454 



lAMILY CURCULIOXIDAE 



Fk;. 299. 

 Conartliiits affuiis, 



Wo!I. 

 South Coimbatore. 



CONAKTHRUS. 



Conarthrus affinis, W'oll, 

 Habitat. — South Coimbatore, Madras. 

 Tree Attacked. — Dcndrocalauiits sirictiis. Mount 

 Stuart, South Coimbatore. 



Beetle. — Elongate, narrow ; shining black, punctate, legs rufous 

 brown. Head prominent, about same length as rostrum, very 

 shining punctate : rostrum stout, flattened. 

 Description. broadest anteriorly, wheie it swells into a 



blunt knob ; finely punctate ; the scrobes 

 commence slightly above centre and run backwards oblicjuely to 

 near the eye ; antennae inserted near base of anterior swelling. 

 I'rothorax shorter than head and rostrum together, truncate at upper 

 and basal ends, widest just above base, sides rounded, rather coarsely 

 punctate. Elytra elongate, parallel, but slightly wider than pro- 

 thorax at base, constricted and depressed apically, the sides bent 

 downwards, covering a portion of the lower surface of abdomen ; 

 strongly striate-punclate. Length, 5.3 mm. 



This insect tunnels into the nodes of the Doidvocalainus bamboo 

 for ovipositing purposes. A generation was discovered 

 Life History. thus occupied in the South Coimbatore forests at the 

 end of July 1902. The beetle tunnels into the node, 

 and then carries the tunnel either up or down in the wall of the bamboo. 

 In some instances the tunnels are carried horizontally round the circum- 

 ference of the wall. The tunnels are long, the eggs being deposited 

 amidst some wood-powder near the bottom of the tunnel. The beetle 

 attacks half-dead and dead bamboos, riddling the wood to powder when the 

 insect is in numbers. 



Conarthrus jansoni, Woll. 



Habitat. — Goal para, Assam. 



Tree Attacked. -Sal {Skuvca robusta). Anguri ]31ock, and Kachugaon, 

 (ioalpara. 



Beetle. — Elongate, narrow, parallel. Shining black, punctate. 



I'lic rostrum is long, swollen anteriorly ; scrobes commence well 



forward, are short and deep, and do not 



Description. extend backwards to the eye. I'rothorax 



elongate, conve.x, broadest at middle, the 



sides curved ; uniformly and finely punctate. ICIytra as wide as 



broadest part of prothorax, constricted and depressed apically, 



leaving a small jjortion of the pygidiuni disclosed. Strongly striate- 



punctate. l-nder-surface black, shining, punctate. Legs ferruginous 



brown. Length. 6 mm. to 6.3 mm. 



A number of specimens of this beetle were found 

 Conartliriis ja)isotii, tunnelling into felled and partially dry sal-trees at 

 Woll. Goalpara, Assam, the end of April 1906. The insects were tunnelling 



