THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 143 



pupse about equally, but no developed beetles. A larva that I observed 

 to go into the wood in April appeared as a beetle among the first of such 

 as had presumably pupated in the fall. 



The number of these beetles obtained that and the present season was 

 great, and afforded a good opportunity to observe individual variations, 

 and they do differ greatly. In length from 8 to i8 m.m.j in pubescence, 

 some being nearly naked and unicolored, others having it longer and con- 

 densed into spots or almost vittate ; some being quite slender and 

 elongate, while others are short and broad ; the surface of the elytra is 

 mostly uniform, but in some, especially such as are narrow and elongated, 

 one or two costis are more or less evident. 



Now, although this account differs so widely from that given by Mr. 

 Fitch, still the beetles are the same. Unfortunately I have never been 

 able to find any pruned oak limbs from which to obtain the insect myself, 

 but I have a good set from Mr. Blanchard, of Mass., presumably from 

 the oak, which are identical. Through the kindness of Mr. F. Clarkson, 

 I have a set of those described by him in the Can. Ent., vol. 17, p. 188, 

 from oak limbs, and which became imagos in November, and there is no 

 perceptible difference. Dr. Geo. H. Horn says, " they are the same." 



To identify Elaphidion paralleluiii had always been a puzzle to me,, 

 and I once thought I had a real set ; I obtained it about a dozen times by 

 exchange, but could never be satisfied that the specimens received were 

 not pauperized, or peculiar individuals of E. villostun. On comparing 

 my hickory insects with all the descriptions of E. villosum and paral- 

 lelum and their several synonyms, as far as I possess them, it was easy to 

 pick out sets that would answer satisfactorily all their requirements, and I 

 became satisfied that E. parallelum could not be separated. 



An inquiry of Dr. Geo. H. Horn elicits the following note and kind 

 permission to use it : 



" Regarding the two species of Elaphidion (villoswn and parallelum) 

 of which you write, I can only say that my opinion, based on *.he series 

 in my cabinet and an examination of those in the cabinet of Dr. Leconte, 

 is that they are inseparable. The slight differences, referred to by Dr. 

 Leconte, in the last ventral segment of the males, are not real but depend- 

 ent on the angle at which they are seen." The differences referred to are 

 that in E. villosum the last ventral segment of the male is rounded, while 

 in parallelum it is emarginate. The only other structural difference 

 mentioned by Dr. Leconte is. 



