8 RAVAGES OF XHK APATi: BA&H.I.ARJS, 



consideration is Jl. iasiJIaris. It is ranged under the family Xylophagi 

 (wood-eaters :) — There are seven or eight species in this country, some 

 of which are not more than one line in length. 



I am not aware that this insect has ever occasioned extensive injury 

 in this country, although it is capable of committing terrible havoc, as 

 the history of its congeners in Europe abundantly shows. In Jlay the 

 Jlpates which have come to maturity during the winter under the bark 

 of trees, eat a passage out to the surface. Towards evening they can 

 be seen, eidier singly, or in years favorable to their propagation, in great 

 numbers on the limbs. When the "vveather is cool, they do not stir 

 about, but when it is pleasant, they fly off and perform all offices ne- 

 cessary to perpetuate the race. After this, each pair, seeks a proper 

 place to deposit the eggs, and usually selects a tree that has lately fall- 

 en, or in the absence of this, a fresh, sound tree, and connnences eating 

 into it between the scales of the bark. The sap of the trunk sometimes 

 suffocates the depredator, and hence, he usually prefers the limbs in 

 which the succulent matter is not so abundant. His gnawings can be 

 heard, and the falling dust betrays his mischievous operations. After a 

 few days a straight groove can be observed, if the bark be removed. — 

 On both sides of this deep cut, in small lateral branches or expansions 

 leading out from the main stem, the female lays her eggs, from sixty to 

 eighty, each separately, and covers it with dust. After this, the parents, 

 if they have not been overtaken by death, bore themselves out again, 

 and leave the larva, which is soon hatched, to carry on the work of 

 mischieT. It is the larvae which commit the ravages on the trees, and 

 not the perfect insect. The latter does no more than merely excavate 

 the groove, and soon after dies. The larva or grub, is furnished with 

 instruments proper for the work — the mandibles are strong and the 

 claws of the feet are sharp. Each one commences operations and eats 

 a passage through the wood in serpentine grooves, which are widened 

 in proportion as the animal grows. It is curious that some species of 

 this insect never interfere with or cross each other's track in their suh- 

 cuticnlar excavations, — each labors for himself without incommoding 

 his neighbor, and thus peace is maintained. In a few weeks the larvae 

 enter \\\e jmpa state, during which state they are exceedingly tender, so 

 that a season of unfavorable weather may destroy millions. When the 

 weather is propitious, all the periods from the egg to the perfect insect 

 may be passed in two months ; but if the eggs are laid in the fall of the 

 year, the metamorphosis is not completed until the ensuing spring. 

 When the perfect insect has broken through the shell of the pupa, he 

 bores himself out to the surface, and is ready to perform the service 



