Australian insectsFroggatt, Walter W. (Walter Wilson)
Science
Australian insects
Froggatt, Walter W. (Walter Wilson)
Insects -- Australia
_Tranes sparsus_, ⅓ of an inch in length, is common among the coarse
palm-like foliage of the Currawong; it is of a uniform reddish brown
tint with a slender snout, rounded flattened thorax, and oval,
flattened, finely striated elytra. A smaller black species, _T.
xanthorrhoeae_, is found in the foliage of the grass trees. The Genus
_Belus_ contains a number of very slender weevils with the snout
standing out in front of the head, long antennae, thickened thighs,
and the slender elytra coming to a point at the apex. They feed upon
wattles, and are very active, flying about in the heat of the day.
_Belus semipunctatus_ is about ¾ of an inch in length; of a uniform
dark reddish brown tint, with a broad white stripe down each side
of the thorax and down the centre of the back, with small spots on
each side. _B. bidentatus_ is a stouter thickset beetle; and is of a
darker brown colour, with a rounded buff spot on either side of the
wing covers. _B. plagiatus_ is a smaller almost black species, richly
variegated with reddish yellow spots and blotches; it comes from the
more tropical scrubs of N.S. Wales and Southern Queensland. _Rhinotia
hoemoptera_, a very handsome slender cylindrical weevil, is about ¾ of
an inch in length, with the snout furnished with thickened antennae
turned down below the head; it is rich black with bright brick red
wing covers which have a fine dorsal black stripe down the centre. The
curious large-headed larvae feed in the stems of the Sweet-scented
Wattle, _Acacia suaveolens_. _Eurhynchus acanthopterus_ is the type
of another group, which has a shorter snout, and the head broad and
rounded, fitting closely into the somewhat attenuated thorax; the body
is broadly oval, and the wing covers furnished with short conical
spines in the centre of the back. It measures about ½ an inch, and
is of a uniform reddish brown tint. The Ant Weevil, _Myrmacicelus
formicarius_, usually found crawling about on the trunks of wattle
trees, is a shining black weevil about ⅙ of an inch in length, and is
as ant-looking as its names suggest. The Genus _Balaninus_ represents
the tiny little rounded weevils with very long slender snouts adapted
for feeding upon seeds. _B. amoenus_ is black spotted with white; is
almost oval in form, and about ⅙ of an inch in length. It feeds upon
the ripe fruit of the little yellow fig, _Ficus rubiginosa_.
The Genus _Laemosaccus_ contains a number of short flattened weevils
of a general black or dark brown colour ornamented with white or buff
down; they are generally found feasting upon the bark of freshly fallen
tree-trunks, particularly wattle and eucalypts, in which they also bore
holes and deposit their eggs. _Laemosaccus electilis_ measures ¼ of an
inch in length; is black with white pubescence on the under surface,
and white markings on the tips of the wing covers, which are finely
striated. My specimens come from Condobolin, N.S. Wales.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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