28 DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS OF VICTORIA : 



from the soil, are, as is the case with all beetles, soft in 

 comparison to what they are when fully developed; but 

 a very little time of exposure to the air, especially in 

 warm weather, helps them to develop and rapidly harden 

 their wing cases and other parts of their bodies. When 

 coming up out of the ground for the first time their 

 motion is very sluggish, but as the sun gains power they 

 soon become lively and at once take to flight, which they 

 do in almost incredible numbers. The flight of these 

 beetles may in all fairness be termed "swarming," as they 

 rise slowly and very often the air for miles is "thick" with 

 them. 



When they make their appearance in an orchard, and 

 which is about " cherry time," they make sad havoc, and, 

 being in such countless multitudes, will strip a good-sized 

 tree in the course of a very few minutes. How long it 

 is since this beetle first made its appearance here as an 

 orchard pest I cannot say ; but I well recollect the great 

 damage which in the years 1855-8 they did to the trees 

 in the Cheltenham and other districts near the coast. 

 Fortunately, however, these beetles will also alight on 

 native trees, so that by this means orchards sometimes 

 escape the visitation. With regard to the egg-laying of 

 this insect, it has not yet, so far as I am aware, been 

 observed, the supposition, which is a very natural one, 

 being that the eggs are deposited either in the soil just 

 beneath the surface, or in the roots of the native shrubs 

 which abound in heathy districts throughout the colony. 

 This latter is a very important matter, and has yet to be 

 cleared up. It is also one in which the assistance, by 

 observation, of those living on the spot could with 

 advantage be undertaken, and it would be of great use 

 and assistance both to the grower as well as to the ento- 

 mologist in devising means for their prevention. The 

 genus Diphucephala is confined to Australia, there being 

 about 23 species known and described in various publi- 

 cations ; this species would however, seem to be only one of 

 the genus that visits us in such vast swarms, although 

 some of those found inland and in the other colonies are 



