594 



FAMILY SCOLYTIDAE 



Fic. 372. 



Xy Ichor lis parvulm 

 Eichhoff. m Odiiia 

 -ivodicr. Siwciliks. 



373- 



Xxlebonis farinilus, 



Eichhoff. Nilumbur, 



Malabar. 



Xyleborus parvulus. Eichhoft. 



Keferkn'CE. — Eichhoff, Hevl. Knt. Zeitschr. vol. 12, p. 152 (1868). 



Habitat. — Siwaliks, Northern India ; South Malabar, Madras. 



Trees Attacked. — Odina wodicr: Shajehanpur, Siwaliks; Biiclianania 

 lati folia : Karwapani, Dehra Dun : Unknown : Karimponga Plantation, 

 Nilumbur. 



Beetle. — Elongate, cyhndrical. Red-brown, moderately shining ; under-surtace lighter, 

 legs and antennae orange-brown. Head hidden by prothorax, punctate, front convex. I'ro- 



thorax longer than wide. 

 Description, base truncate, sides 



straight, apex rounded ; 

 anterior third with large transxerse asperi 

 ties decreasing in size and giving place to 

 reticulations medianly on disk : posterior 

 half punctate, smooth ; sides and apex 

 with sparse long spiny setae. Scutellum 

 large, heart-shaped, blackish brown. 

 I'ilytra nearly half as long again as pro- 

 thorax, scarcely wider than latter at base, 

 slightly wider apically ; strongly punctate, 

 the punctures large, shallow, often becom- 

 ing reticulate ; the suture thickened and 

 blackish ; declivity rather sharp, with a black pointed tubercle near upper part and close 

 to suture and a much smaller one laterally and higher up : punctate, with scattered stiff 

 setae which are also present on sides of elytra. Under-surface punctate, tibiae dentate and 

 spined. Length, 2 mm. to 2.3 mm. 



This small scolytid oviposits in the dying timber of O^/j;/^ wodicr. At 

 the beginning of December 1902 I took a number of 



Life History. the beetles from tunnels in the wood in which they were 



maturing. The trees in which they were found had 



been felled over in coppice fellings made between the previous January and 



March. I was able to ascertain the fact that the female lays several eggs 



at the bottom of the egg-tunnel, which is driven into the solid wood. 



At the commencement of February 1906 a generation of this insect 

 was foimd maturing in a standing tree of 2 ft. girth. The bark showed 

 ninnerous shot-holes on the outside, and on removing it these holes were 

 seen to penetrate the sapwood. An inspection showed that the tunnels 

 in the sapwood were carried from varying distances inwards, but that the 

 majority went down to the centre of the heart-wood. The upper part of the 

 tunnel aL its entrance into the sapwood was in most cases blocked by the 

 dead body of tlie mother beetle. After completing the egg-tunnel in the 

 wood and laying her eggs in it, she had retired up it and died near the 

 entrance, thus effectually blocking it against intruders. 



The egg-tunnel is carried as mentioned to near the centre of the tree 

 by the female insect, and her eggs are laid at the bottom of it. On hatching 



