OF WASHINGTON. 19 



be thus distributed. The barkbeetle comes very close to a 

 common European species, Tomicus sutiiralis Gyll., in fact ap- 

 pears to be more closely allied to it than to the common North 

 American species, Tomicus calatus Eichh. 



Mr. Schwarz said that he had observed a similar habit of 

 Tomicus ccelatus at Old Point Comfort, Va. Four or five 

 years after the construction of the Government pier, broods of 

 this species were found under the bark of piling which were 

 subject to the salt spray. 



Mr. Burke remarked that he had observed at Kent, Wash., 

 that Douglas spruce piling which had been in the salt water 

 for several months was attacked by the scolytid Gnathotrichus 

 sp. in preference to that freshly cut. 



The following paper was presented for publication : 



NEW SPECIES OF BALANINUS, WITH NOTES. 



[Coleoptera, Curculionidse.] 

 By F. H. CHITTENDEN. 



While studying the species of this genus in the preparation 

 of certain papers on the nut weevils for publication by the 

 United States Department of Agriculture, the writer experi- 

 enced considerable difficulty in correlating the sexes of several 

 forms. This difficulty increased by the accumulation of 

 specimens received from correspondents who mistook the 

 beetles for the boll weevil, as many of these did not agree with 

 named specimens in the National Museum or with published 

 descriptions. Accordingly the writer undertook to obtain 

 acorns from various sources, especially from the South, for 

 rearing. Mr. F. E. Brooks, who is also interested in the 

 biological study of the genus, at the writer's suggestion pre- 

 served males and females found in copulation, and the receipt 

 of sets of specimens from him, collected at French Creek, 

 W. Va., has greatly facilitated the completion of this paper, 

 begun some time ago. It should, perhaps, not be necessary to 

 state that of all described forms of Balaninus two feed on 

 chestnut, one on hickory and pecan, and one on hazel, the 

 remainder being, so far as we know, all acorn feeders. In a 

 paper published in 1897 Col. T. L. Casey a remarked that " the 



" Coleopterological Notices, vii, Annals of the N. Y. Academy of 

 Science, Vol. ix, p. 655. 



