148 THE AUSRALIAN NATURALIS1. 
nursery of Mr. I. Spurway, Ermington, were unsuccessful. 
On October 31, 1919, I secured a number of adults which, vhen 
confined in a tube with some soil, laid eggs on the side of the 
tube beneath the soil. These were minute, cylindrical, slightly 
oval, and of a darkish amber. colour. On December ist two 
young had hatched. They were white, legless, hairy grubs about 
1 mm. in length, and were able to move about freely by means 
of their mouth and by muscular contraction, aided by a sucker- 
like anal appendage. The mature larva possesses a crown on the 
dorsal surface of the anal segment consisting of a circle of long 
reddish bristles which forms a marked characteristic. This was 
not visible on the newly-hatched larvae, but as these grew older 
it could be be detected under the microscope, some of the hairs 
being turned backwards. On December 9th I secured a large 
number.of the mature insects which were pairing freely, and 
which laid numerous eggs. 
On January 2nd, by digging at a spot where some stocks were 
growing, at a depth of 9—12 inches, I found a number of pupae 
and larvae, the latter showing the anal crown very clearly. 
Coming out during the spring and February growths, the 
mature insects attack the young shoots on the orange trees, in 
many cases eating the crown right out and in others so damag- 
ing the shoot that its growth is stunted and deformed. The 
young tender leaves are eaten all round the edges, and the sur- 
face chafed in extensive patches. When the older leaves are 
attacked they are eaten round the edges, leaving them irregular 
and scolloped. The young fruit is also attacked, the outer sur- 
face being nibbled off in irregular patches and lines, whicli, as 
the fruit ripens, become brown and rusty, and though the fruit 
is quite sound internally, it is rendered unsightly and practically 
unsaleable. 
Young trees, when badly attacked, do not make proper 
growth, and will stand in the nursery for two years without in- 
creasing a foot in height. This, which was formerly a puzzle, 
we now know to be due to the attacks of the larvae on the roots. 
By washing the roots of damaged young trees, I have seen 
* the chafing and corrugations caused by the attacks of the larvae. 
In this respect the damage to the roots closely resembles that 
caused by the larvae of LZ. Hopei, but those of P. phytolymus 
are so much smaller that their work is not so readily detected. 
There are evidently two broods in the year, the main emerg- 
ing months being October-November and February-March. 
