52 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 



logs and branches of maple; about 4 years ago I captured 3 or 4 on some newly- 

 lopped branches of hawthorn. But they are quite a difficult insect to capture; 

 in my experience they are even more active than Neoclytiis muricatulus, a black 

 species with white or grey pubescence, occurring on white pine. So far as I 

 have been able to observe (by a comparison of these two species of Neoclytus 

 with Xylotrechus undidatus and colonus), the former have a far better title to 

 the name Xylotrechus than the latter, which are much more sedate and leisurely 

 in their movements; both species of Neoclytus are expert and habitual "log- 

 runners," as the word Xylotrechus implies; they have extremely long hind legs 

 and travel at a great rate, zig-zag or spiral, even leaping or dropping from one 

 branch to another, by long odds one of the nimblest of our longicorns; in hot 

 sun, they are quite as active on the wing as in running and dodging. Indeed, 

 they are seldom at rest, except momentarily when breeding, or while ovipositing 

 in shadow on the under side of the limbs and branches. In about half an hour 

 I had captured 3 specimens and lost 2 more; I found that they soon returned, 

 after escape by dropping or flight, to the log or limb of their choice. Besides 

 these, on the broken trunk and upper part of the torn limb I captured an Agrilus 

 that was new to me, 5 or 6 specimens, — Agrilus obsoletoguttatus. 



About a quarter of a mile farther on I came across an old hollowed beech, 

 which the same storm had broken off near the root; the tree had been partly 

 dead before its fall and appeared to be even more attractive than the sounder 

 wood of the torn limb. I captured 5 Neoclytus erythrocephalus, including a 

 breeding pair which I detected perfectly motionless on the under side of a small 

 branch; several more Agrilus obsoletoguttatus and 2 Agrilus hilineatus. These 

 were all captured from above or the sides, on the branches and limbs ; before 

 leaving I stooped to look at the under side of the trunk which Avas a couple of 

 feet up from the ground and parallel with it. I immediately became aware of 

 a grey longicorn — indeed a pair — and by lying down under the tree I was enabled 

 to make captures at several points on the lower surface ; 4 Urographis fasciatus, 

 1 Hoplosia nuhila and 1 Neoclytus colonus; none of my readers, if interested in 

 CerambycidcB, will deny that this was reward enough for a certain discomfort 

 of body; but, I have, sometimes, since, in atrabilious humour, pictured myself 

 a middle-aged plumber of palpably inattenuate bulk, engaged in driving rivets 

 up into the under side of many-jointed boilers and squat kitchen stoves. 



On my way back to the road, I captured on raspberry foliage a specimen 

 of Oberea having the thorax entirely light creamy brown, the body, legs, wings, 

 and scutellum being black. This was the last of my captures that day, but 

 the observations led eventually to quite a series of finds and really opened a 

 fresh field of investigation for my tramps abroad. 



The heat lasted on, and I managed a few days later to make a trip to the 

 east section of the Wood of Desire, where beech trees are numerous; I figured 

 on the storm w^hich had taken toll so heavily near Hiawatha, having swept the 

 west or windward side of that wood, and sure enough, I found nearly a dozen 

 beeches down. On four of them, longicorns were busy; and on two that had 

 come down together with roots intertwined, I captured 8 specimens of Xylo- 

 trechus colonus and 34 of Urographis fasciatus. Only trees in full sunshine 

 seemed to be attractive, and the weather was unusually hot. I ha\e examined 

 beech assiduously all through July since 1916, and though I ha\e made an 



