THE ELEPHANT BEETLE OF THE ORANGE. 87 



orchardist informed him that he had lost over a thousand 

 stocks the year before, and that the beetles showed a 

 marked preference for seedling orange and lemon 

 stocks ; he also said that he could tell any young tree 

 that contained the larvae from the color of its bark ; and 

 that by pulling up and burning all infested stocks, and 

 spraying the others with a liberal dose of Paris green, 

 he had cleared them out of his nursery. 



Mr. Froggatt thinks, "that as the beetles always lay 

 their eggs in the bark on the trunk of the tree, within 

 a foot or so of the ground, it would be an advantage to 

 keep the earth up round the trunks of the trees during 

 the time when the beetles are egg-laying, from October 

 to December, and wash the uncovered portion above 

 with carbolic soap, or some other offensive smelling 

 substance, that at the same time would not injure the 

 bark of the trees." 



In treating oranges and lemons in the hot dry climate 

 of Victorian summer, one would have to be very careful, 

 as here oranges, and lemons too, are singular trees to 

 deal with, and any u banking-up n would hardly 

 commend itself to Victorian growers of citrus fruits 

 generally. 



A smaller species of this genus (<9. klugii), which is 

 figured in Vol. Ill of this book, would appear to be 

 becoming rarer in Victoria, as we have not captured a 

 specimen for a long time. Let us hope that the large 

 one, too, will become scarce. 



