THE SI REX AND THE PINE-TEEE. 313 



it. It is thought by many naturalists that the Sirex never 

 attacks growing- trees, but restricts itself to those which are 

 either dead or dying. The late Mr. Waterton was of this 

 opinion. Shortly before liis lamented death he showed me two 

 fir-trees which he had ' girdled' in order to kill them, for the 

 purpose of seeing whether or not the Sirex would attack them. 

 Unfortunately, the accident from which he died put a stop to 

 the experiment. 



It is, at all events, certain that the Sirex does exist in dead 

 timber, and nothing is more common than to see a newly 

 erected summer-house absolutely infested by the Sirex, which, 

 althougli harmless enough, looks so like a hornet that scarcely 

 any persons who are not practical entomologists can believe 

 tliat an insect so formidable in appearance, and armed witli 

 so huge a sting, can be a,nything but dangerous. 



In Curtis' ' Britisli Entomology' it is mentioned that the 

 Sirex has made its appearance in York Minster, a number of 

 the males having been captured as they were flying about the 

 tower ; and Mr. Curtis took occasion to prognosticate danger 

 to the tower, not only from the weakening of the timber, but 

 from its increased liability to combustion, owing to the nume- 

 rous tunnels with which it is perforated. 



I have quite a collection of these insects, sent to me by 

 persons who have found them in newly-panelled rooms, in 

 summer-houses, and similar localities, and who have been quite 

 alarmed at their presence. These, however, mostly belong to 

 another species, Sirex [/ifjas, the female of whicli is yellow and 

 black, like the male, and which therefore looks much more 

 like a hornet than its relative, Sirex juvencus. It is really a 

 splendid insect. One that I have taken at random from a box 

 measures an inch and a half from the head to the end of the 

 tail, the spread of wing is two inches and tliree quarters, and 

 the boring apparatus, which is as large as a ' No. 5 ' needle, is 

 rat*lier more than an inch in lengtli, so that if people mistake 

 it for a poison-bearing sting, they are likely to be afraid of the 

 insect. 



The colouring of this insect is peculiarly bold. The head 

 is thickly punctured, and deep black, except a patch of bright 

 yellow behind the eyes. The thorax is also black, punctured, 

 and covered with a coating of tine black down. The abdomcr 



