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THE JOURNAL OF THE
Tasmonlan Field Naturalists' (Iub.
Vol. 1. APRIL, 1907.
No. 1.
CYurselves.
The Tasmanian lField Naturalists' Club,
having been in existence for over two
yea.rs, has felt the need of a journal of
its own, and at the annual meeting in
Sel!tember, lHOB, it was decided that such
a iot:t'nal should l>e issued, under the
title of "The Tasmanian Naturalist," the
first numbw of which now appears. One
c02Y of the journal is to be issued f,'ee
to all members whose subscriptions have
been paid; for those not belonging to
the Club a small chm.'ge is to be made.
The journal is intended to deal with
History in its widest sense, par-
ticular, but not exclusive, attention be-
ing paid to subjects of Tasmanian in-
terest.
It is hoped in time that desc.riptions
of new f.orms of life will appear in its
pages, but fCl' some time at least the
articles will be of a more Cl' less popu-
lar chal'acter, and under arrangement
with the 'p,'oprietors of "The Weekly
Courier," many of them will first appeal'
in that widely-.read journal.
Members and Othl'S inte['ested are in-
vited to contribute, addressing all com-
munications to the editor. Thirty copies
of their papel's will be supplied free to
all authors of articles of mOl'e than one
paO'e. Unless for special reasons papers
not exceed 3000 words in length,
and under 2000 aor'e preflled. Shori
paragraphs win also be acceptable.
[Previous to the establishing of our
journal the following papel's were pub-
lished fCl' the club:-
The Black-Headed Honey-'Eater (with
dI'awing), A. E. Brent.
Tasmanian Orc'hids (with drawings), L_
Rodway.
Club's Camp Out photographs),
E. A. Elliott.
Tasmanian Ferns, L. Rodway.
The Sc,.-ub Tit, A. L. :Eutlee
The Myrtaceae of Tasmania (with
photogoraphs), L. Rodway.
'l.96e :Jl of :R,emarJ(.able Jnseets.
By ARTHUR M. LEA, F.E.S., etc. (Government Entomologist,.
Amongst the different orders of in-
sects there are many kinM that are
remarkable for their shapes or transfor-
mations. But of the various orders there
is not one which contains species of such
queer forms, or in which the thanges are
so singular, as in the homoptera. Litt'e
attention, however, is paid thIS order
hy the majO'rity of naturalists, 'except
hy those officiall.y employed to deal with
( 1 )
pests, the reasons being th;'tt the
jority of the species are of small
size, .of sober colours, .and fre-
quently difficult to presel'Ve. The
orde.' is comparatively small in num-
bers, and very fortunately lOO. >ls few 0';
them are useful to man, and many are
high'y destructive. The aphides (includ
ing vastatl"ix," so remark
able on account of its life history ami
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
for the immense damage it has done to
the vineyards of Europe), frogspittle in
sects, froghoppers, cicachs (frequently
but erroneously known as locusts) Ian
tern bugs, lerps, and scale insects ("coo
dJae"), all belong to this 'Jrder. It is
only!, however, with the bst famiLy that
we are now concerned. The se,tle insec to
o2riv'e their name from the tact tho1 t
a great many of the species appear like
smaH scaly excrescences on the leave5,
bark, or fruit of various plantl'>. Th",
family may be divided into
sections, the first consisting vf specil's
which retain their legs during the whole
of their life, the second consisting of spe
des in which the legs ar4) lost by one
sex anc} scaly coverings (entire'y separat.
cd from the insects but serving to pro
tect them) are formed, and the third in
which the legs mayor may nut. be lost,
and which live within WOOcly!
they cause to grow upon the stems ur
1eaves of the plants attacked. To tll"
first section belong the mealy bugil,
cochineal insects, and the cottony cushion
scale; the latter was accidentally intro
duced to California and elsewhere.
and did enCL'mous damage befcn:l
it was kept in check by the in
troduction of its natura' enemies. The
cochineal insect is one of the very few
uoeful inseds of the group; t'!i) mealy
bugs are nearly! aU destrnctivp., but a fclw
of the root feeding s'pecies scrYe as
"'COWS'" for various kinds of ants. To
this also be10ng the "paradise"
fiies, a group of insects of which the
males are very bean biful. with t wo fine
wings, bright red eyes and long tails
of shining, glassy! filaments. The iemales
are much larger, of a dark brown colour,
and without wings and tail. In
fact, in the whole of the family
the females are hlways wingles5, and
the males ,winged, when fullg.rown;
with some of the species the mllles Yast1y
cXlCeed the females in number, whilst in
others the males have never b .. en seen.
In the stcom) section many ot the ac
cepted definitions of insects do not ho'd
good, for the larva is frequently of
mOi'e perfect shape and with more senses
than the adult insect. The section con
tains more species than the others com
bined, ana the members of it aJ e known
It, "armoured" scales, one of them Jeing
only too wen known to Tasmanian or
lChardists; this is the introilu{!ed mussel
("Myltilasipis pomorum"). The fe-
males of this species lay egg" whie!l
are rl"otected against other insects
and the weather by covedng scales;
f.rom the eggs in the summer
,aictive 'Larvae ha!bcbed; these larvae
ea.;)h possess six \egs, a pair of antell:la'e,
anc) a pair of compound ey!es. In this
stage the sexes cannot be "distinguishea:
(2 )
After scurr.ying over the plant attacked
(usually the :apple) in search of a suit
ab'le place to settle, one is selected, and
the larva inserts its rostrum in to the
hark or fruit to suck np Its juooes; it
grows rapidly, forming a proteeting
over itself as it Oavelops, and com
pletely its legs, eyes, and f.,ntenna'e;
with the female these are never regained.
The male not only regains them, but oh
tains a pair of wings as we],; he loses
his sncking apparatus, howev,<r, whilst
this is retained b.y the female throughout
her life. The ,body of the winged male
is divwed into the usual parts of a ma
ture insect,. namely, the ilearl, thorax,
anc) abdomen; whilst the mature femail!
has the head and thorax ill one piece,
and not separated from
abdomen. It might be that the
f8males of this Section being wingless
ano legless, no insects would be less liahle
tc, be transported, but several of them
haye become acclimatised practically! all
o\'er the world. In West Austra\ia
females of one species of this group Ii've
fully half an beneath the IJark, theIr
only communication with the air being
by means of a long glassy ti'lrtment or
tail, which is usually first notIced 011
account of its having a small drop of
necta .. \ike substance oozing from it:;
tip. Many species of all three sections,
however, giYe off a substance known u;;
"hone.y dew," :)nd is greatly re
lished by ants anc) other insects. The
spEcies of the third or gallformmg se'!'
tion haye their hea'dquarters In Austra.
lia, and all of them are highly re
markable. By pnncturing the leaves
or stems of trees they cause peculiar
woody growths or "galls" 'to form, an,J
these growths are constant in appear
ance. Thus in the genus "BraehysceJis";
(the species of which at'tack the eucalypti)
one gall is about six inches III Jength,
and supported by a long thin stalk, an
other is pearshapea, another apple
shaped, another has the crown
shapecl, and so on. One specIes is greedi
ly eaten by the blacks of :--:,)rthWe8t
Australia. In the majority of spcies
the gall eontains but one chamber, but
several contain two. With some the
male gan grows on the female gal1, in
others the female galls grow on twigs,
whilst the ma1es grow in dense mush
roomshaped masses on leaves. In one
species th'i) gall is formed in the sob\
wooel itself. The insects themselves
usually aMe to moYe up and down With
in the galls. The male on his
wings leaves his gal1, bnt the female
for life. She eithpr prod.uces
living young or dies full of "ggs, the,se
eventually! hatch ont, but in either casp.
the young \eave hy an opening at the
top of the gall.
r
TH E TASMANI AN
tl w IlIu"t rCIII 'll' k' l l) lc of all
:;.111 fvrmill<! 'lI't! !.. hc :;pr il' :I uf
.. :hia la gellll.; 11.1111 (,,1 ; d ll' l' t he f,:l'lIi al
Vlduri.11l t' lI lu;Jwlo;;i,; t ), t he ep('dps vi
wldd l a l t ,\(;k t lH! or ,. ll e oa;, ,. .
T l u.' l"c arc LWtI ",""IOi\'" uf ;:;C1I1I $
k I1 0 \\' II , UUI' fr.)UI :-:Ylilll'Y, w! h.: rc it. iq.
p (,",\I",. t.u he \,I'l',)' ''' Ire, Ll le utileI' frOlt1
NATURALI ST.
Vicinl'LI all,l 1'.ISlIl ttll ia. The latter s pc
i.i known as Frcnchia. (M; IlHri ll a c . tl lLd
fl't'f1I1 l' utly ki ll,; br;lIh.:h c:I of she-uaks. Jts
hn,l r, \I"hen yutll1;;, arc in .lpl'e:a ra llo.: c
II lIh.,; !! like tll u,>\' of " t he r Bll' l Hhcl',; 0:
LUll il.'". heill:; \l 1"0 \"1<I l'1\ wiUI t1l 1''-'c p all'';
u t ,e;.;- s, a p l i l' of COlll l H.JUlld ': \l n l a
lUll' o[ ll lltCllll ,lC. . \ rJ.I; i" h: a\ing t hci l;
---
B

D

J
A- Ln.r Vl\ of Frcll chia ciunml,j nll,l . iegs, eyes a. ll d :l.ntennre, amI capable of free lI1otion.
B- Seconu s tagQ as enclosed in gall, ;l nu llR\' iug IOl! t legs, eyes and 1l. ntenn:e.
C- Third sta.!:e.
D- Jo' ollrth or w3.ulikc !t.agc, with removable cap.
( 3 )
'rHE TASMANIAN NATURAlist,
E- The enclosed gall insect of Cylilll\a-oCOCC118.
mothe r',. ,;(1111, lhey Imllde r o\'cr the ba rk,
ami fin;d1,}' "cl Lie tlOWIl j here t. hey c..aHSC
g.!!!,. lo forll1, the gall,; in time ..:om-
pldcl)l cOI'cr illg' t.hem. The gllils (:01]-
tiulIC tu 1:;'1'0\\', alld fr l,1I1 lllll
IIli l\II" uf each g.111 a cyJl,ld r i::,d woody
!!LUwlh tlJll'c.lrs, \\'11i;;h llIay IJC readily
Jctachcll. MC,lIlWJl'ilc l:]I;lUgt .. 11;1"c 1..oCl'lI
l ddllg' plu":l' in till: illSl'd il:i(Jr; it
ib llg-i:!, 1111 (\ l'Yl';:!, <Ill'\. (!\'cn Il,
IlIO<lLh [lLrLs (hcno:::cfort, l l l"I' o.:cl\'illg' it s
Ilullri..hulcnt thru\lgh its skin lll tile ])1'0-
kl1')1I'1I :ul,1 "I'lu';\r>j
:1"; a liLl1l' t"1 ol.jNt, of
hil l 1I "lill;.;' a -111:111
Iwdc :I l it-. '1"\\' ('1' l'U.!, ali I) ,.,.)rL of tllu.k
t Lit al Ollt! " id', .\., gr,)wtil contillu.!"
llll' l,lil ht'C()lIIl' ti tllillll\'r ill
11'1:;.:111, Lltl' witu1<' Il'lI,!!'th
uf the rylilUlrl.:.tI l\ol){ly g I' J\\'t!I; its b(lL'
t'IUl UI.-,\;,OUll'., :dlllu"L ';111-'1'\' ,.,h 'lpe,l.
lollt. s UI! "'Ill, tit, :.1\1;111 whit..:h i-
HU"II iulu a Jl'IJ rl' :;sioll uf lI 'l' Iluu(l ; it \"
, \JUlotll'''s ,I L Lld" i.i l.lI,
P'"h,:t'. 1.,lll'I' 011 [,l:! colhll'''l'j,
lllll\l" Olt'I', ,111 11 :1[lp<',lr$ lii.t(',l to arc
ml,I', lule c. II'. II'hi.,: !t i.'J juille I tu lhe uouy
1).\1 UIl irrt'){lIlar "lIlUl'c-:lllU,:h :1 ::; tile ;,iU
tlll'C'i UClll'I'I'1I 111lJ VOII<'" oi the hUI1I;lll
!:iku!!. 'I'lle !.ody ibl,]f 10.; II jIV !l11:l[led
l-lkc \\'ad, HnJ 011 rClllorin;), the cap thl'
t up l',l n Uc .,;('.'11 tu Lw cOlllph:tdy cu\,
ered uy fine oCullel!ut.I'ic lI'i\;lt II S>U1idl
opcning ill Lite ccntre, frOm wbjo.;h thc
young \,;llll Ilcarly always be Seen
cscaping. A llc;"I'Y coat. ing of
SUU$LIl II CC is always attached
to the walls of Lhe enclosing galls,
,,!liLst tltc ilh('cts RI'C heallhy, Vllt
I1 hen tlH'se a 1'1' nltftckl'll 10.1' para
site,;, a.. is IIftt'll l lt(> ('aM', SI I U
"L.ml.!e .I'js,q)l>car .. , " '!tCII rull fed, Lilt:
lolV{'\' purliulI of lhe g'11I is ('Olllplctel;\l
lille(\, and ,IUlIULtI'iIS gh,('!s t.he insect..
pecllliur 1I1\ (\ ,like ",)l!Ijli'. Tllc t recs
:ltL:!d.:ed VI' inseds arc ofLen
killed !Jy ihclU, a llll lhr a rc fre
(]II('lItI,V to UC SCCII ill illllllllil"l (' r . H!II Uf' I' S,
UO,I!I IIUI! as the fclIla!cs ;11'(', til c IIlillc
HCl'er .I'Ct hC('1l ')c::<o:riuel!, <111,1 has pl'lI'
1,Iuly I\t'I'CI' uec!! 81'('11, i t. has
kl'\! 1I1y 1)('('1\ fl1l': it will prolJ
:I hl ,y Iit' II I 11' ,It thl' <:; 1 lilt', h()\I'I'I' CI' :\'" 111 :1'11'
",111'1'-; uf till' fllllljly. ",(111111)(' : ;
lip, U,' lif ... hi ... l vr)l I)f lhii j", ,'d. pr",
hl!tly till' llIU ... , l'l'III:tI'I.: :lhk 11\
if lIut ill til l' "h., h, Illlr:,I, foll<l\lo<;
I, Ii 11'11 ill ...... i'm uf "ix I,'os. Lwu
t:",IIII'Junol ,t p .lil' uf ,llI tl'UII,It', "'11\1
\11th IIIUllth pld-,
:! .. \ttHk ... hlr\.;, :11111 C,I'I';,-" ('U' :'P"III.,J
tll f\JI'!1I.
;;. a t.lil, ll11t lo"c" h,!.!:,;, !I' I
It:IUUl', 1'.)'C'. ;\111\ IlhHlth IMl't,; ;IL t!li,'
:.1., cu:npl ell'ly ellt. ,,11' fro'!] tllC Ollt..:!'
:111'. F r ol1l 1\\111' Oil\\' HI]..; IlI>' lri"lu:J
thro\1;.{h it s skill.
-I, .\ g,dn (!h,lII;,;'('s It::! shap(", "Ild
the ICII ;::lh of tail, "gain
l.!o llli ug' ('ollll('c.: ll'd wilh the O'!t(:l' idr.
(). Again (lhllll gC!! its shape. L:1;[ Ul'COlllCS.
sCllljdetllchcd fl 'OIll the lH,d.l', Lhc \ll>PCl'
l!urf,\(!C of whi ch is marked UV Ilumcroug
concentric r lll gs,
G, ]j'cll.lll lcs abundant; IlHllc unknown.

t
THE TASMANIAN NATURALIST.
Another highly remarkable genus, the
spEcies of which also form gnlls on she,
oaks, is OylindrocOlCCus, Ihc spec-les of
this genus are fairly numerous III Aus-
tralia and Tasmania, but of is the
male known, In a common Tasmanian
speries the height of abSlll'dity in
shape appears to he After
the first stage the insect is not fixed, but
capable of moving up and u)wn Us
gall. It h:-ls no rostrum, and l'eceives aI'
its nourishment through its (in part
of the stage it tc be at-
bched by! the whole top :-If ha head to
the b,lse of the gal1). The antennae
o,re present, hut are little more than two
feebly pointed projections. There are
no eyes. There are three l)-"irs of
each apparently without claws (few other
'lnsects with legs are known in which
theSe are not terminated by ('laws); tile
front pair are the anr! are nar-
row and produced; the hind l)lil- are much
larger, and are bladc\3r like, whilst the
micld1e pair are mlllCh larger still The
front and hind legs appear to be corn
of only one part, insti'l1d of five
(coxa, 'tl'OOhantar, femur, tibia, and! 'bar-
sus), whilst the middle are composed of
two. The legs moreover, alter 4n pro-
portion, as the insect grows. The hinder
parts of the body are c\othcci with lonct
golden hairs. The whole insect, hOW':
e,-er, is so densely clothed wit'h
whitish meal that until this is re-
moved the different parts cannot be
clearly seen. A r,emarkahle feature of
this 1nsect is the fact that when at-
tackecl hy parasites it appears to grow
much more rapidly, and to a much larger
size than when healthy. The proof of
this is that in the galls deod coccids may,
frequently be seen that have become
bloated to four or five times their nor-
mal size, and filling the galls for
the greater part of thdr, length; when
SoO bloated the legs can be traced with
great <ilfficulty on'ly. The of this
species is narrow, about '1n inch in
length, and tapers to ,a point; in ,colour
It is green, hut light brown at the top
and bottom; at the bottom soole-liko
growths are formed, so that the whole i.1l
remarkably \ike the young of the
tree -on which it grows. Another gall
formed by a species of tMs genus is so
unlike the work of an insect lio much
like thJt of a part of the tree itself that
H "deceived a botanist, who described it
,aa the fruit of the tree. The drawings
(published in the "Courier" of March 9)
show va rIous stages in the life histories
of these insects. (a) Larva of
Casuarinae, wtth legs, eyes, and antennae,
and capable of free motion. (b) Second
stage, as enclosed in gall, and hl\ving
IObt legs, eyes, and antennae. (c) Tbird
stage. (d) Fourth, or wad-like stage,
with removable cap. (e) The enclosed gal!
in;,ect of lOylindrooOOclls'. ,
January Meeting.
The monthly meeting was held in the
Masonic Hall on January 21st. Mr. S.
Clemes presided, and there was a good
attendance.
Miss D. Kea'mode and Master Wm.
Ke.rmode were elected membel"S of the
Club.
Mr. A. M. ILea, Government Entomolo-
gist, showed two cases of beetles, etc.,
obtained by him at King- Island, and de-
scribed some of them. He also men-
tioned that some bones of the extinct
emu had been taken by -him. Mr. Mor-
ton gave some infcl'mation regal'ding the
bones that are to be found there. Two
clutches of eggs of the Brush Wattle-
bird (Acanthochoera mellivora) were
exhibited by -Mr. E. A. ElIiott, and de-
scdptions given of the nests and nesting
gI'ounds of these birds. Some eggs of
one of the Cat-bi.rds of Australia were
shown by Mr. H. Pottenger.
Mr. A. MoL"ton, Directc[' of the Tas-
manian Museum, gave an account of hi;;
recent trip to the islands of the Pacific.
(5 )
He stated that he went to New Zealand
from Hobart, and thence_ to the islands,
l1!any of which appear to be in a very
prosperous condition, especially those
undea' British contL-ol. Fruits, such as
oranges, bananas, and pineapples, aore
grown in large quantities, and lII:e very
}Cl'ofitable, while the c'hief industry of the
islands is drying for copra,
w,hich is worth about 1t25 per ton. The
llatives are well developed, and good
workers, their efficiency in the manage-
ment of boats in the sud and loading of
vessels being quite remalkable. Desc.rip-
tions of the scenery were also given by
the lectucer.
Dr. Geral'd Smith then showed a num-
ber -of microscopic lantern slides of poly-
zoa, hydrozoa, and radiolaria, mounted
at t'he Marine Biological Station at Jer-
sey. At the conclusion the chairman
the following lette.r:-"Hobaa-t,
21st January, 1907. lOear 'Sir,-The news
of your departure fJ'OIm 'MlllcmgstlllS bas
been received very regretfully by the
members of this Club, 'and we desire to