INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE OAK. b's 
of this beetle, no European Buprestid beetle being, so far as we know, 
infested by internal parasites: 
Another insect, which has not heretofore been noticed in our country as a borer in 
the apple tree, pertains to the family Buprestidae, or the brilliant snapping beetles. 
Mr. P. Barry, of the Mount Hope nurseries, Rochester, has 
forwarded to us sections of the body of some young apple 
trees, which were sent to him from a correspondent in Hills- 
borough, in Southern Ohio, who states that in that vicinity 
the borer, which is contained in the specimens sent, is do- 
ing great damage to the apple trees, and that he has had 
peach trees also killed by this same worm. From an exami- 
nation of these specimens, it appears that this insect is 
quite similar to the common apple-tree borer in its habits. 
The parent insect deposits its eggs on the bark,from which 
a worm hatches, which passes through the bark and during 
the first periods of its life consumes the soft sap-wood im- 
mediately under the bark. But when the worm approaches 
maturity and has become stronger and more robust, it 
. gnaws into the more solid heart-wood, forming a flattish, FIs. 2.—a, The apple flat- 
: 5 Seite headed borer; b, pupa; ¢c, un- 
and not a cylindrical hole such as is formed by most other der side of head and thoracic 
borers, the burrow which it excavates being twice as broad "88; 4, beetle.—After Riley. 
as it is high, the height measuring the tenth of an inch or slightly over. It is the 
latter part of summer when these worms thus sink themselves into the solid heart_ 
wood of the tree, their burrow extending upwards from the spot under the bark where 
they had previously dwelt. On laying open one of these burrows I find it is more 
than an inch in length, and all its 
lower part is filled and blocked up 
with the fine sawdust-like castings of 
the worm. Thus, when the worm is 
destined to lay torpid and inactive 
during the long months of winter, it 
has the forethought, so to speak, to 
place itself in a safe and secure retreat, 
within the solid wood of the tree, with 
the hole leading to its cell plugged up 
so as effectually to prevent any ene- 
my from gaining admission to it. 
Still, this worm is not able to secure 
itself entirely from those parasitic in- 
sects which are the destroyers of so 
many other species of its race, and 
which, as is currently remarked, ap- 
pear to have been created for the ex- 
press purpose of preying upon those 
species, in order to prevent their be- 
coming excessively multiplied. We 
should expect that this and other bor- 
ers, lying as they do beneath the bark 
LS 
Fic. 3.—Mine or furrow made by the apple flat-headed or within the wood of trees, were so 
borer, (C. femorata), nat. size. —Packard del. ge curely shielded that it would be im- 
possible for any insect enemy to discover and gain access to them, to molest or destroy 
them. But among*the specimens sent me by Mr. Barry is one where the worm has 
been entirely devoured, nothing but its shriveled skin remaining, within and upon 
which are several minute maggots or footless little grubs, soft, dull white, shining, of 
a long egg-shaped form, pointed at the tip and blunt in front, their bodies divided into 
2 RIL 
