— 172 — 



Balaninus. The recent publication of Dr. John Hamilton on 

 the food habits of the genus leave little for me to add, but a few 

 lines on my experience may be of interest. 



B. uniformis Lee. and B. qiierciis Horn were taken in company 

 in nearly equal numbers, and almost in\-ariably in coitu upon acorns 

 during September. From finding them on only two trees in sepa- 

 rate groves of oaks I was led to believe that they favored particular 

 varieties or species, if not individual trees. On almost everv acorn 

 on these two trees a pair, and sometimes two pairs were found, 

 while the surrounding oaks yielded not a single specimen. 



B. rectus Say I have bred from chestnuts. A i&\\ infested nuts 

 were placed in a small, wide-mouthed bottle nearly filled with coarse 

 sandy soil. A few days afterward three larvae deserted their old 

 homes and at once penetrated to the bottom of the breeding-bottle, 

 where they formed little round cells in the earth. Here through 

 the glass their bodies were plainly visible, where they remained 

 without change till the following fall. They thus passed nearly a 

 year as inactive larvae. The pupa were not seen at all, and this stage 

 must necessarily be of brief duration. The beetles, in good healthv 

 condition, were taken from their earthen cells September 28th and 

 kept without food till October 20th. As many as six half-grown 

 lar\-ae were taken from a single chestnut, though one specimen is 

 the usual number. The larvae of all three species may be found in 

 the nuts as late as November, at which time they enter the ground 

 to undergo their transformations. 



Dryophthonis corticalis develops under the bark of Piiuis rigida 

 March and April. 



Himathtm conicuni Lee. One specimen was taken by me at 

 South Woodstock, Conn., October 22d, under bark oi Pimis strobiis 

 infested by Toiniciis pini. Mr. E. A. Schwarz(Pr. Ent. Soc. Wash. 

 vol. i, p. 233) has found this species breeding under tulip bark 

 {Liriodendroii), and our other species, erj-ans, which he remarks, is 

 with difficulty to be distinguished from it, occurs under pine bark. 

 Ls it possible that the two species are distinct ? 



Rhynchohis briinneus Mann, is possessed of similar habits to 

 PhkeophagiLS and Ste^wscelis, of \\hich mention has been made in a 

 previous number (p. 99). I have found it only once, but at that 

 time some twenty-five or thirty specimens were taken from a small 

 piece of cherry wood {Pnaius scrotina). April. 



The species of Cossonus are subcortical. C. concinnus Boh. 

 and co7'ticola Say infest pines, often occurring in abundance. July. 



