BEETLES. 



327 



:;i;:'.. — r.tm- 



im's ; above, front 

 view of head. 



roots of the same plants. T. /(//■'(njihl/ia/iiuiii lias bhu'k legs and anteiuite, four lilark 

 dots arranged in a siiiiai-(.- on the )a-othorax, and four spots of varialile size on each 

 elytron. In Europe sjieeies of related genera, P/u/t'Xciii and A(/a- 

 paiit/iici. damage various wild and cultivated phuits. 



Onculeres has moderately divergent claws, angulated anterior and 

 open middle cox.a% and large front. O. cingulatus, a grayish-brown 

 species, girdles and ])artly cuts off the twigs of hickory, pear, and other 

 trees, in August and September, after having deposited eggs in the 

 portion of the twig beyond the girdling. The winds of autumn break 

 the twig from the trees, and the jiortion containing the eggs falls to 

 the ground. The larva; feed upon the wood of the fallen twig, — -often 

 when numerous reducing it to a mere shell of bark, — attain full 

 growth the next .summer, pu])ate and jiroduce iniagos the following 

 autunni, the whole transfoi'nuitions reijuiring only a year. 



I'oijoiiocherus is a genus of small longicorns, in which the front coxa' are angulated, 

 tiie middle coxa? ojieii, and the claws divaricate. The body and legs bear long hairs, 

 and tufts of hair are found on the elytra. P. mixtus is one of the more common 

 species, and feeds ujion willow. It is about 0.3 of an inch long, and is mottled light 

 and dark gray in color. .Sepai-atcd from I'oijonocherus by the rounded anterior coxffi 

 are the species of Acanthocimis, of which A. asdilis, from Eurojje, is figured. It a]>pears 

 early in spring, and oviposits on many kinds of trees, A obsoletus, a mottled gray 

 and black species, about 0.5 of .■ui inch long, is not uncommon in the United States. 



Acrocbms longimanus^ whicli is common in tropical America, is a very curious and 

 striking s]>ecies of longicoru. The beetle is from 1 to 1.5 inches in length of body. 

 It is remarkable both for its excessively long anterior legs, of which the femora and 

 the tiljire are each ei|ual to or longer than the body, and for having a large movable 

 spine articulateil u])on e.ach side of its ]irothorax. In coloration it is j'ellow, gray, and 

 black, arranged in stri]>es of irregLilar pattern. It feeds upon the milky juice of Flrus 

 (jlahnitu., in the W(,>od of which its large fleshy lar\'a liores. 



The species of Jlonohatnvms are large lieetles having extremely long antennai, 

 especially in the males. The fore-legs of the males are much elongated. The pro- 

 thorax bears a strong lateral spine and the ventral segments are nearly equal in 

 length. M. confiisoi; which is broAvnish gray with the elytra sjiotted with black and 

 white, often reaches a length, exclusive of the antennre, of 1.4 inches. Its larva', as 

 Well as those of J/. Kciift'llafi/s and 3/. marmoratus, bore in pine wood, tlius doing 

 considerable damage to tindier. Pmf. .V. S. Packard says of tlie footless larva of ]ff. 

 co/ifusor. "Boring a hole, in outline rouml and regular, deep in the wood of sound, 

 though usually in decaying, trees, and doing much injury to pine timber; a large, 

 soft, white, fleshy, nearly cylindrit'al grub, the segment next the head larger than the 

 others, flattened, horny, and inclined obli(piely downward and forward, the succeeding 

 rings very slKU't, with a transverse oval rough space on the middle above and below, 

 pui)ating insi<le in the wood, the beetle emerging from a round hole half an inch in 

 diameter." Jf. scutellutiis, mentioned above, is shining black spotted with white, and 

 is very abundan't about midsummer in the northern United States and in British 

 America. It is somewhat smaller than J/! confusor, measuring from 0.5 to 1 inch 

 in length. • 



Closelj' related to Moiio/kuiii/ius arc the genera Plectrodera and Ptychodes. 

 Pleclrodera scalator is about 1.5 inches long, of robust form, and is shining black 



