No, 4.] Miscellaneous Notes. 213 



species referable to widely different groups of Coleoptera : it is improbable 

 that they are all of them concerned in causing- the injury that is reported. 

 The species represented numerically by the greatest number of specimens 

 is a beetle belonging 1 to the family Chrysouielidse, the members of which 

 generally feed on leaves. The precise determination of the species will 

 be furnished hereafter. (2) A large black insect said to be found in the 

 heai't of the date palm, and to cause the tree to become sickly and die. 

 This is a coleopterous insect belonging to the family Tenebrionidse, and 

 determined as Platynotus excavatus ; it has not previously been reported as 

 injurious to date palms. (3) Caterpillars found in the bark of casuarina 

 trees, and said to stunt their growth, though not to kill them. These are 

 the larvae of a Lepidopterous insect, probably belonging to the Hepialidse. 

 They cannot be precisely determined without an examination of the moth 

 into which they transform. The casuarina trees should, therefore, be kept 

 under observation and specimens of the moth secured for examination 

 as soon as they emerge. (4) Large curved grubs said to bore into the 

 heart of casuarina trees and thus affect their growth. These are coleop- 

 terse, apparently belonging to the subfamily Melolonthini. Specimens of 

 the beetle into which they transform should be procured for examination, 

 though there would appear to be some doubt as to their power to injure 

 the trees in the way that has been supposed. 



