MATURE NOTES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22429, 16 June 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

MATURE NOTES

(By L. W. i McCaskill)

loose bark hanging on the trunk or larger branches of a gum tree. In the spring it emerges to lay clusters gt cigar-shaped eggs on the leaves.

. Australian eucalypts or gum trees thrive In New Zealand; so do many of the insect pests which attack them. One of the most destructive to the foliage is a beetle sent for identification by the pupils of the Tbtara School, North Otago. In Australia there are several hundreds of its relations, which are found feeding on eucalypts and wattles. Fortunately only one kind seems to have become established in New Zealand.

The adult beetle is tortoise-like in general shape, hence the common name. If a' collection of beetles is made the colour will be found to vary from reddish-yellow to brownish-pink, to reddishbrown. There are often darker markings on the back which is covered with numerous small dots. After death the outer wing-cases often turn a brilliant red colour. A full igrown beetle may be onethird of an inch long, rarely half an inch.

During the winter the tortoise beetle hibernates underneath the

THE TORTOISE BEETLE

The grubs which hatch from these eggs are rather fat, but pointed towards the tail end. Right at the tip is a sucker-like organ, much like the footstump of a caterpillar, which helps the grub to move. It loops the body much in the manner of a looper caterpillar. Most grubs have a yellow body

colour; occasionally pinkish specimens are found. Head and legs are black, as are dots along the side.

If one attempts to pick a grub from the leaf or tickles it with a straw it may project a pair of horn-like structures from its. back and squirt out a liquid smelling of eucalyptus. The grubs feed so voraciously that they quickly become full grown. Then they drop to the ground to pupate, the adult beetles appearing in a few days. They immediately attack the leaves of the eucalypts.