This group comprises many of our largest and most brilliantly marked tropical plant bugs, distinguished from all those of other families by the remarkable size of the scutellum which frequently covers the two pairs of wings and dorsal surface of the abdomen. The majority of these insects fly well. The head is usually furnished with 5-jointed antennae (though some are restricted to four joints), and two ocelli. It is one of the largest groups, and has been divided into fourteen sub-families. There are over 4,000 species in the family, and it is well represented in Australia. This family is sometimes known under the name SCUTELLERIDAE. The Cherry Bug, _Peltophora pedicillata_, is a bright metallic green bug mottled with black spots on the back; the greater part of the under surface, edges of the thorax, and two blotches at the base of the scutellum are bright coral red: it measures ½ an inch in length and is broad in proportion. It has a range from New South Wales (where it is often found on strong-scented flowering shrubs and has been recorded as a cherry pest) to N. Queensland, where it is very abundant on the wild fig trees. _Tectocoris lineola_ is so variable in size and colouration that it has been described under eight varietal names and has an extended range from the north of N.S. Wales through Queensland to New Caledonia and China. It has a broad, elongate, convex body of a bright orange colour edged on the margins of the body with metallic green; the dorsal surface is covered with curious green or blue patches reminding one of Chinese letters; sometimes these markings are almost absent, in others so confluent that it is more blue than red. Donovan named our variety _T. banksi_, after Sir Joseph Banks, who first obtained specimens from Australia. _Chaerocoris paganus_ is under ½ an inch in length, and of an oval, beetle-like form; its general colour is red with dull metallic green forming blotches on the back, head, and sides of the thorax. It is very common at times crawling about on the rocks and ground about Sydney. _C. similis_ is a smaller darker form, only taken about Gunnedah, N.S.W., but it probably has a wider range. _Philia basalis_ is one of the common fruit bugs of N. Queensland. It is slightly over ½ an inch in length, with elongate convex scutellum, and a uniform rich metallic green tint, with a bright coral-red spot behind the head and two similar ones at the base of the scutellum; the sides of the abdomen are bright red on the under surface. _P. senator_ is a smaller, more variable form, with the coral-red markings not so distinct. _Philia regia_, about the same size as the last species, is of a rich coppery-red tint, with the hind portion of the back bright yellow, and the ventral surface and legs bright green and yellow. Both these species and _P. senator_ are found along the Queensland coast.