300 JOUUXAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 4 



The following brief notes are here given regarding the results of 

 that investigation, as adding somewhat to the history of the first 

 discovery of the insect in this relation, rather than as adding an>i;hing 

 of much importance to the knowledge of the insect or its work, as 

 contained in the bulletin mentioned. 



The Entomological Department of the Maryland Experiment 

 Station obtained its first knowledge of the insect through a letter 

 dated November 30, 1906, from Mr. Clarence Kirwan, Right-of-way 

 Agent of the Cheasapeake and Potomac Telephone Company in 

 Baltimore, Md., who stated that it was doing serious damage to the 

 company's poles at Annapolis. He sent also specimens of the larvae 

 and their work. 



Not being able to identify the pest, and hoping to secure further 

 information, the writer went to Annapolis, December 6, and, with 

 with the help of the company's agent at that place, dug up the stub 

 of one of the poles which had broken off at the surface of the ground, 

 and beside which a new pole had been set. The stub was of chestnut, 

 and the company's men were of the opinion that it had been treated 

 with some kind of preservative before being placed in the ground, but 

 this was not proven. 



That the breaking of the pole had been induced by the work of these 

 insects was evident, since in digging it up, no less than a dozen of the 

 larvse were uncovered in the partly rotten exterior wood, and exami- 

 nation showed the solid heart wood to be honeycombed with burrows 

 which were tightly packed with castings. The greater number of the 

 larvse were located within a few inches of the surface of the ground, 

 but several were found to have gone down to a depth of two feet 

 below the surface. Most of the larvse were in the outer layers of the 

 wood but many had penetrated to a depth of three or four inches. 

 Several other poles were examined and found to be infested, but none 

 so badly as this one. The company's men reported that they had 

 found the same insect in a number of other localities south of Annapo- 

 lis, where it was causing considerable damage. One instance of unset 

 poles, which had been lying on the ground at the roadside for a period 

 of eighteen months being badly infested, was reported. 



The stub of the broken pole was shipped to College Park, and placed 

 in a breeding cage, the bottom of which had been covered with moist 

 sand. Specimens of the larvse and their work were submitted to 

 Dr. A. D. Hopkins, who stated that he was unable to identify it at 

 that time, further than that it was the larvse of a Cerambycid. 



Frequent examinations of the infested poles were made during the 

 spring, summer and fall of 1907, but without finding adult beetles. 

 In November of that year, the pole was cut into and larvse were found 



