POWDEK-POST DAMAGE BY LYCTUS BEETLES. 



13 



West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Iowa, Michi- 

 gan, and Minnesota. The great number of specimens in the col- 

 lection of the United States National Museum show but a single 

 record from the South Atlantic and Gulf States, and this is evi- 

 dently a temporary introduction. Undoubtedly the species is fre- 

 quently carried into the southern region, but evidently it does not 

 survive there. This beetle is common in commercial products of 

 seasoned hickory, oak, walnut, and ash, and occasionally in poplar, 

 wild cherry, and locust. It is not recorded from natural growth in 

 the open in this country, but is said to infest such growth, as well 

 as commercial products, in Europe. 



Adults of the European species, which has been shown to have a 

 relatively northern distribution in the United States, begin activity 

 as early as the first part of March in its southern distribution and 

 are still active during the first part of August in 

 its northern distribution, general emergence of the 

 adult beetles from infested wood occurring at Wash- 

 ington, D. C, from April until June. The eggs are 

 deposited soon after the adult beetles emerge and 

 are inserted into the pores of the wood by means of 

 a long, slender, flexible ovipositor. The winter is 

 passed in the larval stage in the wood. General 

 pupation occurs from about the middle of April to 

 the first of May in the District of Columbia. 



THE SOUTHERN LYCTUS.i 



The southern Lyctus beetle is pitchy black, slen- Jowaoi-post beetle, 

 der, somewhat flattened, elongate, and from one- Lyctus pianicoius. 

 tenth to one-fifth inch in length. The wing covers 

 have smaller, finer, and deeper punctures in more or less distinct 

 double rows. Individuals of this species vary extremely in size, 

 and there is marked difference in size between the sexes, the males 

 often being much smaller than the females. As the result of con- 

 tinued breeding in the same wood for several generations, in confine- 

 ment the beetles were found to decrease in size. 



This species is injurious to hardwood products in and from the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States to California, Arizona, and Nevada. 

 This range probably represents the natural distribution of this south- 

 ern species. It is frequently introduced into the Northern. Central, 

 and Western States and transported to other countries, but this appar- 

 ently never results in its permanent establishment except in warm 

 storehouses. There are definite records of its occurrence at Cape 



Lyctus platiicollis Lee. 



