150 NEW VOKK STATE ML'SEUM 



control this ])cst is not after it has l)ecomu enormously abundant in a citv or 

 villaj^e antl has seriously weakened or nearly destro\ed the majority of the 

 elms ; the work should be bej^un at the outset and the insect |jrevented from 

 establishing,'^ itself in lari^e numbcrrs in an\- uninfested citv or village in Xew 

 York. \ illage improvement societies and public spirited individuals inter- 

 ested in the welfare of a community where this beetle occurs would do well 

 to undertake at least an educational campaign against it. 



Description. The skeletonized, brown appearance of the foliage of an 

 infested tree in midsummer is very striking and in the Hudson river valley 

 cities and villages this condition is (juite ajjt to be the work of this pest, but 

 in the western part of the State one or more species of canker worms 

 occasionally strip a few American elms nearly as completely and its work 

 should not lie confused with that of this imported elm insect. 



The parent beetle may be recognized by the aid of the colored figures 

 I pi. <S, fig. 5, 6|. This insect is about ]^ inch long with the head, thorax 

 and margin of llie wing covers a reddish yellow. Tiie coal I)lack eyes and 

 median spot of the same color on the head are prominent. On the thora.x 

 there is a dorsal black spot of variable shape and a pair of lateral ovoid 

 ones. The median black line of the wing covers is separated from the 

 lateral stripes of the same color h\ greenish yellow. The wing covers or 

 elytra are minutely and irregularly punctured, bear a fine pubescence and at 

 the Ijase of each wing cover there is an elongated black spot in the middle 

 of the greenish yellow stripe. The markings are fairly constant in the beetle 

 but the color is quite variable during life and changes more or less after 

 death. Many ])eetles emerging from winter cpiarters have the consi)icuous 

 greenish yellow stripes of the wing covers nearly obliterated by black. 

 The antennae or feelers are golden yellow with more or less brownish mark- 

 ings. The legs are yellowish with the tii)iae and tarsi mark(-d with brown. 

 The under surface of the head and prothorax is yellowish, that of the meta- 

 thorax and abdomen black. 



The orange yellow eggs are usually deposited in irregular rows side by 

 side, forming clusters of from 3 to 26 or more on the under surface of 



