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mitted by the larvte, he said that they did not feed on the 

 root, but only on the stem and blades. The grass was thus 

 killed by being eaten off continually level with the ground. 

 In nearly every instance the tunnel is excavated close to the 

 roots of a tuft of grass. The depth of a tunnel depends 

 greatly on the nature of the soil. In light loamy soil they 

 are found as deep as fifteen inches, but in heavy clayey land 

 a few inches suffice. The average depth of a number in a 

 permanent pasture was found to be ten inches. The tunnels 

 are always driven at a slightly oblique angle ; no particular 

 quarter of the compass is, however, chosen. From the mouth 

 of the tunnel a sort of covered way is constructed, often 

 leading to a neighbouring tuft of grass. This covered way is 

 formed of silk, covered with bits of grass and excrement, and 

 is hardly ever more than six inches long. Usually there is 

 only one to each burrow, but some of the burrows have as 

 many as three covered passages leading to tufts of grass 

 some four or six inches away. Of their natural enemies, the 

 Bandicoots [Perameles gunni and P. obesula) do much good 

 work in devouring numbers of larvte. It is quite a common 

 thing to find comparatively large areas of infested ground 

 turned up by these little sharp-nosed animals in search of 

 them. Several species of birds also assist their destruction, 

 especially the Lesser White-backed Magpie {Gytnnorhina 

 hyperleuca). This bird feeds on the larvte in the very early 

 morning before they have retreated into their burrows, and 

 the quantity devoured by this one species alone must be 

 something enormous, A shining coppery black beetle 

 {^Promocoderus ovicollis), both in the imago and larval form, 

 renders good service by destroying both moths and larva?, 

 A small red ant, very common in some districts, also gathers 

 great numbers of the eggs and stores them in its nest. The 

 eggs are kept until they hatch, when the young larvae are 

 devoured, the empty egg-shells being afterwards thrown out. 

 As many as 1000 eggs have been found in one nest. In dry 

 sandy soil Mr. Littler had also found numbers of larvae, at 

 various times, killed by a parasitic fungus, a species of 

 Cordyceps. 



