13 



close proximity are affected alike. Some will be girdled com- 

 paratively little, while others, perhaps but a few rods away, 

 will suffer a most serious pruning, it would seem as though 

 the beetles were disinclined to forsake the trees from which 

 they had themselves emerged,— a supposition strongly sup- 

 ported by their extremely local distribution. 



DISCOVERY OF THE SPECIES. 



The attention of the custodian of the Decatur city park was 

 first attracted to the insect by the enormous dropping of the 

 leaves during late May and June, this increasing the labor re- 

 quired to keep the grounds in proper condition. The facts were 

 first reported to the State Entomologist in October, 4 901, at which 

 time it was said that the injury had been noticed for some two or 

 three years preceding, becoming more serious each year. The 

 tips of the twigs, with from three to six leaves attached, appeared 

 to have been cut squarely off in a way to suggest the work 

 of an insect, but of the author of the injury itself nothing had 

 then been learned. May 23, 1902, Mr. Titus was sent to Decatur 

 by Professor Forbes to learn the cause of the injury, and it was 

 during this visit that he first secured material for his studies of 

 the habits and life history of the species. This was supplemented 

 by further accessions from the trees during the remainder of 

 the season, and by carrying the females with him, in his travels 

 about the state, Mr. Titus was enabled to secure the facts here 

 given relative to oviposition and to the actions of the very you ag 

 larva. Other data were obtained by carrying the insect through 

 the year in the insectary. The writer took up the investigation 

 in the spring of 1903, and was able to add somewhat to the re- 

 sults of the careful work of Mr. Titus, as well as to clear up some 

 points on which the latter had not been able to secure conclu- 

 sive evidence. 



