186 THE ENTOMOLOGIST. [July 



mill where the old timber was cut up ; and also at a part wdiere 

 the timber was allowed to remain a considerable time on the 

 ground after the roots were cut off, before being carted to the 

 mill. 



" I also find that the bark of old roots are perforated with small 

 holes, and I am under the impression that these holes were made 

 when there was some of the natural sap in the root. Do the 

 insects breed in half-dry wood or in perfectly dry wood, or in the 

 soil ? 



" The men who are employed at the sawmills here inform me that 

 they often see the same insect about the mills ; very often when a 

 parcel of wood has been cut and thrown loosely together. If allowed 

 to remain for two or three days before being stacked, they find 

 this insect between the boards or sleepers, eating the bark from any 

 wanney edge, and sucking the sap from the sawn wood. The men 

 know them by the name of hardies. Indeed, the foreman of the 

 mill informs me that he has seen them in hundreds, where he was 

 working some years ago in Strathspey, amongst the natural timber 

 there. 



" There has been an enormous amount of damage done both on 

 this property and the adjoining estate of Ardross, by squirrels, but 

 this is the first appearance of the Weevil. As little or no planting- 

 has been done in the locality for a number of years, he may be at 

 work on the old timber without being noticed. 



" Wherever we have planted on ground where no wood has been 

 before, there is no appearance of the Weevil." 



Mr. Eobertson has well noted the time when these beetles appear, 

 though in June and July they are usually most evident. Here, 

 too, as observed previously, ground from which a crop of old fir had 

 been previously removed, is the site of their ravages. The perforation 

 of the bark of the old roots by holes is caused by the working of 

 the maggots which may be found from June onwards throughout 

 the winter. The pupaj, on the other hand, are found in spring in 

 their cocoon-like nests. Some beetles hybernate in moss, fallen 

 leafage, holes in the earth, or roots under the trees, reappearing at 

 the same time. INIr. AVilkie saw considerable numbers of these 

 beetles apparently dead, but which recovered when held in the 

 hand, within half an inch of the outside of an old pine tree in 

 February, near Inveraray, when severe frosts had prevailed for several 

 weeks previously. 



Miss Ormerod's Annual Reports, as well as her Manual, contains 

 a summary of practical experiences of some of the best practical 

 foresters in dealing with this pest. [These works are, by the way, 

 by no means confined to the elucidation of insects injurious to 



