868 Agricultural Gazette of N.S.W. [Dec. 2, 1920. 



The Egg. — The egg is elongate oval, about 2 mm. in length, and pure 

 white in colour (Plate 11, Fig. 6). 



The Larva. — The mature larva is a creamy white, stout, fleshy, legless 

 grub, with the body distinctly curved. The head is prominent, rounded, dark 

 reddish-brown in colour, and emarginate behind. The mandibles are dark 

 brown, well-developed, with the tips bidentate. Beyond scattered spine-like 

 hairs on the head, thorax, and abdominal extremity, the body is naked, with 

 the upper surface wrinkled and the segmental divisions of the body showing 

 more distinctly on the under-surfaee. The three thoracic segments are 

 rather more developed than the abdominal ones, the mesothorax bearing a 

 pair of elongated spiracles. The first seven abdominal segments are normal 

 in form. In the mature larva, these segments increase in size to the fourth 

 and fifth, which are the largest, and then contract toward the anal 

 extremity. This gives the whole body of the larva a swollen appearance 

 towards the middle. Each bears a pair of minute indistinct spiracles. In 

 accordance with other Calandrid weevil-larvse, the eighth and ninth segments 

 are much modified, and visible dorsally as somewhat chitinised sloping plates, 

 giving a truncate appearance to the hind end of the body. Average length, 

 13 mm (Plate I, Fig 1). 



The Pupa. — The pupa is elongated and white in colour with the structure 

 of the future beetle plainly visible, the rostrum, antennae, wing pads, 

 and legs all being prominent. It has four pairs of large tubercles set with 

 bristles on the head and snout, while the thorax, which is large and rounded, 

 also bears six pairs of tubercles set with bristles. The first six abdominal 

 segments normal, each bearing three pairs of bristles, borne on tubercles 

 which are placed so close together as to form a ridge-like prominence on 

 either edge of the dorsal surface. The spiracles on these segments are 

 larger and more prominent than the larval spiracles. The remaining 

 abdominal segments are greatly modified. Dorsally the seventh is elongate, 

 with two pairs of tubercles set with bristles. From a lateral view it is seen 

 that the seventh segment is dorsally the terminal segment, but ventrally it 

 is emarginated for the reception of the other segments, which extend slightly 

 beyond it. The ninth is set with two long chitinous processes at the sides 

 of which are a pair of stiff spines. The pupa has two large spiracles situ- 

 ated prominently on the base of the prothorax as in other Calandriuae. 



Length, 12 mm (Plate I, Fig. 3). 



Habits and Life History. 



The beetle is associated with the banana plant in all its four stages — egg, 

 larva, pupa, and adult. The adult weevils are nocturnal, hiding by day in 

 or around the decaying bulbs or between the leaf sheaths of the plant above 

 the ground, and coming out at night to feed on the plant juices and to lay 

 their eggs. They are very sluggish and move about slowly when wandering 

 at night, contracting the legs and feigning death when disturbed. The 

 adults are long lived. Four hundred adults, collected in April from the 

 bulbs of plants at Tweed Heads and transferred to Sydney in decaying 



