4 
place, under leaves or in similar situations, on the trees which they 
inhabit. 
Soon after their first appearance the sexes mate and eggs are de- 
posited. The female first makes an incision in the bark—probably by 
means of her mandibles—causing it to split shghtly; then, turning 
head upward, she places an egg under the bark nearly a quarter of an 
inch from the incision, accompanying the deposition by the extrusion 
of ‘a gummy fluid which covers and secures it to its place and usually 
fills up the aperture. In young trees with tender bark the egg is 
usually thoroughly hidden, while in older trees it is sometimes so 
shallowly imbedded as to be readily seen.” 
“The egg is pale rust-brown in color, one-eighth of an inch long, 
one-third as wide at the middle, flattened so as to have a depth of 
about one-third the width.” 7 Its shell is fairly tough and resistant, 
not sculptured, and sufficiently plastic, when laid, to receive impres- 
sions from the woody fibers between which it is forced. Oviposition 
has been observed from June to September in a single locality (Law- 
rence, Kansas), but June is the month in which most of the eggs are 
laid. Fitch and others observed the beetles in the trees, neap Albany, 
_N. Y., as early as April. 
_ Regarding the duration of the egg stage, Mr. E. W. Junkins ® states 
that a young borer larva was observed July 7 from eggs that were 
deposited June 15. This would give a period of twenty-two days, but 
we have no further data bearing on this point. 
The larve, soon after hatching, tunnel under the bark and feed on 
the sap-wood, gradually working their way upward and afterwards 
downward, usually remaining within a short distance of, or below the 
surface of, the ground, particularly in young trees. By the beginning 
of the second year the larve, according to observations conducted by 
the writer, attain an average length of about five-eighths of an inch. 
The larval growth will naturally vary according to temperature, mois- 
ture, quantity of food available for consumption, and other condi- 
tions. With the approach of cold weather the larve cease feeding, 
but with the beginning of warm spring weather—in the District of 
Columbia as early as the latter days of March—they again commence 
forcing their excrement and castings, consisting of gnawed particles 
of wood, out through holes which they make in their burrows. By 
the end of the second year the larve have increased considerably in 
size and have now penetrated deeper into the solid heart-wood, their 
burrows being closely packed behind them with castings. The third 
year the larve gnaw outward to the bark, form a pupal cell composed 
@ Above quotations from account by Riley in New York Weekly Tribune, Feb. 20, 
1878; Kans. Hort. Rept. for 1879, pp. 196-201. 
b New England Homestead, Jan. 3, 1885. 
[Cir. 32] 
