The Cane Grubs of Australia 9 



LEPIDIOTA Sp. No. 615. 



See table of species. Second antennal joint with three setse, the first 

 with six. 



Part II. — Scientific Data. 



The data given in Bulletin Xo. 2 was finished at the end of August, 

 1914; since then a great deal of work has been carried on, along the lines 

 followed in the former investigation, and nuich additional information 

 has been gathered, although much more has still to be learned of many 

 of the species. No collecting has been done outside the Cairns district, 

 and almost all our records are from the vicinity of Gordonvale. 



With regard to the life cycle of the species, Lepidiota albohirta, 

 L. rothei, Cacachroa decorticata, Anomala australasiae, and probably 

 Dasygnathus australis, Semanopterus depressiusciilus, and Haplonycha 

 sp,. No. 650, have a one-year life cycle ; most of the others take two years. 



Around Gordonvale, Dasygnatlrus australis is the earliest species to 

 pupate and emerge, followed by Lepidiota albohirta and Anoplognathus 

 boisduvali, with most of the others coming next in a bunch ; Lepidiota 

 sp., No. 215, would appear to be last. In the .jungle lands of the Babinda 

 Mill area emergence is generally earlier. 



The tables of the larvae have been compiled from material gathered 

 from August, 1914, to January, 1916 ; no collecting was done in July, 

 1915. The season 1915, on account no doubt of the unusual warmth 

 of the months July and August, was much earlier as regards the trans- 

 formation of the pupa and adult, and had rain fallen emergence would 

 probably have been some weeks earlier. In September and October, 1914, 

 larvffi was very much more plentiful than in the corresponding months 

 of the following year. 



LEPIDIOTA ALBOHIRTA Wateihouse. 



The Egg. 



Numerous females were kept separate^ in confinement, and given 

 fresh food continuously; many did not deposit eggs, but the following 

 separate numbers were obtained :— 12, 13, 14, 20, 10, 15, 12, 13, 10, 12, 

 20, 14, 14, 25. Searching in the fields resulted only in one record, 13 

 eggs being found at a depth of five inches directly under a cane-plant in 

 red volcanic soil. 



The Larva. 



Ii] 1916, the earliest Stage I. found in the fields was on January 

 14tli ; in 1915, the first was obtained on January 4th, by the latter half of 

 February most had entered Stage II., but the last Stage I. was taken 

 on March 26th ; the first Stage II. was found on January 16th, the Stage 

 pi-edofiiinated in February and March, and the last occurred on May 

 29th. The earliest Stage III. was observed on February 12th in alluvial 

 clay loam, on the 15th in dark loam, and on the 23rd in red volcanic, but 

 the Stage did not predominate until April. In 1914, a few larvte 

 remained in October, and the last record, of one pupating, was made on 

 November 16th ; in 1915, the last Stage III. was found on September 18th. 

 The long period during which the adults emerged in the 1914-5 season, 

 no doubt, would account for the correspondingly long period during 

 which Stage I. and II. were to be found. 



