BOISDUVAL'S FIG-TREE BORER. 137 



holes through, the ship's deck, and some of the beetles 

 were found partly emerged from the wood. In Australia, 

 the Longicorn beetles number close on 1,500 species 

 (I have over 1,000 species in my collection), and the 

 whole are more or less destructive to forests, timbers in 

 buildings, &c. The foreign kinds are even more numerous- 

 and quite as destructive as those of Australian origin. 



Prevention and Remedies. 



As we have before stated, the most stringent measures 

 must be resorted to in trying to keep out this and similar 

 pests which may be introduced, especially when the 

 timber is in log form. All such consignments should be 

 overhauled on arrival, and should not be allowed to lie 

 about on the wharfs, as it is through the agency of 

 imported timber that many of our furniture borers have 

 been introduced. When these pests have once obtained 

 a footing, eradication becomes a matter of supreme 

 difficulty, if not an impossibility. 



NOTE. Since writing the description of this species,, 

 numerous cases of beetles attacking valuable furniture 

 and house timbers have come under notice. In each 

 instance the trouble has been traced to Japanese and 

 Chinese verandah blinds or to bamboo furniture from the 

 East. I would therefore strongly recommend that all 

 imported cane, bamboo, and wicker-work furniture be 

 treated for at least 24 hours with cyanide gas at the 

 Government Fumigator on the wharf, before permission 

 for removal is granted. The particular species of beetle 

 responsible for the damage will be figured in Part VI. of 

 this work. 



18720. 



