( 46 ) 
IY. 
NOTE ON THE APPEAEANCE OF A FOEEIGN BEETLE 
(.BIAXENES DENDROBII) AT WATFOED. 
By Aubrey Stawel-Stoyel. 
Communicated by W. E. Carter, B.A. 
Read at Watford, 26th March, 1901. 
Hour of these beetles have been caught in the greenhouse of 
“The Briars,” AVatford. They are natives of Upper Burmah and 
some parts of India. Little is known about the habits of the 
species except that it is an injurious insect and feeds on orchids 
of the genus Dendrobium, hence the derivation of its specific name 
“ dendrobii .” When the grub has remained inside the stem of the 
plant for a long time, sometimes extending to a period of two or 
three years, it eventually emerges in the form of the perfect insect. 
It rarely occurs singly, being as a rule met with in batches varying 
in number from six to a dozen. 
The dates of the appearance at Watford of the four specimens 
of this beetle are interesting: the first, second, and fourth, which 
were females, were caught respectively on the 7th and 31st of 
January and the 17th of February; the third, a male, was caught 
on the 2nd of February and was much smaller than any of the 
females. 
Liaxenes dendrobii is one of the Longicornes, the antennae being 
about 7-16th of an inch long. Of the four beetles caught the 
dimensions are 7-16th to 11-16th of an inch long and 3-16th 
to 4-16th of an inch broad, and the markings are light and dark 
brown. 
This is one of the many instances of insects being found far from 
their native haunts. In this case the explanation is probably that 
the beetles were brought over in the larval state in the roots or 
stems of the orchids on which they were found, and being kept 
under artificial heat they ultimately made their appearance and 
were captured. 
