( xi ) 
fastened to the tongue of bark jutting beneath, and to this 
web the excrement is freely attached, as are also the discarded 
skins of the larva itself—often four or five heads may be 
found upon the mantle. 
“The larva of Uzucha humeralis feeds in a different way : 
it spins a broad and long web upon the surface of the tree, 
feeding principally upon the thin outer bark, though it occa- 
sionally gnaws down tothe wood. The web often extends for a 
considerable distance, 12 by 1} inches being a common size. 
On large trees the web is generally very broad, and it is then 
not so long, being sometimes wider than a man’s hand; 
whilst on thin branches the web may be 2 feet long and only 
an inch wide. The larva not only eats the bark under the 
protective web, but gnaws or eats away the outlying bark for 
an inch or more on either side. This gnawed bark if un- 
devoured is added to the increasing mantle, as is also the 
frass. The larva of Uzucha does not burrow into the wood 
like Cryptophaga; as the ELucalyptus and Angophora shed 
their outer bark about the time the insect pupates, special 
precautions are taken that the pupa shall not fall to the 
ground with the shed bark. When about to pupate the 
larva forms a hole at the lower end of the web, perforating 
the bark about to be shed, and spins a stout cocoon with 
a tube at its upper extremity. The web-covering gradually 
falls away and the outer bark is shed, leaving the cocoon 
attached to what has now become the outer bark of the tree, 
where it may be easily found and detached with a knife. It 
is believed that the gnawed space (often extending to several 
inches on one side) is really occasioned by the larva moving 
its mantle laterally when it has finished the bark in one 
particular spot ; this is confirmed by the fact that the bare 
gnawed area is not found in front of the web. 
“The Xyloryctine are preyed upon by a host of ichneumons 
and other flies, and a species of cricket is frequently dislodged 
from the burrows,—whether it devours the larva or pupa or 
whether it merely takes possession of the empty burrow has 
not yet been ascertained. That many of the larve lose their 
lives when out at night foraging for leaves is clearly shown 
by the number of untenanted burrows met with. 
