33° The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. Ill, No. 2, 



1893. FoERSTE, Aug. F. On the Casting-oflf of the Tips of Branches 

 of Certain Trees— Part II. Bull. Torr. Bot. Club. 20 : 157-168. 



i90<.). Bessev, C. E. Botannical Note.s — The Annual Shedding of 

 Cottonwood Twigs. Science. /2 : 650. 



1901. SCHAFFNER, JoHN H., and Tyler, Fred. J. Notes on the Self- 

 Pruning of Trees. Ohio Nat. / .• 29-32. 



1902. Schaffner, John H. The Self-Pruning of Woody Plants, 

 Ohio Nat. 2: 171-174. 



NOTE ON THE OCCURRENCE OF THE CIGARETTE 

 BEETLE IN COLUMBUS.- 



i;y Herbert Osborn. 



The injuries of this insect have been reported from different 

 points in the United States during the last eight or ten years but 

 .so far as I am aware no definite record of its appearance in this 

 city has been pubhshed. It ma}- be of interest, therefore, to note 

 its occurrence and the conditions under which it has proven 

 troublesome. It was first brought to my attention by one of the 

 furnittire firms of the city who reported the damage of certain 

 plush upholstered furnittire and desired information as to the 

 insect and especially in reference to the probability of its having 

 gained entrance into the articles while in their possession. An 

 examination of the furnittire showed the plush covering penetrated 

 at points and the insect occurring in considerable numbers in the 

 cotton innnediately beneath the plush and in many cases, frag- 

 ments of the plush covering mingled with the cotton. Under- 

 neath the cotton in the filling, no specimens were observed. This 

 evidence seems to show quite conclusively that the insect had 

 entered after the covering had been put in place and was not due 

 to the presence of beetles or their eggs or larvse in the material 

 used for filling. It seems that the furniture had been sent to this 

 firm for recovering ; kept in their shops but a few days, and 

 returned to the owner, and that the injur}- of the insect had not 

 been discovered until .some eighteen months after being in the 

 shops ; and that in the meantime the house had been closed and 

 unused for a period of some six weeks. The conclusion seems 

 evident that the attack originated in an infestation occurring, very 

 likely, during the time that the house remained unused, the 

 beetles gaining access b}' means of cigarette packages or some 

 infested article of furniture, and the fact that the articles were 

 uniLsed permitted the insect to become fairly well established. It 

 may be remarked that this insect is likel\' to become prevalent in 

 many of the cities of the State, and that prompt attention to its 

 destruction, wherever it is noticed, is very important. Where 



*Read before the Ohio State Academy of Science, Nov. 2S, 1902, 



