INTRODUCTION cxv 



islands for more than 30 years, since it was not collected by Mr Blackburn. It is 

 very abundant in some localities on the ' Poha ' or ' Cape gooseberry,' Phy salts 

 peruviana, riddling the leaves, as it does those of the tobacco. One or two other 

 Chrysomelidae have lately been introduced, but are not included in this work. 



Bruchidae. — Bnickus prosopis is now an excessively common beetle, and very 

 injurious to the seeds of that most important tree the 'algaroba' {Prosopis). Four 

 or five other species of Brtichis are likewise more or less common, the B. chinensis 

 being frequently seen in vast numbers in stores, being more domestic than the others. 

 The larger Caryoborus gonagra is also highly injurious to the seeds of various 

 Leguminous trees. 



Cer.ambycidae. — The single species of each of the genera Parandra and Aegosonia 

 are apparently endemic. The former often breeds in great numbers in large, standing, 

 but dead or partly dead, Koa trees, though by no means confined to these trees. 

 Very minute examples, not one quarter the bulk of ordinary individuals, were found 

 in small decaying logs of Myrsine and Straussia on Molokai, and very large ones in 

 very wet logs of entirely decayed wood on Kauai. When mature the beetles may be 

 sometimes found beneath close-fitting bark, their flattened form allowing of this mode 

 of concealment. When disturbed, they will feign death. Sometimes they are attracted 

 to lights at night. The larvae vary greatly in size according to the condition and 

 nature of their food. They have small but quite well-developed thoracic legs. The 

 ovipositor of the female is a very strong and hard organ, so that on casual inspection 

 it might be mistaken for an aedeagus, and this sex wrongly supposed to be the male. 

 The Aegosonia has much the habits of the Parandra, and is often found in company 

 with it. Larvae are frequently found in the wettest and most rotten logs or even in 

 the soil beneath these. They also attack healthy living trees of Myoporum, and in 

 fact are polyphagous, though usually confined to dead wood. In tracts cleared of 

 forest and planted with sugar-cane or coffee, they have been known to attack these 

 beneath the soil. Aegosoma is very readily attracted to light. 



Xystrocera globosa has been introduced within the past 20 years and is now 

 very common in Honolulu. It breeds especially in the wood of some of the foreign 

 Leguminous trees, that are such an ornament in the city. The beetle may often 

 be seen resting on the trunks of affected trees in the daytime, or flying round 

 electric lights at night. 



Astrinius kirtus is a common species in and around Honolulu, but has not been 

 noticed elsewhere. It particularly affects the old ' Hau ' trees on the coast and may 

 be found resting in the crevices of the bark by day, or seen running rapidly and 

 in numbers over the surface after dark. It follows the Hau trees to an elevation of 

 some 1200 feet up the mountain slopes, but is much less common there than near the 



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