74 ON THE HYLOBIUS ABIETIS OR FIR WEEVIL. 



was most stringently kept down ; it was quite a rarity to see' 

 either a hare or a rabbit in or near the plantation. At the first 

 glance it appeared to him that the damage was being caused in 

 the supposed way ; but on a minute examination of one of the 

 damaged trees, he satisfied himself that the four-footed animals 

 were, in this instance, free from blame, and that the damage was- 

 most probably the work of an insect of the beetle species. He 

 was led to this conclusion by observing that, although the bark 

 was in many instances peeled clean off the branches down to the 

 point of junction with the stem, yet none of the branches were 

 cut, as would have been the case, at least, with the very slender 

 branches, had hares or rabbits been the depredators. This view 

 proved to be correct, as on a second visit to the plantation the 

 reporter found from 25 to 30 of the beetles busy at work ; and it 

 was particularly noticeable that they had commenced on the stem 

 of the tree at or near the surface of the ground. In some cases 

 the bark was peeled clean off, in others it was only partly 

 removed, yet in the majority of damaged trees the injury was so 

 great that, if not already dead, they could not be expected to 

 recover. A number of the stronger larches had been commenced 

 on, but only small portions of the outer bark were removed, as it 

 was probably too tough, or did not contain suitable nourishment 

 for the insect. 



The extent of the damage done to this plantation cannot be 

 accurately ascertained, as it has been prudently decided not to 

 fill up the blanks in the meantime ; but from several careful 

 inspections of the ground, the reporter believes that it is quite 

 within the mark to state that the number of deaths from this 

 cause alone is not less than one-half that of the trees planted. 

 It is of some importance to point out that the damage was 

 invariably greatest where the ground was formerly occupied 

 by Scots firs; where larches and spruces formerly were the 

 damage was not so severe, and it was still less on the parts where 

 hardwood trees (oak and beech) grew, — few of the young trees 

 there having sustained injury in this respect. From this it may 

 reasonably be inferred that the H. ahietis is to be found in th© 

 greatest number among, and obtains the most suitable food from, 

 the Scots firs. In support of this inference it may also be stated 

 that the number of damaged trees in the plantation is largest 

 among the young Scots firs, showing that they are attacked first ; 

 next in order of death-rate are the larches, and, lastly, the 

 spruces. In order to test this matter further, one or two experi- 

 ments were carried out by the reporter, and may prove of some 

 interest. 



On the 5th of September 1877, five full-grown H. ahietis and 

 three smaller ones (apparently hatched during that year), were 

 placed in small boxes provided with glass lids, and a larch twig 



