THiE CAiSTADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 85 



telegraph poles, all been taken from old sugar maples, Acer saccharijium ; 

 the majority of them upon large dead trunks. They were all captured 

 in June upon the following dates : 9th. One male and three females, one 

 of which was under the loosened bark; two others seen. loth. Two 

 captured and one seen. nth. Three; one of these was observed just 

 cutting its way through the wood, and its exit was accelerated by the 

 cautious use of a penknife. This was in an old dead trunk, the bark 

 having fallen off and the wood being very dry and hard. It was on this 

 portion of the tree particularly that the insects were observed. i6th. 

 One. 20th. Two. 23rd. One, a female, which was found ovipositing 

 in the place just described, the tip of the abdomen being applied closely 

 to the surface of the wood. 



These observations prove that one breeding place of these insects is 

 the wood of old dead sugar maples, and it may be assumed that they also 

 infest the willow, and possibly a variety of trees. Having determined so 

 much, it is hoped that some of our members may succeed in observing 

 the larvse, and discover whether they are lignivorous or parasitic in their 

 habits. The former probably, but it would not be safe to take it for 

 granted. Insects differing so greatly from other members of the 

 Uroceridae in structure may perhaps have habits as widely divergent 

 from those of their associates. 



For the benefit of those who may wish to make further observations 

 on the habits of these insects, I will briefly describe their appearance : 

 They are stout, black, cylindrical ; varying in length from less than two- 

 fifths to nearly three-fifths of an inch. The face is very coarsely punc- 

 tured, sometimes with a short white line on each side ; the vertex prom- 

 inent, and the lower ocellus surrounded with conspicuous tubercles ; eyes 

 moderately large. The antennae are peculiar : in the male they have 

 eleven joints, the third slightly longer, and four to eleven subequal ; in 

 the female they have, however, only tQn joints, of which four, five and 

 ten are very short ; in both sexes they are touched with white near the 

 middle. The wings are hyaline, with a broad smoky band commencing 

 near the stigma and extending almost to the tips. The legs have a spot 

 on the tip of the femora, and a line on the tibia without, white. In the 

 female the anterior pair are swollen, the tibiae crooked, and the tarsi with 

 only three joints. The abdomen has the basal segment very coarsely 

 punctured, or scabrous ; the remaining ones polished, shining, varying in 

 color as jjreviously mentioned. 



