the fungus on the damaged sugar cane.

Living in the seed pods of the Kurrajong.

(“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]

The Genus _Carpophilus_ contains 11 described species, most of which have a wide range over Australia; two are well known about Sydney from their habit of crawling into damaged fruit and feeding round the stone, causing it to decay very rapidly; they are also said to cluster round the fruit stalks, and by gnawing the base cause the fruit to drop. _Carpophilus pilipennis_ is a small reddish brown boat-shaped beetle, with the wing covers cut off at the hind margin, exposing the tip of the abdomen; it measures 1½ lines in length. _C. aterrimus_ is a somewhat larger flatter species of a uniform black colour, with the whole of the upper surface finely punctured; the legs and antennae are reddish brown. The abdomen is not so pointed as in the first species and much more of it is exposed on the dorsal surface. A curious little species, _Pocadius pilistriatus_, about ⅙ of an inch in length, is an elongate rounded brown beetle clothed with fine hairs. It feeds and breeds in the seed cases of the Kurrajong; the larvae are reddish brown grubs, elongate in form; they have three jointed antennae, and short black jaws, with well developed legs, and the tip of the abdomen bears two pairs of spines, the first pair erect, the second at the extremity but turning upwards.

Family 15.

TROGOSITIDAE.

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.

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.

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.

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.)]

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.