254 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



on the under side there is a spine on the prothorax 

 which fits into a groove of the mesothorax. As 

 this fits tightly into the groove there is no free 

 jerking movement such as characterises the click 

 beetles, the last family with which we dealt, but 

 still the prothorax can be freely moved in most 

 species . 



The larva (Plate 31, Fig. 4) is a wood-borer, and 

 some of these are very large and long. One speci- 

 men we collected was three inches long. The head 

 is usually very small but with strong gnawing jaws 

 and the thoracic segments are very large, while t^e 

 segments of the abdomen taper towards the end ; 

 hence the larva is often "a hammer-headed" grub. 

 We have found the elongate naked pupa in the 

 burrows which the larvae made in wood. The bur- 

 rows are elliptical in section. These grubs, es- 

 pecially the genus Stigmodera, attack the Eucalyptus 

 trees. The clearly marked black and yellow Cyria 

 attacks the trunks of the christmas bush (Cerato- 

 petalum gummiferum), and the native honeysuckle 

 (Banksia). Another genus, Cisscis, attacks wattle 

 trees while yet another (£//?ow) forms galls. 



