They are very active little beetles; several species are very numerous and swarm over the flowers of the low scrub. _Mordella leucosticta_, ½ an inch in length, is black; the whole of the upper surface is thickly spotted and marked with dull white, and the legs and under surface are also mottled. _M. limbata_ is a much smaller black beetle ⅙ of an inch in length, and has a pale silvery sheen: _Tomoxia flavicans_, from the northern rivers, is a shorter broader insect. _Pelectomoides conicollis_ is 1¼ inches in length; is of a uniform dull brown colour, with pectinate antennae; the head is small, turned down, and the thorax is broad and rounded. This fine beetle is found about Sydney. Lea has described and listed the members of this family (Trans. Ent. Soc. London 1902). Family 44. Oil and Blister Beetles. CANTHARIDAE. The true Blister Beetle is a slender insect with soft integument, and a small head produced into a neck behind; the thorax is small in proportion to the slender rounded abdomen and wing covers. A number of species have been described from this country by different writers, among whom Fairmaire has been chief (Stett. Ent. Zeit. 1880). Most of them belong to the Genus _Zonitis_, of which about 40 species have been described. _Zonitis bipartita_, under ½ an inch in length, has the head, thorax, base of the wing covers, and under surface of abdomen orange yellow, with the abdomen and rest of the elytra dark shining blue: _Z. brevicornis_ is a very similar insect, but has the whole of the wing covers deep metallic blue. The true Oil Beetles are more rare; unable to fly, they are found crawling about on the ground with the body distended and the wing covers overlapping each other at the base. Nothing is recorded about the larvae of our species of this family, but in other countries they are known to feed upon the eggs of locusts; others attach themselves to bees, and are thus carried into their nests, where they devour the eggs and afterwards the honey. The OEDEMERIDAE are somewhat similar looking insects to the Blister Beetle; _Ananca puncta_ is found in the northern parts of N.S. Wales; it is a very slender long-legged beetle over ½ an inch in length, of a general dull yellow colour, with the head, thorax, and legs mottled with dull blue, and the whole of the elongated wing covers dull blue except a dorsal stripe of the prevailing yellow which widens out towards the apex. Family 45. Woodborers. SCOLYTIDAE. [Illustration: =Fig. 80.=--_Hylesinus fici_ (Lea). The Fig-branch Beetle, better known under the name of _H. porcatus_ (Chap.). (“Agricultural Gazette,” N.S.W.)]