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lîiillcliii (Ir hl Sociélc Jùiloiiioloniiinr lilUmplc. 



lull of these small l)eeHes, hiivae, pupae and ova. 

 The iuhabilaiils do not appear to lie iu any sort of 

 order being merely huddled up together. It is of in- 

 terest lo note, liowever, that they and the cavity in 

 which they dwell is clean and almost Tree from trass. 

 Whether the larvae collectively concern themselves 

 with keeping their habitation clean, expelling waste 

 matter through the entrance or whether the parent 

 l)eetle may possibly occupy herself with this task of 

 removing debris when necessary, has not yet been 

 ascertained. 



I'roni a single chand)er in a date stone one 

 l)eelle - l)elieved to l)e the })arent female — was 

 removed together with 2'.\ larvae of all ages, 4 pupae 

 and about 2(1 ova. In another case, from a single 

 short cylindrical burrow, one beetle, the i)arent female, 

 and <S ova were taken. The beetle had only recently 

 commenced operations; she had laid the ova in a mass 

 at the end of the tunnel. In a third instance 9 beetles, 

 () pupae, 24 larvae of dilVerent sizes and ova were 

 found. The majority of the beetles were pale coloured 

 and belonged to a new generation. 



The beetle is a small deep reddish-l)rowii insect 

 ai)out 2..") mm. long. The ova are bluntly oval in shape, 

 0.74 mm. long by 0.4 mm. in diameter; the shell is 

 soft, white and shiny. 



The full-giown larva is about ^5 uiui. long, the 

 body being soiiiewhat sac-like yellowish-while in 

 colour, with a pale brown head, the mouth-parts 

 being of a darker hue. The l)ody is legless but the 

 laiva can move about on a Hat surface by dragging 

 itself along with the aid of its jaws. 



The pupae are naked and of a uniform yellowish 



