132 LONG HORNED BEETLES. 



being indicated by a small dark-colored spot. The suj)ply of sap 

 being impeded or stopped, the tip of the cane above tlie upper 

 ring soon begins to droop and wither, and shortly dies, when a 

 tonch will sever it at the point at which it has been girdled. 



"Tiie egg is long and narrow, of a yellow color, and quite 

 large for the size of the insect, and. embedded in the moist sub- 

 stance of the cane, absorbs moisture and increases in size until 

 in a few days a small white grub hatches from it. The larva as 

 it escapes from the egg is about one-fourteenth of an inch long, 

 with a yellow, smooth, glossy body, roughened at the sides, and 

 clothed with very minute short hairs. The head is small and reil- 

 dish-brown, and the anterior segments of the body are swollen ; the 

 larva is also footless. The young larva burrows down the center 

 of the stem, consuming the pith, until full grown, which is usually 

 about the end of August, when it is nearly an inch long and of a 

 dull-yellow color, with a small, dark-brown head. By this time it 

 has eaten its way a considerable distance down the cane, (Fig. 136, 

 Plate IV), in which it remains during the winter, and where it 

 changes to a pupa, the beetle escaping the following June, when 

 it gains its liberty by gnawing a passage through. This borer 

 injures the blackberry as well as the raspberry. 



"The presence of these enemies is readil}- detected by the 

 sudden drooping and withering of the tips of the canes. They 

 begin to operate late in June, and continue their work for several 

 weeks ; hence by looking over the raspberry plantation occasion- 

 ally at this season of the year and removing all the tops dozvii to 

 the lo7vcst ring, so as to insure the removal of the egg, these in- 

 sects may be easily kept under, for they are seldom numerous." 



Other species of this genus in their larval stage make long 

 cylindrical Inirrows in the twigs of tlie cottonwood and other re- 

 lated trees. 



Longicorn beetles are generally favorites with collectors of 

 insects, and are better known as l^eetles than as larvse. But even 

 people not collectors are familiar with some species, since these 

 do not hide, but fully expose themselves on the plants they infest. 

 This is especially true of certain longicorns that are found upon 



