FAMILY CERAMBYCIDAE 



325 



They proved to 



took some immature living beetles from the same locahty. 

 be H . spinicornis. 



Trees Chosen for Egg-laying.— The beetles invariably choose newly felled 

 or green sickly standing trees in the forest for egg-laying. An inspection in 

 May 1906 of some large trees felled in the preceding February, and still lying 

 unbarked in the forest, showed that no fresh eggs had been laid on the bark^ 

 although the sapwood contained young larvae. Trees which are being 

 suppressed or slowly strangled by heavy creeper growth are apparently often 

 chosen for egg-laying purposes. 



Habits of Beetle.— The beetles fly at night. In the daytime they hide 

 either beneath the bark of newly felled trees, large numbers being invariably 

 found here in the last fortnight of May 1906, or in the undergrowth in the 

 forest. More rarely they are found in interstices of the bark of standing 

 trees, their coloration approaching that of the sal bark. They are powerful 

 fliers, and probably travel a considerable distance in search of suitable trees. 

 During a heavy storm one night numbers of beetles were blown from the 

 forest about four miles distant into the veranda and rooms of the Kachu- 

 gaon Bungalow ; in this way they probably get dispersed over large areas. 

 The mcident proved that the beetles are sufficiently powerful to fly at 

 night in heavy wind and rain. 



Hatching out of the Grubs.— The small grubs hatch from the eggs within 

 five to eight days after oviposition. In hatching the egg-shell splits longways 



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Fig. 2i9.-Galleries of young larvae (four to five days old) of Hopioccrambyx spinicornis in 

 the outer surface of sal sapwood. Assam. 



