Nov. i6, I9I4 Apple Root Borer 183 



parts move downward until the axis of the body is again in line. At 

 first the borer is much crumpled in accommodating itself to its restricted 

 quarters, but a molt soon follows, after which all the segments of the 

 body are so shortened that the space is adequate (PL XXX, fig. i, c). 

 The larva does not get permanently settled in its cell until well into 

 December, often after severe freezing weather has occurred. 



THE PUPA 



The pupa (PI. XXXI, fig. 4) is broad and flattened dorsally, the males 

 being smaller than the females. An average female measures 3.5 mm. 

 wide by 12 mm. long. The color is white, the eyes, mouth parts, and, 

 later, most of the abdomen and spots on the thorax changing to black as 

 the imaginal stage is approached. The pupa occupies a vertical position 

 in the cell, with its ventral side toward the bark (PI. XXX, fig. i, b). 



Pupation takes place with the coming of the first few warm days of 

 spring, occurring in the locality of the principal investigations from April 

 I to 15. All individuals were found to have pupated in the valley of the 

 Potomac River, near Moorefield and Springfield, W. Va., on April 20, 

 1912, while on the mountains a few miles distant, where the elevation was 

 about 500 feet greater, no pupae could be found on the same date. In 

 Randolph County, West Virginia, at an altitude of about 2,500 feet above 

 the sea, pupation had occurred on April 25, 1913. The pupal stage 

 lasts from three to four weeks. 



THE ADULT 



The adult (PI. XXXI, fig. 5) is a slender, elongate beetle, averaging 

 2,5 mm. wide by 10.5 mm. long. The elytra are black, usually with a 

 tinge of purple ; the head and thorax are iridescent purple or cupreous in 

 some lights. The sides of the thorax and a wide stripe on top extending 

 over the front of the head are covered with a dense bronze pubescence; 

 the underparts are black, with a metallic purplish or coppery luster; the 

 dorsal surface of the abdomen beneath the elytra is dark blue. A line of 

 bronze pubescence extends along the sides of the abdomen and is visible 

 dorsally beyond the inflected edge of the elytra. The front of the head 

 is deeply impressed; the thorax is broader than long, its sides being regu- 

 larly curved; the disk has oblique depressions on each side; the elytra are 

 broadened behind the middle, the tips being separately rounded and 

 finely serrulate. The upper surface is finely and densely granulate. 



HABITS OF THE BEETLE 



The adult apple root borers escape through small, round holes which 

 they gnaw in the bark (PI. XXX, fig. 3, a). They come forth in May, 

 all the individuals of one generation issuing in a given locality during 

 a comparatively short time. The beetles are active only by day, are 

 rather quick to fly when disturbed, and have the buprestid habit of 

 sunning themselves in exposed positions on bark and foUage. 



It is probable that the life of the beetle does not often exceed two or 

 three weeks. This is indicated by observations in the field and by 

 experiences with a large number kept in wire cages placed over small 

 apple trees. All beetles confined in such cages died within about two 

 weeks. 



