1916 ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 37 



more. In old trees with rough bark they usually work in the Lower branches 

 instead of in the base of the trunk. Often there are so many tunnels, especially 

 towards the base of the tree, that it is weakened and easily broken down by a 

 strono- wind. It is quite common to see Scrub Willows killed and also small 

 poplars. The swellings on the bark of poplars where the larvae have entered, 

 and also the exit holes, cause the trees to look unsightly, and these, along with 

 the castings around them composed of small tissues of wood from the tunnels, 

 dust and faeces, easily reveal the presence of the insects. The total number of 

 trees destroyed in the Province must be large, but the Scrub Willows are of very 

 little value and, though the Balm of Gilead and Balsam Poplars are of much 

 more importance, they can scarcely rank among our valuable trees. Fortunately 

 not many Carolina Poplars seem to have been killed yet. These are good shade 

 and landscape trees and their loss would be deplorable. 



Life History. 



Adults. — The adult is a snout beetle, stout, about one-quarter inch long, 

 black, wnth the body and legs mottled with light pinkish or grayish white scales. 

 These scales are so abundant on the sides of the prothorax and also on the anal 

 third of the wings as to cause these parts to be pale pink or white. The upper 

 surface of the body is rough, being coarsely and deeply punctured, and having 

 longitudinal furrows on the elytra. The rough appearance is increased by the 

 presence of a few tufts of black scales scattered here and there over the thorax 

 and elytra. 



I do not know how early the adults begin to appear. In willows at St. 

 Catharines examined about June 20th, 1914, the larvae seemed full grown but 

 no pupas were seen. As Kirkland estimates the pupal stage at about 18 days, 

 it is probable that adults would have been found last year on these trees early in 

 July. Mr. F. Morris found many adults on willows near Port Hope the first 

 week in July, 1915. I have captured a few in August in previous years. By 

 September 8th, 1915, by far the majority seemed to have emerged at Toronto 

 Island but they still continued to appear this year all the first half of October, 

 the weather being warm. An examination on October 33rd showed a few live adults 

 still in their burrows in poplars, also some pupae that looked healthy and four larvae, 

 but three of the latter were dead. The fourth looked healthy but, when handled, 

 did not move, so may also have been dead. In all the accounts I have read it 

 seems to be assumed that very few adults are to be seen in the spring. Kirkland 

 found one which he remarked was " probably an overwintered specimen." But 

 the adults in May are not nearly so few in number in Ontario as one would expect 

 from the different accounts of the insect given. Three of my nursery inspectors 

 each captured, several specimens and saw others this last May on poplars and 

 willows in the nursery rows. There w-ere a few also on apple trees in adjoining 

 rows. It is not known whether these passed the winter in the trees as adults, 

 pupae or larvae, or whether they emerged in autumn and wintered over under 

 shelter. The important point is that there was a considerable number of adults 

 found at that time of the year, indicating that many others also were probably 

 present. The adults in autumn hide on cold days but appear on the trees when 

 the weather is warm. They feed on the juices exuding from injuries at the 

 points of exit, also upon the young twigs, where they seem to prefer the neighbor- 

 hood of leaf scars, in which the small feeding punctures are often seen. These 

 punctures, however, may also be found in various other parts of the tree and 

 sometimes even on the bark of dead fallen branches. In breeding cases I fed 



