April, 1926 
The Queensland Naturalist. 
/S- 
Tliere is no need to eiitor into tlie subsetiuent histofv 
of the (dub, as since tile ai)])earance of tlie Journal the- 
proceedings liave been reo‘nlarl\' chronicled, except for 
a lapse of three years from Ajuil. 1917, to July 1920, diu'^ 
to the unsettled state of affairs durino- those years., 
thoug’h the ordinary activities of the (’lub did not cease. 
- -o— ^ — - — 
NOTES ON A BAMBU BORER.- 
(By the late Sydney B. J. Skertchly.) 
This infernal insect is not rare; it ou^ht to be, extinct, 
in fact. It not only destroys wood, but undermines faitlp- 
and leads to doubts of a beuefieent providence. 
I jcnow more about it, much more, than I wanted to 
know, and it came about' in this wise: There bein^ a fnie 
cluni]) of bamhiis on the rivm-sido of our home paddock 
at '‘Talawalla,” Molendinar., on the lower Neran^* River, 
my son-in-law, E. J- Cooper, in Augrust. 192J. became 
ins]>ired with the idea of reiuvcnafin^ the time-woim. 
stern-frayed backs and seats of a number of louj^ verandah 
chairs with split hambu- Ilis success yas ]>henouienal, 
and was tlie pride of the family, and he produced a 
verandah bedstead all of his own architecture and fash- 
ioning. 
*Prof. Skertchly forwarded specimens of the insects, and 
these were handed to Mr. H. Tryon for report. Mr. Tyron 
replied : — 
The insects submitted are examples of a member of the 
family Bostrychidae. They are named Dinoderus minutus 
Fabr., and although apparently primarily Bamboo insects, and 
very destructive to It when dry and manufactured, also tweed 
in other vegetable su])stauces including dead sugar-cane 
stalks, Smilax wood. etc., and thus, although not reported 
hitherto as feeding upon the dry stems or seeds of cycads, 
that they should do so under constraining circumstances is 
not unexpected. The beetle has long since been introduced to 
Queensland, and is notorious here for destroying Bamboo 
sun-blinds, etc. Of the living insects sent, some of those in 
the small tubes had eaten their way outwards through the 
cork; these contained in the cycad-nut had perfoi'ated its 
paper investment, in effecting their exit; and those in the 
section of the .Cycad-stem had done the same. Facts that go 
to show how easy it is to bring about a dissemination of D. 
minutus, as well as of the other bamboo-loving species of the 
genus. — Editor, '^Queensland Naturalist.” 
