THE HOLY BUG. 69 



CHAPTER LXXVII. 



THE HOLY BUG. 



( Mictis Prof ana . ) 



Order : Hemiptera. Family : Coraidce, 



This repulsive bug is well known to collectors and 

 orchardists in many parts of Australia, and has long 

 been known here to attack oranges and other citrus 

 fruits, the young shoots being the ones attacked, which 

 causes the wood to have a burned appearance (see plate), 

 thereby destroying the young growth; and in many cases 

 the tree itself, if badly attacked by a number of the 

 insects, dies back to the old wood, causing great disfigure- 

 ment to the tree and in some cases to the crop as well. 



Our plate shows a leaf partly eaten ; but this has not 

 been done by the insects in question, which latter do not 

 bite the leaves, but simply puncture them, and thus 

 draw off the sap necessary for the well-being of the tree. 



The perfect insect, as shown on our plate, is some- 

 what sluggish in its habits, large numbers in all stages 

 of development being frequently found on even one small 

 wattle, either Acacia decurrens or A. molissima. When 

 the weather is hot, these bugs are exceedingly active, 

 the larvae especially so, the unpleasant odour being too 

 well known to require description here. The larvae, 

 being soft in the bodies, smell more strongly than the 

 perfect insects. 



In his valuable work on Australian insects, Mr. 

 Froggatt calls this species the ' ' Gum-tree Bug, ' ' but 

 whether the bug is u holy " or profane, as its specific 

 name would imply, is not definitely known. The cross- 

 like markings on the elytra seem to be the most applicable, 

 although the insects, as Mr. Froggatt remarks, are quite 

 commonly to be found on the young and tender shoots 

 of some of the gum trees (Eucalypti), the young saplings 

 of the manner gum (/T. viminalis) seemingly being a 

 great favorite with them. 



