POWDERPOST BEETLES. 



bent downward nearly at right angles on apical fourth, 

 with three tubercles on each side of the declivity) makes 

 short, curved galleries in the branches of a number of 

 trees such as hickory, persimmon, mulberry, apple, peach, 

 and grape vine. 



Bostrichus bicornis (length, .3 to .5 in.; blackish with 

 irregular patches of yellowish scales; pronotum prolonged 

 in front in two serrate, hooked processes) bores into dead 

 twigs, under bark, and in fungi. Several other similar 

 species occur but this is usually the commonest. 



Ampliicerus bicaudatus is about .3 in. long; dark brown, 

 pubescent; has the pronotum roughened in front with 

 minute, elevated points (two little horns in the male); 

 and males have a thorn-like projection near the end of each 

 elytron. In early spring the adults bore into twigs of 

 apple, pear, and cherry, apparently solely for food and 

 shelter, as the larvae live in the roots of cat-brier (Smilax) 

 and the dead shoots of grapevines. 



LYCTID^E 



Lyctus striatus (Plate LXXIX), and related species, 

 bore into dry wood of furniture, trimmings, and construc- 

 tion timber, often doing a great deal of harm that is 

 difficult to prevent. They are sometimes called Powder- 

 post Beetles and "all live in dry wood, either in cylindrical 

 burrows or beneath the bark, and sometimes in such 

 numbers that the timber is wholly destroyed by them." 

 Frequently the interior of the wood is largely reduced to 

 powder before the small exit holes of the beetles are noticed. 

 The common species are reddish-brown, cylindrical, and 

 about .2 in. long. 



The Serricorn series ends with a number of small families 

 of, for the most part, small, not frequently noticed, species. 



CUPESID^: 



Cupes is our only genus and the pale brownish or ashy 

 gray condor, .3 in. long, is the commonest species. The 

 eyes are prominent; the head and thorax are narrower 

 than the combined elytra, which are beautifully sculptured 



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