1S<>I ENTOMOLOGICAL NK\VS. S? 



living larva of IHmijmlr, I'ull-.uTown ;iml apparent 1 v forming 

 its pup;! cell )i- preparing 1o do so. After several hours' 

 work we secured four specimens only one of which could be 

 taken out uninjured, the oilier three specimens beinj; more 

 or less cut 1o pieces or crushed between thetou.u'h fibres. All 

 these larva- were thoroughly dormant and very flaccid: evi- 

 dently they had eaten nothing for some months. 



I feel sure 1 hat 1 hey are more than one year and probably 

 more than 1 wo years old, but no doubt they would have issued 

 by .July or Au.u'iist of this year. All the larva- in this trunk 

 appear 1;> lie not deeper than one or two inches beneath, the 

 surface of the wood. It is possible however, that they may 

 not issue until next year, and for 1 his reason I hesitate to have 

 the tree cut down. The fibres of the wood are still moist and 

 very li.u'ht in color showing very slight fermentation except 

 where the juvenile ^allerie^ of a year or two ajj'o have pene- 

 1 rated. There are no younj;' larva-, and evidently all are of 

 the same a.^e an 1 nearly or quite adult, and there are no exit 

 holes in the tree. There may be ."><) to TOO larva- in the trunk, 

 but of course this is only a surmise. Dr. Murray promises to 

 watch the tree during the summer and will try to secure 

 specimens of the beetle ;;s they emerge. 



I leel quite certain now that there are comparatively lew 

 broods of I>!IIII/HI!(' existing in this region, and unless- it exists 

 also in Haja California or on the southern slope of the San Ber- 

 nardino ran<4'e, any year may witne^ its complete extinction ; 

 because unless the females, in ima,u'o, feed upon and kill the 

 buds of living palms in which they then oviposil. the number 

 of trees in lit condition to rear the youn^ is exceedingly lim- 

 ited. I have in fact seen but this one f ree in any of the canons 

 I have visited. It is absolutely certain that only the Washing 

 Ionia palm is capable of supporting the lar.nv broods of this 

 .ui.uantic borer, and if the females should f;,il lo lind a suitable 

 tree in any year, they must inevitably perish without issue. 

 When I consider 1 he limited number of these 1 ree>> in existence 

 in a wild state, ; .ml the slender chance the female beetle mils) 

 have of finding a dyin^lree in the li^ht condition and at the 

 ri^'ht lime, I am more than ever inclined to suspect that the 

 beetles deliberately kill the 1 ree in which the\ oviposil. If 

 they killed the tree merely by feeding as adults upon the bud>. 



