BELATED CAXE BEETLES AND THEIR ALLIES. 57 



and the pouch is very tiny; lieiice he has no difficulty in withdrawing it 

 from the hursa copulatri.r. In the case of frcncki, on the other hand, 

 the whole of the genitalia is often torn away from the male in trying 

 to separate them ; after union is once secured, the male must wait for a 

 considerable period to let the contracted nniscles of the hnrm copulatri.c 

 relax." 



^Mating continues right through the period of their aerial life. 



The egg-tubes in this species are very even in their development. 

 Females, collected on the first night of emergence, when dissected had 

 about two eggs fully developed, while the other tubes were in all stages 

 of growth, some just starting to form the first egg. More than ten eggs 

 have not been found at once fully developed and ready to lay, on 

 dissection the usual number varying from four to eight; thus it would 

 seem that a few eggs are laid from time to time, as they develop. 



Of six specimens collected from a box-tree {Eucalyptus leptoplthha) 

 at 5-30 a.m. on l-tth January, 1921. one was an hermaphrodite; the 

 female characters were four egg-tubes containing seven normal ripe eggs 

 and four small, spherical, aborted ones; the male characters were six 

 normal disc-like testicles and a penis. 



The food plants to us are several kinds of Eucalyptus, viz.. the 

 l)oplar gum (E. philyphylla), blue gum {E. tereticornis) , bloodwood {E. 

 corymhosa), and box (E. leptophlcha) ; a doubtful feeding-tree is the 

 coconut, on which thc^y were presumably feeding, but the observation 

 was not verified. 



The beetles are readily attracted to light. On 9th December. 1917, 

 they were swarming and mating for the first time in great numbers at 

 ^Meringa ; a light-trap decoyed 289 L. rothci, 8 L. frenclii, and 2 L. alho- 

 Jtiftum. The following night was rainy, but the catch included 53 

 rothci, 6 frenclii, and 3 aIhGliirtum. On 12th December, another showery 

 evening resulted in trapping 70 rothei, 1 frenclii, and 1 alhohirtum. The 

 light-trap attracted very few on 22nd December, viz., 8 rothci, 2 frcnchi. 

 The moon was at the full on 28th December, and though the beetles 

 were very plentiful in the adjoining forest scarcely any came to the 

 light. The^numlier allured to the light on 9th December recalls the 

 statement made by Dodd (91) with reference to the related species, 

 Lepidiota Xo. 21.'), that ''on the first night of emergence many were 

 attracted to artificial lights, but none were present on the subsequent- 

 nights of the swarming. ' ' 



The Eejg. — We have a sole record of the discovery of the eggs in the 

 field. At ^Meringa, 14th January, 1919. in a field of 3-foot ratoon cane. 

 a search was made for eggs; on pulling up the stools, in two cases single 

 eggs were found at a depth of 5-6 inches, apparently in loose earth, 

 directly under the stools. The eggs hatched on 21st January, and proved 

 to be this species. In confinement eggs were found to be laid separately, 

 each in a tiny cavity, and the period of incubation varied from 9 to 

 12 days. 



TJic Gruh. — Breeding of the grubs in confinement has definitely 

 estaldished a one-year life-cycle. A grub hatched in December, 1917, had 

 entered the pupal stage by 21st November, and the beetle was obtained 

 on 17th December. They do not develop nearly a,s rapidly as those of 

 L. alhohirtum, the only related species which is known to have a one-year 

 life-cycle. Thus in confinement, of nine grubs that hatched on 28th 

 December, six were in stage II, and three still in stage I on 20tli ]\Iarch ; 



