YELLOW-BOX BORERS. 71 



CHAPTER CXVIII. 



Yellow-box Borers. 



{Phoracantha tricuspis and P. recur va.) 



Order : Coleoptera. Family : Cerambycidoe. 



These are two of our finest but terribly destructive 

 Longicorn or long-horned beetles. The former, P. tricuspis, 

 is the largest known species of the genus, and the figure, 

 which is life size, shows that it is of a light-brown colour, 

 with a few darker-brown markings on the elytra. The 

 head and thorax are very dark-brown, the latter being 

 much wrinkled. The antennae are of the same colour, and 

 frequently half as long again as the beetle itself. 



The eggs are deposited in the crevices of the bark, nearly 

 always in the bark of Eucalyptus viminalis, a tree formerly 

 very common around Melbourne. The larvae are stout, 

 footless grubs, which bore with rapidity. When in the 

 pupa stage, they assume very much the form of the 

 perfect beetle, but mummy-like. The antennae and legs 

 are stuck in close to the body, the whole being of a yellowish - 

 white colour, and quite soft to the touch. In the early 

 summer, these beetles may be seen emerging from the side 

 of the tree. Here they rest until hardened by exposure, 

 and then ascend the tree, where they remain until night 

 comes on. They are then strong enough to fry, which 

 they do fairly quickly. 



The male, as in the case of Longicorn beetles generally, 

 is smaller than the female, and usually has longer antennae. 

 The genus Phoracantha comprises a good number of species, 

 and these, together with those of its ally, Tryphocharia, 

 are all more or less destructive to timber. 



