PACIFIC COAST COLEOPTERA. 69 



PoLYCAON CONFERTUS Lec. — Found boring into a slab of 

 chestnut oak that had been deposited for years in the mu- 

 seum of the University of California; also bred from the 

 stem of dead apricot trees that had been grafted on a peach 

 root. 



There appears strong evidence that these trees were not 

 destroyed by the borer, but through the influence of the 

 '* black knot" on the roots, they being diseased with knobs 

 as large as a man's fist on every root; while all the trees 

 killed had the root diseased, only a portion was infested 

 with the larva of this beetle. 



Many similar observations made by myself and others go 

 to show that in the larval stage this beetle is xylophagous. 

 On the other hand, there is indisputable proof that this 

 larva infests living trees by entering the twigs at the axils of 

 the leaves. 



Lyctus striatus Melsh. — Devastates furniture made of 

 California laurel, Umbellularia Calif ornica. Dr. Packard, 

 op. cif. p. 75, quotes Dr. LeConte as saying that it affects 

 the trunks and branches of Carya tomentosa. This is not 

 borne out by my observations, as I am well satisfied that 

 the larva lives in dead and dry wood. 



SCARAB^ID^. 



PoLYPHYLLA DECEMLINEATUS, Say. Larva that produced 

 this species was found in the earth from one to two feet 

 from the surface, among root fibres of a coarse grass and 

 roots of a Californian Laurel, Umbellularia Californica. 

 The earth was sandy loam situated upon the banks of a 

 river, and which is overflowed during the rainy season of 

 the year. 



Odontaeus obesus, Lec. This has a light chestnut larva 

 with tufts of bristles surrounding each spiracle. Mandib- 

 ular and clypeal portions well developed, redder in color and 



