_Litochrus palmerstoni_ is of a uniform ferruginous colour, with the apex of the elytra pale testaceous; without the punctures of the other species; of the typical oval form; and only ⅘ of a line in length and ¹⁄₂₄ of an inch in width. This tiny creature comes from the Northern Territory of S. Australia. This family is not an important one, but is well represented in Europe and America, where the larvae live in flowers, boring their way down the stems and pupating in earthen cocoons. Family 14. Fruit Beetles. NITIDULIDAE. These are all small black or brownish beetles that breed and feed upon decaying vegetable matter, and some are very partial to ripe fruit. Some have well developed wing covers, but in others these are very short, reminding one of the smaller Rove Beetles, but the club of each antennae consists of three joints, and fewer abdominal segments are exposed to view. About eighty species have been described from Australia, chiefly by Reitter (Verh. Ver. Brünn, 1874–75, and other Journals); Murray in his Monograph of the Family; Macleay (Trans. Ent. Soc. N.S.W. 1871); and Blackburn (Trans. Royal Soc. S. Australia 1891). _Brachypeplus binotatus_ is one of our commonest species, widely distributed over Australia; it is a typical form of the family, about ⅕ of an inch in length; of a general dark brown colour, with reddish brown antennae and legs; the abbreviated wing covers leaving the abdominal segments exposed, the latter marked with deep orange yellow. Olliff (Agricultural Gazette N.S. Wales 1893) describes and figures this beetle and its larva, which he describes as feeding upon the fungus on the damaged sugar cane. [Illustration: =Fig. 62.=--_Pochadius pilistriatus_ (Macleay). Living in the seed pods of the Kurrajong. (“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]