58 THE REPORT OF THE No. 19 



to be found, whilst those of Actios hina (the most beautiful) feed upon the 

 butternut, and those of Hyperchiria Lo upon the elm, the basswood and the 

 balsam-poplar. The last-named larvae are set with stinging spines. 



In the West the larva of that splendid moth, Eacles imperiaUs, feeds 

 upon the white pine ; and the larvae of Citheronia regalis, which has as many 

 horns as the Beast in the Apocalypse, and is locally known as the ''Hickory 

 Horned Devil," feeds upon the black walnut, butternut, hickory, etc. I have 

 never heard, however, that the caterpillars of these very large insects have 

 done much damage. 



Of insects that injure the roots of the trees, these are remarkable : — 



The White Grub: This is the larva of the May Beetle, Lachnostema 

 fusca. (Fig. 6.) The gru'bs of this species are very general feeders upon the 

 roots of plants. They are said to be injurious to young pines and tamaracs. 



A formidable foe to the poplar, basswood and oali;, is Prionus laticollis, 

 the Bro; d-netked Sawyer which bores into the roots of trees. As it works 

 undergrouna its ravages are not easily detected. (Fig. 21.) 



But of the underground insect foes of the forest trees, the Cicadas are, I 

 think, the worst. Happily this part of Canada is out of the range of Tihicen 

 Septendecim, which spends seventeen years at the roots of trees, imbibing at 

 the very founts of vegetable life. But Cicada canicularis is very abundant 

 with usj If you go into the woods in autumn you will hear the shrill sound 

 produced by their little tambours or side drums, which vibrate, as the boys 

 say, "for, all they are worth." We have another species, Tihicen rimosa, but 

 it is not common with us. 



The habits of the Cicadas are interesting. The females cut grooves in the 

 twigs of their favorite trees, and in each groove lay a row of eggs. The eggs 

 seem to be nourished by the sap in the twigs, for they become enlarged. The 

 newly-hatched larvae drop to the ground and burrow till they reach the roots 

 of the trees. Into these they drive their beaks, and then, for three years, live 

 by suction upon the sap. At the end of that time they work their way out of 

 the earth, climb for a short distance up the trees, and then writhe and twist 

 till their skins burst down the back. Out of the rent, in every case, creeps a 

 perfect insect, drawing its legs out of their former enclosures as out of boots. 

 In about ten minutes (I have watched the process) the air has penetrated to 

 every part of the insect's body, its wings have been shaken out of plait into 

 their full dimensions, and the creature is ready for jflight. (Fig, 21.) 



If you ask me what should be done to check the Cicadas, well, I know 

 what I should do as regards the orchard, the sugar-bush and the enclosed 

 woods. I should in the autumn turn a herd of swine into them. The animals 

 would not only eat the windfall apples, the acorns and beech-mast and fungi, 

 they would grub about the roots of the trees, and devour the immature Cic- 

 adas, the White Grubs, and the pupae of many kinds of flies, beetles and 

 moths. I have seen the experiment tried, and the pigs throve. 



But a part of my subject of more interest to lumbermen is that relating 

 tc the "Borers" — and truly their name is legion. 



A number of beetles belonging to the family Buprestidae bore in the pine. 

 Two splendid beetles of this family are Chalcophora Yirginiensis and Chalco- 

 j-hora fortis. 



C. fortis is the largest and handsomest of our Buprestidae, and, perhaps, 

 as regards our collections, the rarest. Mr. H. Hague Harrington speaks of it 

 as rare at Ottawa, and I never met with it at Montreal, nor in the Eastern 

 Townships; but one day I was walking under the cliff, at Hadlow, on the 

 south side of the river, when I found specimens of both C. Virginiensis and C. 

 fortis. There were no trees near in which they could have bred, and the in- 



