134 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST 



California. The most epidemic of its depredations, however, was near Chester 

 in Plumas Co. Here large areas of poles and saplings in lodgepole pine stands 

 had seriously suffered from its attacks. While the terminals of the limbs were 

 often infested the general attack was on the terminal of the stem. Depreda- 

 tions had continued in many trees for three successive years. This resulted 

 in giving the trees a squat appearance, caused by curtailing the height growth 

 with a consequent stimulation of lateral growth. vSome areas of reproduction 

 around Chester were badly infested by the fungus Peridermium harknessii. 

 These areas were almost devoid of Pissodes attacks, and in the infested areas 

 where infection from fungus was slight the Pissodes attacks were largely in the 



healthy trees. The terminal is generally killed down to and sometimes in- 

 cluding the first whorl of branches. The larvae mine the centre of pith of the 

 terminal, each terminal producing from one to six adult weevils. The trans- 

 formations take place in the fall, the adult apparently hibernating through the 

 winter in the larval gallery. In many places the larva? were heavily parasitized 

 by a small dipterous insect. 



AN INTERESTING OTIORHYNCHIDE WEEVIL EROM VANCOUVER 



ISLAND (COLEOPTERA). 



BY H. F. WICKHAM, 



Iowa Cit>', Iowa. 



Several years ago, I received from Mr. A. W. Hanham, of Duncan's, B.C., 

 a few specimens of a weevil different from anything that I had seen in the North 

 American fauna. It had much the appearance of some of the European species 

 of Otiorhynchus and because of the general obscurity of the classification of 

 the Otiorhynchidae I did not feel at all sure as to its place in the system. Nothing 

 in the Le Conte and Horn "Rhynchophora" matched it very well, either specifi- 

 calh' or generically, and I put it aside as something new, to be described later. 

 Not long ago, after seeing some specimens of Phymatiniis gevtmatus Lee, from 

 Oregon, I was satisfied that the \'ancouver Island species was pretty closely 

 related, and wrote out a description referring the supposed novelty to the same 

 genus, but fortunately discovered at almost the last moment that Dr. W. Dwight 

 Pierce had already named a specimen from Oak Point. Wash., Panscopiis {Phy- 

 matiniis) sulcirostris. The Vancouver Island examples agree with his description 

 in nearly every respect, and I do not think that there can be any reasonable 

 doubt as to their specific identity. However, as it is likely to figure in economic 

 literature as a foe to flower gardens of British Columbia and the adjacent regions, 

 I am allowing my description to stand, under the specific name that he has 

 used, Phymatiniis sulcirostris Pierce. 



Form only moderately stout, hardly elongate, sides subparallel. Head 

 rather narrow, eyes slightly oblique, broadly oval, prominent, limited behind 

 by a groove. Rostrum moderately long, squarish in section at base, the height 

 and breadth at that point being about equal, thence gradually and regularly 



June, 1920 



