COLEOPTERA SCOLYTID^, 



105 



Tlie beetle (fig. 96) itself is about ^ inch in length, oval form, pitchy- 

 brown or ashy-grey colour ; under side of abdomen covered with thi,ck 

 grey hairs ; the antennae and tarsi of a yellowish-brown colour. 



Various remedies have been given for this insect pest, including 

 the recommendation of planting on 

 suitable soil, &c. ; but such advice 

 is largely unnecessary, inasmuch as 

 it only attacks felled logs or dying 

 trees and poles, and all practical 

 forestry insists on cutting back- 

 going ash-trees more quickly than 

 any other species of tree, in order 

 to prevent rapid depreciation of 

 the timber. 



Fig. 96.— Hylesinus fraxini. (From Barbey.) 



w 



Hylesinus oleiperda (Fabr.)^ 



This beetle is found on ash, but, 

 in contrast to the preceding species, 

 is always got on the small top- 

 shoots. It is, however, as a rule, 

 a South Country species, the 

 branches shown in fig. 97 being 

 from a tree in "Wiltshire. It is a 

 species which hatches out very 

 readily in confinement, so that the 

 branches containing the larvse may 

 simply be put in a box in winter 

 and left there until the beetles 

 appear, about the end of July. 



The mother-gallery is very short, 

 being only about half an inch in 

 length, and apparently only single- 

 armed. The larval galleries vary 



very much in length, being from half an inch to two inches. They 

 are often crowded so closely together that every portion of the space 

 becomes pitted with larval furrows. 



^ I found the three species — viz., H. crenatus, H. fraxini, and //. olciperda— 

 all in Belton Park, Lincolnshire, July 1907. 



Ik 



Fig. 97. — Markings 0/ Hylesinus oleiperda 1 

 small branches of ash. 



