Zoology.-] NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. [Insects. 



In Australia alone the Woodpeckers have not been provided ; and 

 the consequence is that every tree cut up for firewood is seen to he 

 traversed with large cylindrical canals made by these or allied larvae, 

 which are the greatest destroyers of our forests— so abounding in the 

 wood of almost every forest tree that, in a storm, it is dangerous 

 to go near a large tree, as one apparently sound will snap across 

 unexpectedly with a moderate wind from the number of these larvae 

 tracks. 



The classical reader will remember the praises lavished by the 

 Eoman epicures of old on the Cossus as a delicacy for the table ; 

 being a thick, pink, fleshy caterpillar, as large as a man's finger, 

 extracted from the wood of the Willow trees, and produced by a 

 Goat-moth belonging to this family ; it is curious to find that the 

 very similar larvae of the present insect, abounding in the Wattle 

 trees, or Acacice, of Australia, are highly prized for food by the 

 natives. When properly cooked, I am told by all bushmen that 

 they are delicious, but circumstances over which I have no control 

 have prevented me from trying them, to test the fact myself. 



Considering the great importance attached lately by the Govern- 

 ment to the preservation and cultivation of the Wattle or Acacia 

 trees, and the great and increasing annual money value of the bark, 

 it is important for bark-strippers and the persons employed by the 

 Government to foster the growth of the Wattles to know the ap- 

 pearance of the insect represented on our plate, as the greatest 

 destroyer of these trees, so that attention may be given to killing 

 the perfect moth ; the large abdomen of the female of which is 

 distended with millions of eggs, each of which will produce a 

 voracious grub as thick as the thumb and five or six inches long, 

 eating the timber for years. 



It is unfortunate that the specific name Eucalypti should have 

 been given to this species, as it never frequents any species of 

 Eucalyptus or Gum-tree, but feeds exclusively on the wood of the 

 different species of the Acacia or Wattle trees. 



The larva, hatched from eggs laid in crevices of bark of the 



branches, works steadily into the interior of the tree, proceeding 



head downwards, enlarging the cylindrical burrow as it graduallv 



grows larger and eats its way downwards, often reaching to the 



Dec. iii. [ 49 ] G 



