BY ARTHUR M. LEA. 593 



This exudation appears to be seci'eted during the whole of the 

 insect's life (as I understand is also the case in the Cleonides); I 

 have entirely removed it from living specimens with alcohol, and 

 in a few days it would again make its appearance. The plant 

 upon which the beetle feeds appears to cause the colour of the 

 exudation to var}^ ; for instance, on specimens captured on 

 Eucalypts it is usually of a reddish-ochre colour; on Banksias it 

 is white to cream, and on several plants I have noticed it to be 

 pale green.* The shape of the scales in Curculionidce may, how- 

 ever, be relied upon, and I am convinced could be usefully 

 employed in generic and subfamily divisions ; their size and 

 pattern are often useful characters, but (the latter especially) 

 are somewhat subject to variation. I think a description of the 

 sculpture of a species would be greatly enhanced in value if it 

 were taken from entirely abraded specimens. 



Varnisliing. — This is not confined to Section 2, but is repeated 

 in species of both the other sections, especially in the 1st. It 

 gives the specimens affected a peculiar appearance, in some causing 

 them to assume the look of beetles that have been roasted. It is 

 not a clothing, nor is it soluble in water, alcohol, chloroform or 

 ether; that it is litible to appear on any specimen I fully believe, 

 and am rather inclined to think it an appearance of old age, and 

 caused by rubbing against the foliage in which the specimens 

 live. Many specimens may be seen where the varnishing or 

 " glairing" is present only in spots and patches irregularly disposed 

 over the surface and legs; in others it causes the specimen to 

 appear as if enamelled; frequently the elevations of the elytral 

 interstices and the prothoracic ridges appear as if the varnishing 

 had but just commenced. In some specimens it is milk}?^, and in 

 others it is of a dull leaden colour. Specimens are extremely 

 common on a very soft-leaved plant in the coastal districts, and 

 all so obtained by me were without the varnish and much more 

 densely squamose than specimens from Banksia, Acacia, and 



* A specimen recently received from Geraldton is densely clothed with 

 exudation of a lemon-yellow colour. 



