BELATED CAXE BEETLES AND THEIE ALLIES. 59 



"A pair was seen to go into cop. at 6.58 p.m.; at 7.25, being too 

 dark for further observation, they were moved and carried on the finger 

 into a lighted room at 7.30 ; at 7.33 the male separated and flew away ; 

 the female took wing at 7.35 p.m. Thus copulation lasted thirty-fiVe 

 minutes; perhaps under undisturbed conditions the act would "have 

 occupied a longer period." 



In our study of allied species, we have not met with so prolonged 

 a time for the act of sexual union ; this is in sharp contradistinction to 

 the habits of rothei, where mating is not continued beyond a minute 

 or two. 



Practically no observations on food plants have been made ; a single 

 beetle was seen eating into the leaf of a cultivated Aralia (Araliaceae). 

 Confined specimens ate sparingly of jMoreton Bay ash {Eucalyptus 

 tessclaris), but. as ^dtli frcnchi and rotlici, it would seem that little 

 food is required. 



Several pairs were kept in confinement with moist fine earth and 

 supplied daily wdth tender foliage. One specimen, a male, remained 

 alive for 54 days. The males appear to live for a longer period than 

 the females ; thus, of those that died natural deaths, four males averaged 

 46-25 days, and five females averaged 30-6 days. Moreover, in the ease 

 of each pair where the female died naturally, the male always lingered 

 on after her death. This is not in accordance Avith the established 

 behaviour of other species, and requires further confirmation. 



The Egg. — As with L. frcnchi, on first emergence a complete set of 

 fully developed (or nearly so) eggs is present ; this set contains a smaller 

 number than with frcnchi, but a larger number than is the case wdth 

 rothei. On the first night of emergence, 5th January, two females were 

 dissected ; one had 17, the other 19, ripe eggs, while there was a number 

 of other eggs in various stages ; a few of the egg-tubes had no ripe eggs, 

 only very small ones. Four females captui;ed on the following night 

 had fully sized eggs as follows: 17, 18, 28, 22. 



In confinement the greatest numlter of eggs deposited by one female 

 was 23 ; and the most obtained by dissection and counting the number 

 already laid was 30. The laying period would seem to be spread over 

 a number of days, in this respect the species showing an affinity with 

 rothei. The eggs are deposited singly, in tiny well-formed cells. 



Eggs from these confined beetles, kept in moist soil on a shelf in 

 the insectary, did not hatch for 20-23 days, in two separate cases. 

 A more definite record fixed the duration of the egg stage as 22 days. 

 This is an abnormally long period, and may be accounted for by the 

 unnatural conditions; even so, eggs of L. albohirtum and L. fr(nchi 

 were maintained in exactly similar situations, without inducing any 

 such irregularity. There are no records of eggs found in tlie field. 



The Larva. — Dodd (91) believed that a two-year life-cycle was 

 required ; his grul)s were mostly obtained by following ploughs, and as 

 very little of this work has been carried out during the past few years, 

 subsequent records of their occurrence are almost non-existent. Two 

 stage III grubs were secured by digging in the dark loam soil of the 

 laboratorj' grounds at Meringa, on 30th December, 1920, and this is our 

 sole note on the species. Grubs hatched on 2nd March from eggs 

 obtained in confinement were still in stage I on 2nd J\Iay. 



