THE HARLEQUIN FRUIT BUG. 89 



CHAPTER XIV. 



THE HARLEQUIN FRUIT BUG. 



{Dindymus versicolor.) 



Order: Hemiptera. Sub-order: Heteroptera. Family: Pyrrhocridce. 



A very handsomely marked Tree or Wood Bug, length 

 of body alDOut 5^ lines, colour — orange-red, black and 

 yellow (see Plate ~IX., Figs. 2, 3, 4, and 5). 



This insect, which is a native of Victoria, has also been 

 found in South Australia, Queensland, Tasmania, and in 

 New South Wales ; and Walker * mentions the fact of a 

 specimen having been presented to the British Museum 

 by the late Earl of Derby, as far back as 1845, so that, 

 unlike the "Apple Beetle " previously mentioned, it has 

 been under observation for many years. The eggs of 

 this noxious Wood Bug are deposited during the late 

 suimner months amongst rubbish, under logs, stones, in 

 crevices of old posts and rails, and in decayed wood, or 

 even in stubble. The young, when hatched from the eggs, 

 are funny little creatures, which emit, upon being handled, 

 an abominable odour (a peculiarity noticealile with bugs 

 in general). The small larvae, which upon hot days are 

 both numerous and active, are to be found in swarms upon 

 plants of many kinds, also on fences and amongst rubbish. 

 When about half-grown, the young, both male and female, 

 are much more highly coloured than when the mature 

 stage is reached, but are destitute of wings until the 

 perfect insect is nearly developed, when they fly readily. 

 In former years, these insects, although always looked 

 upon as a nuisance, had not, so far as I am aware, given 

 their attention to the destruction of apples, and it was not 

 until late last season that Mr. Lidgett, farmer, of the 

 Pentland Hills, in the Bacchus Marsh district, Victoria, 



* Catalogue of Hemiptera Heteroptera in the British Museum. 



