190I 



ENTOMOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



49' 



The sudden appearance of the Chafers in immense numbers is accounted for by the habits 

 of the larvse, which feed on the roots of grasses in sandy locations. In the same locations 

 the puprtj are formed, but when the adults emerge, usually all about the same time, they betake 

 themselves to the most convenient orchard or vine-yard. A line of investiga'ion lies open in 

 this connection. If the feeding grounds of the larvae were discovered and ploughed in spring, 

 while the insects are in the pupal condition, many of them would be destroyed. 



The life history is as follows : The fern-ale Chafer deposits her eggs in the ground in late 

 June or early July. These hatch in a few weeks, and the grubs feed on the roots of grasses till 

 October, when full-grown they descend still further beyond the reach of frost. In May, they, 

 become pnpre, and in June the adults emerge. 



Fij. 27, 

 The Oak-pruner. 



Fig. 28, The 

 Oak-pruner larva 



Fig. 29, ThM 

 Oak-prmer pupa. 



The Oak-Pruner {Elaphidlon rilloanm). 



The work of this beetle (Fig. 27) is so intei-- 

 esting that it deserves some mention here. Under 

 date of July 30th, the Hon. Justice Osier, of 

 Osgoode Hall, wrote me an accurate and interest- 

 ing account of the work of this Borer in breaking 

 off branches of Oak, as observed on some islands 

 in the Georgian Bay, near Parry Sound. At a later 

 date the same gentleman favored me with specimens 

 of the work of the insect from which I was able 

 to get the larvpe (Fi-J. 28). Mr. Osier writes : Un 

 a tree affected by it will be seen the ends of branches 

 hanging down, and leaves brown and dead. Ex- 

 amination shows that they have been deeply sawn 

 through, remaining attached by a bit of the bark. Opening the end of the drooping branch in 

 July or August, a very lively Borer is found in the shape of a fat, whitish grub, vi^ho has closed 

 up the passage at his rear by his saw-dust. He does not appear to work backward, towards the 

 trunk of the tree. Near where his life work appears to have begun, which is at the junction of 

 some leaf or smaller branch, are often seen one or two jmall, hard, semi-cylindrical cases, about 

 the size and shape of the common ' Lady-bird,' empty, but probably the harbor in which the ecrg 

 was laid which produced him." 



The habits of this beetle are described in greater detail by Dr. Saunders in "Insects 

 Injurious to Fruit," pp. 31, 32 ; and by Dr. Packard in the " Fifth Report of the Entomological 

 Commission," pp. 83-89. It is not only injurious to the oak but also to the beech, chestnut, 

 birch, hickory, peach and apple. Dr. Saunders calls it "The Apple Tree Pruner. " 



Attention may be directed here to the wonderful instinct which the insect undoubtedly 

 possesses. The Jemale deposits an egg in an angle of a leaf stalk, near the tip of the twig. The 

 grub, on hatching, feeds on the soft, pulpy pith, until it reaches the branch, when it cnaws the 

 harder, woody tissues, and begins tunneling the branch to its base. Then the sawing process 

 •occurs. " This," Dr. Fitch says, " is a most nice and critical operation, requiring much akill 

 and calculation, for the limb must not break and fall while he is in the act of gnawing it apart, 

 or he will be crushed by being at the point where it bends and tears asunder, or will fall from 

 the cavity where it breaks open and separates. To avoid such casualties, therefore, he must 

 after severing it, have time to withdraw himself back into his hole in the limb, and plug the 

 opening behind him before the limb breaks and falls." With the eye of a trained woodman he 

 " cuts the limb asunder so far that he supposes it will break with the next wind which arises and 

 withdraws himself into his burrow, and that he may not be stunned and drop therefrom should 

 the limb strike the earth with violence when it falls, he closes the opening behind him by inserting 

 4 EN. "^ 



