260 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



stem. The antennae were a little over twice the 

 length of the body and were most wonderfully like 

 the young- branchlets. of the sheoak. We only 

 noticed that a beetle was present when it moved. 



Longicorns are sometimes found under bark, and 

 these are usually very slender and rather flat 

 beetles. The Phoracantha or ''firewood beetle" can 

 be seen in billet wood, wattle and eucalyptus 

 chiefly. There is a very odd-looking longicorn 

 called Hesthesis, which has colouring similar to a 

 bright coloured wasp, for it is brown and bright 

 yellow. Its elytra are very short and its flying- 

 wings are thus exposed, making the likness to a 

 wasp still greater. This is supposed to be a case 

 of protective mimicry. 



One of the largest longicorns and one which is 

 fairly broad is the Macrotoma, a large buff or brown 

 coloured beetle with rather soft elytra and with 

 long jointed antennae, the joints being quite large 

 and clear. This may be mistaken by beginners 

 for a cockroach until the wings and antennae are 

 examined. 



The larva (Plate 32, Fig. i) of longicorns is a 

 wood borer and a pest. It has a small head with 

 stout gnawing jaws and enlarged thoracic segments, 

 but this hammer-like character is not so pronounced 

 as in the case of buprestid grubs. It pupates in 

 the wood, making a pupal chamber by plugging up 

 part of the burrow near the surface of the branch 

 with sawdust, which it has made in boring. The 

 pupa is elongate. (Plate 32, Fig. 2) 



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