URACANTHUS TIMBER BORERS. 6T 



CHAPTER CXVII. 



Uracanthus Timber Borers. 



(Uracanthus strigosus ; U. bivittata ; V. simulans.) 



Order : Coleoptera. Family : Ceramhycidce. 



The three species of timber-boring beetles treated in this 

 chapter represent a genus of very handsome though 

 destructive Longicorn (long-horned) beetles, of which there 

 are a good many described from Australia. 



The beetles, as shown in our plate, are mostly long and 

 narrow in shape. The larvae are fairly active footless 

 grubs. The eggs are deposited in crevices in the bark, 

 and, when hatched, the young larvae commence to bore 

 for their natural food. Haunts of beetles of this genus, 

 and in fact many others of the longicorn family, may be 

 located by the cut-off appearance of the bough (see Fig. II.) ; 

 and the tow-like stopping indicates the presence of the 

 larvae at work in the wood below. 



The larvae of the genus Uracanthus are not at all par- 

 ticular as to the kind of trees they attack. They have 

 been found in Acacias, the Giant Helichrysums, in the 

 common introduced Furze or Gorse, and in other plants, 

 both indigenous and introduced. On the fringe of oui 

 sea coasts the larvae of some of these beetles do great 

 damage to the natural shelter trees, particularly to two 

 of the Acacias, viz., A. longifolia and its variety sophora. 

 It is no uncommon sight to find the whole plant riddled 

 with larvae, the sickly appearance of the tree being to 

 observers a sure indication of the trouble going on inside* 



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