84 DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF VICTORIA: 



The fruit, when attacked by the grub of this beetle, 

 will remain for about a month before it shows any decided 

 signs of shrivelling, when the apples wither and dry up, as 

 shown in our illustration. 



Upon inquiry, I find that this most formidable pest was 

 observed by Mr. Stiggants about two years since. The 

 apples first attacked being the well-known varieties 

 Reinette du Canada, Emperor Alexander, and Winter 

 Majetin, all of which, Mr. Stiggants tells me, were 

 purchased from some nurseryman at Kew, Victoria. 



Mr. Stiggants thinks that, before finding out how this 

 active and destructive little beetle worked, many of his 

 neighbours have attributed the damage done by this 

 beetle to the apple to have been caused by the Codlin 

 Moth. It would be very interesting to find out for certain 

 the exact period at which the eggs of this insect are 

 deposited, also how long the young grubs (or larvae) take 

 to hatch from the egg, or how many eggs the female 

 deposits in the fruit; and this, as well as any other 

 information bearing upon the life-history of any particular 

 insect (especially of one so destructive and new to science), 

 will always be thankfully received and duly acknowledged. 



The question has been asked " Whether I think this 

 little pest to be a native of Victoria ?" This is a some- 

 what difficult question to answer, as the family of 

 Anthribidce are but poorly represented in Australia, it 

 being in the tropics and in the beautiful Malayan and 

 Papuan group of islands where the largest and most 

 singular forms of this family are found, and I am 

 inclined to think that this particular species is an impor- 

 tation either from Queensland, or from some of the 

 Polynesian group of islands, from whither they may 

 have come in either fruit or fruit boxes. 



Mr. Oliff, it may be mentioned, speaks of another 

 species of this genus, viz., M, Mastersii, as being in the 

 collection of the Australian Museum in Sydney, and 

 which in appearance seems to resemble closely the new 

 species which he, Mr. Oliff, has at my request been good 

 enough to describe. 



