45 



sides, and marked at the base with steel blue ; they have five thick veins, and commonlj 

 there are traces of a straw-yellow stripe on the outer margin towards the tip. The wings 

 expand about one inch and a half. Both sexes have several varieties, but the two above 

 mentioned descriptions are those of the ordinary types. 



The eggs are deposited by the moths in the course of the summer, upon the trunk 

 of the tree near the root. Mr. pjvan Thomas, as quoted by Mr. Say, says that " they 

 leave from one to fifty, and in some instances nearly three hundred eggs in each tree, 

 according to its size and capacity to support the future progeny. These soon appear, but 

 it is difficult to detect them until they have acquired a growth of two or three weeks, 

 when they are four or five lines in length. From this period their growth is accelerated or 

 retarded in proportion to the quantity of nourishment afforded." 



Dr. Fitch writes " that the worms when hatched work downwards, at first in thebark 

 of the root, forming, a slender flexnous channel, which becomes filled with gum. At the 

 distance of an inch or two below the surface the whole of the bark of the root becomes 

 consumed in badly infested trees, and the .soft sap wood is also extensively gnawed and 

 eroded, so that fret(uently the root is nearly severed. The larger worms in the winter 

 season repo.se with their heads upwards, in contact with the exterior surfiice of the root, 

 commonly in smooth longitudinal grooves which they have excavated, their backs being 

 covered over with the castings mingled with the gum and with cobweb-like threads, thus 

 forming a kind of cell, tlie cavity of which is considerably larger than the body of the 

 worm inhabiting it. Tlie smaller worms have no such cell, but lie promiscuously in the 

 "gum, or between it and the root." 



Tlie presence of these borers may always be readily detected by the castings and 

 gum which issue from the hole in the bark. 



Dr. Harris tells us " that these borers, when nearly one year old, make their cocoons 

 either under the bark of the trunk or root, or in the earth and gum contiguous to the 

 base of the trees. Soon afterwards they are transformed to chrysalides, and finally come 

 forth in the winged state, and lay the eggs for another generation of borers." 



" The last transformation takes place from June to October, most frequently, how- 

 ever during the month of July in the State of Massachusetts. Here, although there 

 are several broods produced by a succession of hatches, there is but one rotation of 

 meta:nf)rphoses consummated within a year. Hence, borers of all sizes will be found in 

 the trees throughout the year, altlnTugh it seems necessary that all of them, whether more 

 or less advanced, should pass through one winter before they appear in the winged state." 



Dr. Fitch also confirms tlie statement that whoever examines infested roots will find 



worms upon them of all sizes, at all times of the year. From his report it appears that the 



pupa state lasts at least three weeks in tlie warmest part of the 



■ ■ summer, and that in the State of New York the moths 



generally deposit their eggs about the end of July and the 

 beginning of August. At fig. 35 we give a faithful represen- 

 tation of the full grown larva, and we quote its de.scriptiou as 

 given by Mr. Saunders in the Ca.iadian Entomologid, vol. iii. 



The larva is a naked, soft cylindrical grub, slightly flattened on its under side, and 

 measures when full grown over half an inch in length, and nearly a quarter of an inch in 

 diameter. It is divided into fourteen nearly equal segments by broad transverse 

 constriction.s. 



The head is of a medium size, with a depressed line down the centre, 

 dividing it into two lobes. It has a triangular piece inserted in the middle, with its 

 base towards the mouth and its apex terminating just under the anterior edge of the 

 secoml segnient. The head is also flattened, and of a reddish colour, becoming darker, 

 almost black, on its anterior edge. The jaws are black innl [)rominent. The body above 

 is of a dull |iale yillow, with the segments or rings of the body deeply cut. The second 

 segment is of a p.de reddish brown colour, smooth and horny looking. On each segment 

 there are a few minute pale reddish dots, from which arise short reddish or brownish 

 hairs — those iilong the sides and on the posterior extremity being sommviiat larger. 

 A faint line runs along each side through the stigmata or breathing p )res of a p der shade 

 on the rest of tli(^ Ividy. The stigmaii ire small, nearly round, and of a dull re<ldish 

 colour. The under sur ace is very similar in colour to the upper. The feet are tipped 



,,!•*<' fffV^^I^'i!. 



