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one-third of the diameter of the burrow ; and their object is to 

 enable the larva to deposit its excrement outside of the burrow. 

 It is evident that the larva puts the caudal end of the body at this 

 opening and forces the excrement directly into the open air, for it 

 was found in long strings, some of them a half inch in length, 

 on the sand below the openings ; and the burrows were always 

 free from it. 



An examination of some of the canes in our breeding cages 

 made in the last half of September showed that the borers were 

 still in the larval state. But they had penetrated the canes to 

 the bottom where the cut ends were inserted in the sand of the 

 cages. From this I inferred that normally the grubs work their 

 way into the root of the cane before transforming, and that they 

 reach the root early in the autumn. Later when the species was 

 determined I found that the fact of its wintering in the roots of 

 the infested plants had been recorded. 



The insect remains in the roots till the following 

 summer when it emerges as a long-homed, slen- 

 der-bodied beetle about a half inch in length. It 

 is of a deep black color except the segment next 

 the head, the prothorax, which is yellow. There 

 are usually two or three black spots on the upper 

 Fig. 15.— Oberia -port G f this segment, but frequently these are 

 bimaculata. want i n g. (Fig. 15.) 



Although I can find no account of this insect infesting black- 

 berry canes to the extent which we observed, it has long been 

 known as a pest in raspberry plantations ; and its peculiar method 

 of oviposition has frequently attracted attention. 



The eggs are laid in the early summer, usually during the 

 month of June. They were not observed in the blackberry ; but 

 when the insect infests raspberries the first indication of the injury 

 noticed is usually the withering and drooping of the ends of the 

 young shoots. If these be examined there will be found at the 

 base of the wilted portion two rows of punctures encircling the 

 cane about half an inch apart, and between them a small hole in 

 which an egg has been deposited. This double girdling of the 

 cane is done by the beetle with her jaws at the time she lays 

 her egg. It has been suggested that the purpose served by this 

 girdling is the arresting of the circulation of the sap in this part 

 of the cane ; and in this way the prevention of the crushing of 



