APPLE-TRUNK BORER THE LARVA. 17 



wards under the bark, a distance of two feet, the channel be- 

 coming gradually larger as the worm had increased in size. 

 Having traced its burrow thus far by means of a pointed twig, 

 for (said my informant) whenever I find one of these fellows in 

 my trees I am after him immediately ' with a sharp stick,' I 

 found he had bored directly through the centre or heart of the, 

 tree, which was four inches in diameter, taking a course slightly 

 upwards, so that after loosening and removing some of the stuff- 

 ing in the hole, I discovered my rod had pricked through the 

 bark on the opposite side of the tree, and yet did not encounter 

 the worm; but on examining upon this side of the tree I found 

 having not quite completed his feast, he had gone upwards in 

 the sap-wood three inches further, where I finally discovered 

 ' the gentleman.' He evidently had finished his travels, for he 

 was an inch and a half in length, was sluggish and inactive, and 

 to all appearances was about changing to a pupa."' According to 

 Dr. Harris (Treatise on New England Insects, page 95,) the larva 

 state of this insect continues from two to three years. 



Mr. T. B. Ashton, of Whitecreek, New-York, informs me that 

 he has in different years captured about one hundred and fifty 

 of these beetles in their perfect state, and that only one-third of 

 these have been females. According to his observations the time 

 of their appearance varies somewhat, as the season is more for- 

 ward or backward, but commonly, here in Washington county, 

 forty miles north of Albany, they begin to be found upon the 

 trees about the 20th of June, from which time until the close of 

 the month they appear to be more numerous than they are after- 

 wards. 



The mature worm varies considerably in its size, but is most commonly 

 rather less than an inch long, and over a quarter of an inch in diameter ante- 

 riorly at its broadest part. It is of a cylindrical form, the second segment be- 

 ing bulged and rather broader than the others. It is soft and fleshy, and of a 

 very pale yellow or a white color. The head is chestnut-brown, polished and 

 horny, with scattered hairs; the upper jaws (mandibles) are deep black, 

 sloped at their tips, which are obtusely rounded; between them appears the 

 labrum or upper lip, of a tawny yellow color, and densely clothed with short 

 hairs; the throat is also pale tawny yellow. The feelers (palpi) consist of a 

 conical, three-jointed process, on the under side of each mandible, and inserted 

 upon the lower jaw (maxilla) the tip of which slightly projects in the form of 

 a short roundish process at the inner base of the feelers. The feelers of the 

 [Assem. No. 215.] 2 



