116 



LONG HORNED BEETLES. 



opening of which it carefully stops up with gnawed fragments 

 of wood. If the limb be short, it severs all the woody fibers, 

 leaving it fastened only by the bark ; if longer a few of 'the 

 woody fibers on the upper side are left ; and if very long and 

 heavy, not more than three-fourths of the wood will be cut 

 through. Having performed the operation, and closed its hole so 

 thalt the jarring of the branch when it fall may not shake out 

 the occupant, the larva retreates to the spot at which it first en- 

 tered the limb. After the branch has fallen it eats its wav grad- 



Fig. 120. — Elaphidium villosum. Fab.— After Division of Entomology, U. S. 

 Department of Agiiculture. 



ually through the center of the limb for a distance of from six 

 to twelve inches, when, having completed its growth, it is trans- 

 formed to a pupa within the enclosure. Sometimes this change 

 takes place in the autumn, but more frequently it is deferred un- 

 til the spring, and from the pupa the beetle escapes during the 

 month of June. 



"The larva, (Fig. 120), when full grown is a little more 

 than half an inch long, thickest towards the head, tapering grad- 

 ually backwards. The head is small and black, body yellowish- 

 white, with a few indistinct darker markings. It has six very 



