INSECTS AFFECTING PARK AND WOODLAND TREES 8 1 



from the same ash log the following spring, showing that the insect can live 

 for a considerable period in the dead, nearly dry tissues. This insect is 

 said to be a most prolific one by Dr Fitch, who obtained upwards of 300 

 eggs from one female within a few hours after its capture. The discharge 

 of this large number was followed by a reduction in the bulk of the abdo- 

 men of about 3-2- A good sized female was dissected by the writer who 

 found 269 well formed eggs and about 133 partly developed, making a total 

 of 402. This large number filled the entire abdominal cavity, and more 

 could be developed only in the case of a somewhat prolonged adult stage 

 during which enough food must be taken to permit the development of the 

 ova. Dr Fitch states that more than 1000 eggs have been found on dissec- 

 tion in the case of an allied European insect, and he concludes that a single 

 'one of these insects is capable of ruining a whole forest of oak trees. Dr 

 Fitch's observations led to the belief that in New York State at least this 

 species is more commonly met with in the oaks than in the locust, and this 

 conclusion is justified by the w-riter's observations in more recent years. 

 The eggs of this insect are apparently stuck in crevices in the tree, and in 

 the case of a captive female, she did not hesitate to tuck a number in 

 the deserted burrow of the mottled \villow borer, C r y p t o r h \- n c h u s 

 lapathi Linn. The eggs are covered by glutinous matter which causes 

 them to adhere to any surface with which they come in contact and in the 

 case of the captive referred to above, they were carefully packed away in 

 what evidently appeared to be a suitable crevice. Examination of infested 

 trees seems to indicate that the eggs are deposited by preference in the 

 vicinity of some wound or scar, and after the insect has once obtained an 

 entrance, this place is a favorite jwint for the deposition of eggs in later 

 years. Dr J. 13. .Smith expresses the opinion that the eggs are laid about 

 such places, and that the young larvae continue the old burrows in the 

 heartwood, and that in time a series of galleries may be the work of several 

 generations, all entering at nearly the same point. The writer's observa- 

 tions would appear to bear out the statement of Dr Smith. The habit of 

 the larva has been described by Dr Fitch as follows: it feeds at first on the 



