444 FIFTH REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGICAL COMMISSION. 



mouth and throughout the autumn and winter following, may be found in the en- 

 larged portions of its burrow with its head and the first third of its body closely bent 

 backward on the reaiaiuiug two-thirds of the length, and in this folded form tilling 

 the cavity gnawed for itself in the wood. The bend of the body is always sideways, 

 and usually to the left. 



About the middle of May the larvje transform, and the puppe are found with their 

 heads occupying the position of the fold just mentioued and next to the rounded eud 

 of the burrow. The ventral side is always outward, that is, toward the surface of 

 the tree. Two weeks or thereabouts later the pupte become perfect beetles, and 

 about the first to the middle of June escape by gnawing outward, making, in so 

 doing, a very different cut from that previously made by the larvae. Seen from with- 

 out the hole is doubly convex, the curvatures being quite unequal, and meeting at a 

 sharp or slightly rouuded angle on either side. As the insect emerges, its back is 

 pressed against the strongly convex side of the excavation. 



The beetle. — About half an inch long, slender, and sluggish. It makes little or no 

 efiort to avoid capture, which is easily enough done. It appears to pass the night at 

 rest in crevices, etc., and moves about only during sunny weather. Eggs are depos- 

 ited within a few days after the mature beetle gains its freedom. It is thus described 

 by Say : " Body cylindrical, olive-green, granulated ; head punctured, with a profound 

 sinus each side for the reception of the antennje, tip rouuded; eyes whitish, with a 

 black, oblong, movable pupil; thorax with an oblique indented line each side, and 

 a longitudinal dorsal one; basal edge sinuated ; scutel transversely elongated, with 

 an impressed transverse line behind ; elytra scabrous or granulated, without striiB or 

 punctures; an elevated longitudinal line, and an indented large spot at base; tip 

 serro-dentate. Length two-fifths of an inch nearly. This species has three hardly 

 visible fulvous spots on the elytra; one on the depressed base, one near the suture 

 before the middle, and one behind the middle, also near the suture. I have a spt-ci- 

 nien in which these spots are not at all visible. The elevated line at the posterior 

 angles of the thorax is short, but verj^ obvious." 



10. The poplar .egeria. 



JEgeria tricincta Harris. 



The caterpillars bore in Populus candicans in winter and spring, the 

 moths perhaps placing their eggs in the deserted bnrrows of Saperda 

 mcesta. They inhabit the branches, suckers, and small trunks in New 

 York, on the smaller stalks raising galls. The larva is dull white, head 

 light brown, otherwise much as in other ^gerian caterpillars. The 

 habits of this borer have been described by Dr. D. S. Kellicott in the 

 Canadian Entomologist (vol. xiii, p. 3) as follows : 



During June and July last I obtained several examples of this moth from larvje 

 secured in April. These larvae were taken from branches, suckers, and small trunks 

 of Populus candicayis growing on low lands along the Niagara below the city [Buffalo]. 

 The smaller ones were sometimes found in the sapwood, or just beneath the bark, 

 but the larger ones were generally in the center or pith of the stems ; on the smaller 

 stalks they cause considerable galls, quite as prominent as those upon the willow 

 branches made by the larva of the Tortrix, very abundant in the same locality. 

 These poplars are badly infested by the larvae of Saperda moesta, and I am of the opinion 

 that the moth places her eggs in the deserted burrows of the beetle, the young cater- 

 pillars thus easily gaining access to the wood, their home for at least a year. The 

 swellings on the branches caused by the beetle become more enlarged by a second 

 occupation. I have taken them from the stem just above ground, and from limbs 

 of trees many feet high. The larva before transforming prepares a way for final 



