24. 



is a chestnut brown, approaching black on the head and antennae. The thorax is armed 

 with three sharp spines on each side ; each wing-case has three slightly elevated ridges 

 running lengthwise for nearly the whole length ; the eyes, which are situated behind 

 the antennae, are enormously large and very conspicuous. The larva (Fig 1) is a large 

 fat white grub, with powerful jaws of a darker colour ; it feeds upon the wood of the 

 Pine, and from its size ofteii injures the timber very materially. It will, no doubt, how- 

 ever, be considered a decidedly beneficial insect by some of our readers who live in newly- 

 cleared settlements, when we mention that it affects pine-stumps especially, and often 

 aids materially in reducing them to a state of rottenness. 



The perfect insect, like most of the long-horned beetles, possesses the power of mak- 

 ing a curious creaking noise. In the generality of species this is produced by rubbing 

 the joints of the thorax together, or against the base of the wing-covers ; but this spe- 

 cies, according to Professor Riley (Canadian Entomologist, vol. iv. p. 1 40), " is a true fid- 

 dler, striilulating, like the Orlhopteroiis Locustidw, by rubbing the hind femora against 

 the elytra. If a specimen be carefully examined, the inside of these femora will be found 

 rasped from the base to near the tip by a number of short longitudinal ridges, which, 

 when played against the thin and sharp emargiiiations of the elytra, produce the rather 

 loud creaking so peculiar to this beetle/' 



IV. Clttu.s eobini.«! Forst. — The Locust-tree Borer. 



(The synonym of this insect has been rather perplexing ; it is now included in the 

 genus Gyllene Newm. ; for a long time we were accustomed to call it Clytus flexuosu» Fab., 

 but the specific name given above has the priority. It was also long considered to be 

 identical with C. pictus. Drury, that bores into the hickory, but the late Mr. Walsh 

 proved satisfactorily that the two species are distinct. The general colour of this insect 

 is deep black with light yellow stripes ; on the head and thorax these stripes form narrow 

 transverse band.s, but on the wing-covers there is first of all a narrow yellow anterior 

 edging (not sliewn in the figure) ; then a slightly flexuous stripe (not straight as in the 

 figure ; this is followed by a narrow zig-zag band forming a letter W across the wings, 

 and three irregular!}' wavy and broken stripes ; there is also a yellow dot at the tip, and 

 broader stripes on the sides of the abdomen of the same colour. The antennae are long 

 and many jointed, and of a dark brown colour; the legs are long and of a tawny hue. 

 The larva is a whitish coloured grub, about an inch long and the thickness of an ordinary 

 goose quill, and is furnished with si.x: very minute legs. When young it appears to bore 

 chiefly into the sap-wood, but afterwards strides ofi' into the solid wood of the tree, 

 perforating it in every direction. Its presence is early indicated by the little heaps of 

 sawdust extruded from the holes, and accumulated about the base of the tree. 



The following account of the hal)its of this insect, by Dr. Harris, (Injurious Insects, 

 page 103), is so excellent and coincides so exactly with our own observations that we can- 

 not forbear quoting it, though it may be familiar to some of our readers. "In the month 

 of September," he says, "these beetles gather on tiie locust trees, where they may be seen 

 glittering in the sunbeams with their gorgeous liver) of black velvet and gold, coursing 

 up and down the trunks in pursuit of their mates, or to drive away their rivals, and 

 stopping every now and then to salute those they meet with a rapid bowing of the 

 shoulders, accompanied by a creaking sound, indicative of recognition or defiance. 

 Having paired, the female attended by her partner, creeps over the bark, searching the 

 crevices with her antennae, and dropping therein her snow-white legs, in clusters of seven 

 or eight together, and at intervals of five or six minutes, until her whole stock is safely 

 stored. The eggs are soon hatched, and the grubs immediately burrow into the bark, 

 devouring the soft inner substance that sutBces for their nourishment till the approach of 

 winter, during which they remain at rest in a tc)r[iid state. In the spring they bore 

 through the sap-wood, more or less deeply into the trunli, the general course of their 

 entrance. Fur a time they cast their chips out of their hojes as fast as they are made ; 

 but after a while the passage becomes clogged and the burrow more or less filled with 

 the course and fibrous fragments of wooil, to get rid of which the grubs are often obliged 

 to open new holes through the bark. The seat of their operations is known by the oozing 



