6y r. j. tillyard. 803 



which, consequently, tlie l>ark,*\vhen torn away, is found to be 

 slightly moist inside. The best trees are those in which the 

 bark is thick and rough, with many crevices, as in the case of 

 the Ironbark {Eucalyptus siderophloia Bentli.) and Blood wood 

 {E. corymbosd 8ni.). Probably the Ironbark is one of the best 

 trees of all for this larva; but it is so difficult to work, on account 

 of the extreme toughness of its bark, that it is best to leave it 

 alone, unless one sees a piece of bark that can be levered off 

 without damage to one's tools. Around Sydney, one of the very 

 best trees is the Bloodwood; but in Queensland, where the bark 

 of this tree is thinnei" and more scaly, I met with little success 

 in exploring it. Another excellent tree is the Forest Apple 

 (Aitgophora inter meaia DC). Trees in which the bark comes 

 away in long strips of considerable thickness, such as the Tallow- 

 wood (E. microcorys F. v.M.), Turpentine {Syncarpia laurifolia 

 Ten.), and Stringy-bark {E. oapitellata Sm.), generally provide 

 very good hunting also: but those with thin bark are useless. 



In searching for the larva, of which, probably, not more than 

 five or six at the most would be found on any given tree, even 

 if all the bark were to be stripped from it, much time and trouble 

 may be saved if one watches for likely places where the larva 

 may be expected to hide. Such are, for instance, particularly 

 thick or richly creviced portions of bark; and, above all, the 

 cracks and crannies surrounding a gum-flow. Many insects 

 come at night to taste this gum; and it is to be presumed that 

 the Psychopsis lar\a takes up his station near by, with the special 

 object of attacking these insects. On One Tree Hill, Brisbane, 

 I noticed a rather small Ironbark-tree, in which there was a 

 good gum-flow, caused by a small cut with an axe. By levering 

 up the two tough projecting ends of the bark, above and below 

 this cut, r secured four larvte of Ps. elegans and two of Ps. atdi- 

 vagus — th^ best haul I ever obtained from a single tree. 



When a piece of bark is removed, the Psychopsis larva will 

 almost always be found upon the trunk of the tree, with its body 

 flattened down, and quite motionless. Thus, the trunk and its 

 exposed crevices should be examined first; then, if nothing is 

 seen there, the piece of bark may be likewise examined, and 



