PINE BORERS. 701 



of Europe, the larva living in the trunks of pines, excavating a wavy 

 shallow track under the bark, which is packed full of sawdust, and 

 when almost fully grown sinking itself obliquely downwards several 

 inches into the wood, to repose during its pupa state. 



Specimens occur in which the thorax is plainly narrower than the 

 wing-covers, more distinctly puuctured, and destitute of the two im- 

 pressed spots. These are the violet-colored Callidium, G.janthinum of 

 Dr. Le Conte and of Dej can's Catalogue. But individuals appear to 

 occur of all intermediate varieties, and I am therefore inclined to think 

 they can scarcely be regarded as constituting two distinct species. 

 (Fitch.) 



We have observed this beetle in considerable numbers under pine 

 boards, and also flying, at Bruuswick, Me., in the middle of May. Mr. 

 George Hunt has observed it in pine trees at Providence, R. I. We found 

 at Providence, May 14, a dozen or more individuals under the bark of a 

 dead Junipenis virginiana. The track made by the larva, as we sup- 

 posed it must have been of this insect, was irregularly wavy, like that 

 of other longicorn grubs, and filled its castings compactly with a fine 

 dust ; it was shallow and 4 or 5 inches long. Whether it was made 

 before the death of the tree is unknown, but the work of this and its 

 fellows had loosened the bark, several larvae having been at work 

 together. 



Regarding the confusion existing between this beetle and Pseno- 

 cerus supernotatus Dr. John Hamilton writes as follows (Can. Eut.) : 



Five times this has appeared on the lists of some of the more accurate of my cor- 

 respondents, and as many times, instead, have I been sent Psenocerus supernotatus 

 Say. I could scarcely account for this, and for the great demand for so common and 

 so widely distributed an insect as P. supernotatus, till an appeal for the correctness 

 of the determination pini was made to the Journal of the Acad. Nat. Sci., ser. 2, v. 

 2, p. 158, the writer stating that Dr. Le Conte had several years ago so named his 

 insect. Reference to the place cited shows that Dr. Le Conte then regarded the CaU 

 Udium pini Oliv. and the Clytus supernotatus Say as one species, which he placed in 

 the genus Psenocerits. Subsequent investigation proved that ^Jirti (which had been 

 unknown in nature to Dr. Le Conte) was different from supernotatus, both as to spe- 

 cies and genus. The error was corrected in the books, but it has given rise to a great 

 mistake in the tradition of the insect. I have not yet seen jiini, but from the descrip- 

 tion of Dr. Le Conte (Smithsonian Misc. Coll., 1873, vol. vi, p. 202), it certainly 

 resembles P. supernotatus. To distinguish them at a glance, it is only necessary to 

 remember that the thorax of the former, instead of being pitted, is longitudinally 

 rugose, and that there is on the elytra anterior to the middle a smooth, ivory white, 

 obliquely transverse line which is wanting on the latter. E. pini seems rare. P. super- 

 notatus is one of the few Cerambycids that occasionally hybernate. In February of 

 the present year I found three in the folds of a Cecropia cocoon taken from some 

 currant bushes. 



