24 NEW ZEALAND ENTOMOLOGY. 



be said to be sub-aquatic in its habits. I have not yet 

 detected the pupa of this species, although the discovery 

 of a large quantity of both larvae and perfect insects is of 

 everyday occurrence with the entomologist in winter. 



Family ENGID.E. 

 Dryocora Howittii (Plate I., fig. 6, 6a larva). 



This quaint-looking little insect occurs occasionally in 

 damp matai logs, when in an advanced state of decay. 

 The larva (Fig. 6a) is very flat and thin, possessing the 

 usual thoracic legs, which, however, are rather short. The 

 last segment of the abdomen is furnished with an anal 

 proleg and a pair of small setiform appendages. Its 

 mode of progression is very peculiar, resembling that of 

 the Geometer larvae among the Lepidoptera. 



The thoracic legs are first brought to the ground, and 

 the rest of the body is then drawn up in an arched 

 position close behind them. The anal proleg then supports 

 the insect while the anterior segments are thrust out, and 

 the others follow as before. This method is only employed 

 on smooth surfaces, the larva crawling along elsewhere in 

 the usual manner. 



The perfect beetle is a very sluggish insect, and difficult 

 to find owing to its colour, which closely resembles that of 

 the wood in which it lives. 



Family 

 Choetosoma scaritides (Plate I., fig. 2). 



This insect may be at once recognized by its peculiar 

 shape, no other New Zealand beetle resembling it in this 

 respect. Although tolerably common and generally dis- 

 tributed, it is very seldom seen abroad, spending almost 

 the whole of its life concealed in the burrows of various 

 wood-boring weevils. Its larva, which feeds on the grubs 



