THE ENTOMOLOGY OF THE GRASS-TREES 

 (XANTUORRH(EA}. 



Bv Walter W. Froggatt. 



(Plate IX.) 



Four species of Xanthorrhxea are recorded from the County of 

 Cumberland, within the limits of which all my entomological 

 specimens have been collected; as their general structure is 

 similar, it is not sui'prising that the same species of insects are 

 to be found frequenting all four alike. 



At first sight a grass-tree might not appear to be a profitable 

 field for investigation by the entomologist; yet whether alive or 

 dead it is the home of a considerable number of interesting 

 insects, some of which are born and die in it, while others are 

 only passing visitors. A grass-ti'ee presents three distinct parts, 

 each with its special frequenters; fii'st the stout cylindrical stem 

 or trunk, generally two or three feet high, and consisting of a 

 tubular sheath compos'ed of the basal portion of the fallen leaves 

 matted together into a solid ring, and thickly impregnated with 

 the yellow resinous gum, and in which nothing lives; this encloses 

 the caudex, composed of close fibrous matter, which in a living 

 tree contains nothing, but after death it decays very rapidly, and 

 soon becomes the abode of much insect life, for which the outer 

 covering or sheath forms a protection. Secondly, there is the 

 coarse grass-like foliage which is the resort of many small beetles, 

 spiders, cfec, which lurk about the bases of the stalks; it is also 

 eaten by several beetles and is visited by others. Thirdly, the 

 flower-stalk and scape which both alive and dead furnishes food 

 or a home to certain beetles, bees, and ants. 



As the grass-trees generally thrive best in poor sandy country 

 covered with low scrub, great numbers are scorched up by the 

 bush fires every season. It is in such burnt patches that most 

 of the grass-trees examined by me occurred. 



