2 BEETLES DESTRUCTIVE LO COCO-NUDT, PAEMS: 
matter. In the case of this species, the parent beetle deposits 
its eggs in the decaying stems of coco-nut trees, whether still 
erect or fallen tothe ground. So abundant are they, that I have 
found as many as forty larve, nearly all full grown, in about 
three feet of a rotten palm-stem. But besides this habitat, it is 
also stated that the larvee occur in manure pits, cow dung, tan 
bark, crushed sugar-canes, and other vegetable remains, and 
also in mangrove mud; and I have received grubs taken from 
piles of cow dung and from leaf mould, made by accumulat- 
ing grass leaves, ‘&e. ina pit, which were quite indistinguish- 
able from those taken from rotten palms. Their existence 
in mangrove mud seems to me incredible, as it appears high- 
ly unsuited for them. I have been unable to get grubs taken 
from mud, and certainly palms growing near mangrove 
swamps are not more liable to attack than if they were grow- 
ing in drier soil. The identification of larve of this group 
is very difficult, and can only be undertaken by an entomo- 
logist, as all the grubs of the larger Lamellicorn beetles are 
very similar, and there are a number of harmless, and even 
useful, species of this group in Singapore. I have ‘attempted 
to rear the grubs, but without success, as they invariably die 
in confinement i in a few days. t 
Description of the Grub—The larva isa fleshy whie grub 
from two and a half to three inches long when full grown. 
The head is rounded, broad, hard and of a dark chestnut 
brown colour, and behind it on the next segment Is an angu- 
lar patch of chitine on each side. The body is swollen at the 
tail, so that the grub can only lie upon its side, as is usual in 
this class of larvee. It is covered with short, scattered bristles, 
most numerous along the sides just below the spiracles. The 
egs are about half an inch in length, weak, but chitinous, and 
covered with bristles. The short antennz are quite hairless, 
and the *aiws ar2 thick and powerful, black with a single 
tooth below the sharp cutting point. 
Description of the Beetle-—The grub passes into the chry- 
salis state in the tree or the rubbish in which it has spent its 
life, merely making an oval nest in the rotten wood in which 
to dogs. ‘The chrysali is is large and fleshy, soft and white, 
