126 LONG HORNED BEETLES. 



inverted umbrella held beneath, and this is one of the methods 

 used by collectors of beetles to collect their pets. 



The twig-girdler. 

 (Oncideres cingulatiis Say). 



This fine beetle, a little more that half an inch in length, has 

 a very elegant but modest appearance, being of a brownish- 

 gray color with dull reddish-yellow dots, and having a broad 

 gray band across the middle of the wing-covers. The antennae 

 are longer than the body. 



It is of rare ocurrence in Minnesota and not mentioned be- 

 cause it is injurious, but on account of its habit of girdling the 

 twigs of the hickory, pear and other trees, and its interesting mode 

 of laying eggs. The female lays an egg in a twig or branch, which 

 it then girdles a little distance below, eating a groove about one- 

 tenth of an inch wide, and as deep, so that a high wind breaks it 

 down. The foliage on such a twig wilts at once, and the wood 

 is then in the exact condition desired by the larva, which under- 

 goes its transformations undisturbed by growth or undesirable 

 moisture. Sometimes shade trees are also attacked, but a care- 

 ful gathering and burning of the fallen wood keeps the insect in 

 check. 



The illustration (Fig. 132) shows the female at work. 

 Some'rimes a number of twigs are thus amputated, and it has been 

 reported that a persimmon branch not more than two feet long 

 contained as many as eight eggs, one egg being placed under 

 each of the successive side shoots ; in another case seven eggs 

 were crowded together in a small hickory branch only three 

 inches long, which shows tha't this insect can become decidedly 

 injurious if at all numerous. 



THE ROUND-HEADED APPLE-TREE BORER. 



(Sapcrda Candida Fab.). 



This is one of the worst and most familiar orchard pests, 

 preferring to bore into the apple, although the quince is as badly 



