802 



STUDIES IN AUSTRALIAN NEUROPTERA, Vll. 



it impossible to observe how these organs are used by the larva; 

 but the result is certainly to give it a very powerful grasp upon 

 anything that they grip, and the whole papilla appears to act as 

 forcefully as a true sucker. Whether there is, besides the actual 

 grasping effected by these appendages, any sucking action per- 

 formed by the tenth segment, I cannot say. Remembering that 

 the silk for the cocoon is spun from the anus, it seems possible 

 that an exudation of the same nature may help in the action of 

 the anal papilla as a grasping or sucking organ. 



Text-fig. 9. 

 Anal papilla of larva of Z^-, c/egans (Guer.), third instar; ventral view; 



( X 87). 



Habits of the Larva. 



In order to discover the larva in its natural haunts, it is 

 necessary to provide oneself with a stout, wide-bladed chisel, or 

 some other instrument that will act as a lever for removing the 

 bark of Myrtaceous trees. The ordinary methods of bark-collect- 

 ing, as practised by ColeopUrists, are useless in this case. All 

 old trees, in which the bark is hanging in shreds or long strips, 

 or is dry and attacked by white ants, are of no use in searching 

 for Pttychopsis larvie. Instead, it is necessary to select healthy, 

 medium-sized trees, in which the sap is running freely, and in 



