281 



doubtful. Constructional timber is chiefly attacked when still un- 

 barked. The swarming and pairing period is more prolonged than in 

 any other species. Indoors this beetle is met with almost throughout 

 the year, from spring to autumn. The eggs are deposited beneath 

 the bark or in fissures. The pupal stage lasts about 14 days and 

 complete development occupies about one year. E. mollis differs from 

 the other Anobiids in the shortness of its galleries and is remarkable 

 in that it lacks the habit of tapping, by which the sexes of the other 

 species attract one another. Ptilmus pectinicornis, L., appears to be 

 less frequently met with than the other species. Both in England 

 and Germany it causes much injury to furniture. It chiefly infests 

 the wood of deciduous trees, such as the oak and the beech, but also 

 attacks conifers. Swarming takes place in early summer, the insects 

 passing most of their lives in the mines, which they do not leave even 

 for pairing. The larval stage lasts about a year, while the pupal stage 

 takes from a few days to three weeks. 



As destroyers of constructional timber the Anobiid beetles have 

 little economic importance, so that buildings are not likely to be 

 endangered by them. In furniture, objects of art, etc., their injury 

 may be very serious. Panelliug is apt to suffer much ; the carvings 

 of Grinling" Gibbons in many old buildings in England have been 

 damaged in this manner. In cases where infestation is still slight it 

 is easy to destroy the insects and further trouble may be obviated by 

 adopting preventive measures. Lijmexylon navale has occasionally 

 appeared in oak in shipyards ; some years ago Ernobius fnollis 

 destroyed forestry exhibits at Eberswalde and Tharandt ; Bodrychvs 

 caqmcinus has been found in barrel staves and parquet flooring and 

 in chestnut wood ; Lyctus has caused great damage in carpenters' 

 shops. The only known instance of considerable architectural injury 

 by Anobiid beetles is that of the roof of the principal church at Altona. 



As regards preventive control, little is known of natural enemies. 

 The larvae of the Clerid beetles, Opilo doDiesticus, 0. mollis, Corynefes 

 coer ulcus and Tillus eJongafus, prey on those of the Anobiids, while 

 the adults attack the adults. No practical importance can be attached 

 to the use of certain supposedly immune timbers as .systematic 

 investigations on this point are lacking. The practice of ringing trees 

 before felling is useless as a preventive of injury. The treatment of 

 cut timber with various protective substances has not yet been 

 thoroughly worked out, but tar oil and its derivatives, such as carbol 

 and phenol, are of undoubted value, and may, if purified and diluted, 

 be used for protecting furniture and other articles. Fumigation with 

 hydrocyanic acid gas has proved the best method, where it can be 

 safely used. For household use carbon tetrachloride may be employed 

 for fumigating or washing the infested articles. Where burrows have 

 to be filled in, paraffin wax is the best substance to use. 



Keausse (A.). Wolffiella ruforum m., nov. gen. nov. spec, ein neuer 

 Chalcidier aus den Eiern von Lophyrus rufus. [Wolffiella ruforum, 

 gen. et sp. n., a new Chalcid from the eggs of Lophyrus.]— 

 Zeitschr. f. Forst- u. Jagdwesen, Berlin, il, no. 1, January 1917, 

 pp. 26-35, 25 figs. [Received 1st May 1917.] 

 This paper records a new Chalcid, Wolffiella ruforum bred from eggs 



of Lophyrus rufus deposited on pine needles collected in East Prussia. 



