23 



a centrp-bit, a cylimlrical passage through the most solid wood. Some of tliese borers have 

 six verj' small legs, namely, one pair ntiiier each of the first three rings, but most of them 

 want even these short and imperfect limbs, and move through their burrows by alternate 

 extension and contraction of their bodies, on each or on most of the rings of which, both 

 above and below, there is an oval space covered vyith little elevations, somewhat like the 

 teeth of a fine rasp ; and these little oval rasps, which are designed to aid the grut)s in their 

 motions, fully make >ip to them the want of ])roper feet. 



" Some of these borers always keep one I'ud of tlieir burrows open out of which, 

 from time to time, they cast their chips, resenil)liiig coarse saw-dust ; others, as fast as they 

 proceed, fill up the passages behind tliem with their castings, well known by the name of 

 ' powder-post.' These borers live from one year to three or perhaps four years before they 

 come to their growth. They undergo their transformations at the furthest extremity of their 

 burrows, many of them previously gnawing a passage through the wood to the inside of 

 the bark, for their future escape. The pupa is at first soft and whitish, and it exhibits all 

 the parts of the future beetle under a filmy veil which enwraps every limb. The wings 

 and legs are folded upon the breast, the long antennas are turned back against the sides of 

 the body, anil then bent forwards between the legs. When the beetle has thrown off its 

 pupa skin, it gnaws away the thin coat of bark that covers the mouth of its burrow, and 

 comes out of its dark ami confined retreat, to breathe the fresh air, and to enjoy for the 

 first time the pleasure of sight, and the use of the legs and wings with which it is pro- 

 vided." This account of the larval and pupal state of the long-horned beetles, applies more 

 or less closely to all the insects described in this paper, with the exception of No. !},Chrijso- 

 hothris femorata, which belongs to the BuprestidcK, a totally different family of beetles. 



II. Clytus speciosus, Say (genus Qlycobius, Lee.) — The Maple>tree Borer.* ' 



The colours of this very handsome insect are deep velvety black and bright yellow. The 

 figure represents its shape and markings so accurately that further description is unneces- 

 sary ; the size depicted, however,is decidedly above the average. This wasp-like beetle is not 

 very abundant, but may occasionally be found on Maple trees, which its larvae infest both 

 when growing in the forest and also when cut into cord-wood. The eggs are laid by the 

 pari^nt beetle on the trunk of the Sugar-maple during the middh; of summer ; when 

 hatched the grubs penetrate through the bark and make long winding borings through the 

 solid wood. Occasionally they are very di structive to young Maple trees, but on the 

 whole they ar- npt so sufficiently numerous • o be objects of dread. Should they at any time 

 threaten injury to these favourite shade trees, the larvae may be got rid of by passing a 

 somewhat flexible wire into their burrows until it reaches the grub within. The entrance 

 may be discovered by the sawdust that they cast out. 



III. OrTHOSOMA CYCLINDRICUM, Fab. -A PiNE BoRER. 



This large beetle is the commonest and best known of our wood-borers ; its habit 

 of flying through open windows into lighted rooms during the warm evenings of July, 

 usually to the great alarm of the inmates, has caused its appearance to be very familiar 



l'i« 1. 



to every one. -t is one of our largest heeths, measuring oftentimes as much as in 

 inch and a half in length by over a third of an inch in Kreadth. Its general colo\ir 



*A full account of this insect, by Mr. K. B. Reed, will be found in tl e Re^uil of the Kutomologicitl 

 Society for 1872. 



