THE PINE DESTROYER. Ill 



August. Here, during the warmer months, right up till October, 

 they are busy at work ; then hybernation takes place, until the 

 warmth of returning spring once more stirs them to duty. To 

 obtain a perfect set of materials, therefore, one needs to work 

 carefully among the plantations from early spring till early winter. 

 The beetles can be easily captured and submitted to examination. 



The process of dissection, when the insect is newly killed, is 

 necessarily a somewhat delicate one, owing to the horny nature of 

 its covering, as well as to its diminutive size. A pair of the finest 

 cambric needles thrust well up into their handles, a drop of liquid 

 gum or glycerine to keep the disjointed parts from flying away, 

 and a dissecting lens or microscope, are the appliances needed. 

 Turning the insect on its back, the head and thorax may be 

 severed from the abdomen, the sheaths, wings, and legs from their 

 respective attachments, and the individual parts examined fresh, 

 and sketched or mounted for permanent reference, as desired. 



The more ready method, however, consists in steeping a few 

 of the insects in liquor potass^ for a few days, the period being 

 regulated by the strength of the decoction, when the process of 

 dissection will be greatly facilitated. Having completed our 

 dissection, we are now able to determine the character of its 

 several parts. Beginning at the head we find it minutely 

 punctured, with a short ridge between the antennae. These latter 

 organs are short, club-shaped, and hairy, composed of no fewer 

 than eleven joints, no two of which are exactly alike. Beginning 

 with the basal joint, or that nearest the head, we find it very long, 

 in comparison with the others, curved, and club-shaped. The 

 next is almost spherical, and the third cup-shaped. Then follow 

 four joints, which gradually widen out and give support to four 

 others, which are so arranged as to form an oval head, giving the 

 antennae the appearance of a delicate and chastely formed pair of 

 clubs. Between these lie the mouth-organs, consisting of the 

 usual parts, viz. : — (i) The small ciliated labrum, or upper lip. 

 (2) A pair of small, but very powerful mandibles or jaws, some- 

 what triangular in shape with two teeth or denticulations (not 

 differing in structure, or capable of being removed from the jaw). 

 These are, of course, on the inner edge of each mandible, and 

 enable the insect to eat its way through pith, cortex, or solid 



