Billings on the Pine-horing Beetles. 431 



whose commercial prosperity depends so largely upon the growth 

 of native woods. Full one fourth of the total value of our export 

 trade is derived from the forests, and there is usually abouk one 

 tenth of the whole province under license from the government 

 to the lumberers for the purpose of making timber * Besides this 

 there are great tracts of land covered with wood of commercial 

 value, in which, the sound of the lumberer's axe has never yet been 

 heard. How long this great source of national wealth is to remain 

 unexhausted, and what are the causes which may some day put 

 an end to so important a branch of our commerce, ate subjects 

 well worthy of serious consideration. It belongs to Canadian En- 

 tomologists to give an answer to one of the several questions that 

 must be discussed during the investigation. I do not profess to 

 know enough of the science to class myself in that body of obser- 

 vers ; but having lived many years in the valley of the Ottawa 

 where there are extensive forests of pine, I have paid some atten- 

 tion to the habits of several of the most prominent of the wood- 

 destroying beetles. I shall this evening give a short account of 

 some of the species, although I do not feel quite sure that Ento 

 moligists will think my remarks of much value. 



It appears that in Canada we have four species of beetles belong- 

 ing to the longicorn genus Monohamraus. 



The largest, and apparently the most abundant of these is 

 Monohammus confusor, a magnificent insect, and very destructive 

 to the several kinds of pine timber of this country. The length, 

 exclusive of the antennae, varies from three fourths of an inch to 

 one inch and a half, the majority of the individuals being about 

 thirteen lines. The antennae of the males vary in length from one 

 and a half to three inches ; the female is about the same length as 

 the male, but her antennae are a! ways shorter and her body broader. 

 When very perfect, these insects are of a light ash-grey color, with 

 a few dark brown spots. The grey colour is due to a coat of very 



*By a reference to the trade returns for the year 1861, it will be seen that 

 our total exports during that year, amounted to $36,614,195, and of this 

 sum the products of the forest made up $9572,645, or somewhat more 

 than one fourth of the whole. Mr. Langton, (Auditor General) says 

 that in 1860 the quantity of land licensed by the government to lum- 

 berers, was" 2 7,413 square miles, or 17,544,320 acres.'! See an interesting 

 article by John Langton Esq., (Auditor General) " On the age of timber 

 trees and the prospects of a continuous supply of timber in Canada." Trans. 

 Lit. and Hist. Soc. of Quebec, vol. 5, page 61, May 1862. 



