FAMILY SCOLYTIDAE 



4^7 



f^rubs; also to discover where the eggs are laid, and whether the genera- 

 tions of the beetle coincide with those of its hosts. 



Platysomasp. (p.io6). — -Thishisteridis pred-dccousnpon the Sphaeyotrypcs. 



Beetle. — A compact, shining, black beetle, squarish in Iniild, with a hard integument : 

 elongate, pointed mandibles. Head and thorax very smooth and shining. Elytra smooth, 

 shining, with a few longitudinal striae placed wide apart. They 

 leave the last two segments of the abdomen exposed, the last 

 being constricted behind. These segments are thickly and deeply 

 punctate. Length, 6.5 mm. 



Life History. — Only a few specimens were taken. 

 They were found beneath the bark of the sal-tree 

 felled on 13 May in the Kachugaon forests which 

 was subsequently infested by the bark-borer. The 

 histerid attacks the Sphaerotrypes beetles, and their 

 grubs probably feed upon the larvae also. 



Use ill the Forest. — These two insects are of 

 considerable use, provided they exist in sufficient 

 abundance to exercise a salutary check on the bark- 

 boring pest. This I have not yet ascertained. Any 

 ensis Steb. Goalpara. insect predaceous upon a pest is, however, of great 

 value, and the life history of the Platysoma requires 

 working out. The number of generations in the year, period passed in larval 

 stage, and food eaten by larvae, etc., all require to be studied. 



Fig. 320. 

 Platysoma sp., predaceous 



upon Sphaerotrypt 

 assam 



Sphaerotrypes globulus, Blandford. 



Referen'CE. — Blandf. Trans. Ent. Sac. Land. 63 (1894). 



Habitat. — Central Provinces Sal Forests. 



Trees Attacked. — Sal {Shorea robnsta) ; Teruiinalia tomentosa. Mandla, 

 Central Provinces. 



Beetle. — Squat, ovate, black, elytra black with a suggestion of a 

 dark reddish tinge, under-surface with a silvery pubescence ; antennae 

 orange, legs dark red. Vertex of head reticu- 

 Description. late and punctate, more punctate laterally, 



front reticulate-punctate, with a short median 

 longitudinal raised line reaching from level of base of eyes to near lower 

 margin of front, in other cases stretching to about level of middle of eyes; 

 a semicircular fringe of whitish hairs stretches along anterior edge of 

 vertex between eyes. Prothorax constricted in anterior portion and 

 much depressed, the median line terminating anteriorly at the depressed 

 part ; surface finely reticulate and punctate, slightly shining, with 

 fine short white setae, densest laterally. Elytra striate-punctatc, 

 the scales black, large, and prominent, intervals smooth and finely 

 punctate. Under-surface with lateral portions of thorax and anterior abdominal segments 

 reticulate and clothed with a rather dense short silvery pubescence ; the legs clothed with 

 same silvery pubescence. Length, 2.6 mm. to 3.2 mm. 



Flc. 321. 



Sphaerotrype.t 



globulics, Blandford. 



Central Provinces. 



