THE ENTOMOLOGY OF THE GRASS-TREES (XANTUORRH(EA}. Bv Walter W. Froggatt. (Plate IX.) Four species of Xanthorrhxea are recorded from the County of Cumberland, within the limits of which all my entomological specimens have been collected; as their general structure is similar, it is not sui'prising that the same species of insects are to be found frequenting all four alike. At first sight a grass-tree might not appear to be a profitable field for investigation by the entomologist; yet whether alive or dead it is the home of a considerable number of interesting insects, some of which are born and die in it, while others are only passing visitors. A grass-ti'ee presents three distinct parts, each with its special frequenters; fii'st the stout cylindrical stem or trunk, generally two or three feet high, and consisting of a tubular sheath compos'ed of the basal portion of the fallen leaves matted together into a solid ring, and thickly impregnated with the yellow resinous gum, and in which nothing lives; this encloses the caudex, composed of close fibrous matter, which in a living tree contains nothing, but after death it decays very rapidly, and soon becomes the abode of much insect life, for which the outer covering or sheath forms a protection. Secondly, there is the coarse grass-like foliage which is the resort of many small beetles, spiders, cfec, which lurk about the bases of the stalks; it is also eaten by several beetles and is visited by others. Thirdly, the flower-stalk and scape which both alive and dead furnishes food or a home to certain beetles, bees, and ants. As the grass-trees generally thrive best in poor sandy country covered with low scrub, great numbers are scorched up by the bush fires every season. It is in such burnt patches that most of the grass-trees examined by me occurred.
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