66 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 
reflections. Our native searcher, Calosoma scrutator 
Fabr., is larger and has the bright green wing covers bordered with 
purplish while the thorax has a copper-colored margin. The fiery 
ground beetle, Calosoma calidum Fabr., is considerably 
smaller than the other two mentioned, relatively common and is 
easily recognized by the rows of coppery-colored spots on the wing 
covers. All these ground beetles run rapidly, are predacious and 
if handled incautiously they inflict a rather severe bite. This Euro- 
pean species is particularly valuable because both the beetle and the 
grubs climb trees and are therefore specially serviceable in destroy- 
ing tree-feeding pests. They are very apt to be found on or near 
trees. They should be recognized at the outset and protected or at 
least not destroyed. 
Maple and oak twig pruner (Elaphidion villosum 
Fabr.). The work of this common insect attracted more than usual 
attention in the vicinity of New York City, judging from the number 
of inquiries received. The presence of this borer is indicated by the 
dropping of cleanly cut twigs and small branches of oak, maple and 
other trees in the fall, spring and early summer and by lopping tips 
and wilting foliage in late summer and early fall. The borer is a 
legless grub about an inch long when full grown. It tunnels the 
twigs and smaller branches, usually eating away the interior so com- 
pletely that the portion containing the pest drops as indicated 
above. The slender, grayish brown beetles about one-half of an 
inch long appear in midsummer and deposit eggs during July in the 
smaller twigs. 
This insect is not usually very injurious though occasionally trees 
may be severely pruned and in some instances disfigured if not 
damaged by the borer. The most practical control method is the 
collection and burning of infested twigs in the fall, spring and early 
summer. This will be more effective if operations extend over a 
considerable area. There is a chance that spraying with arsenate 
of lead the latter part of July would be of some value in destroying 
the parent beetles before they have had an opportunity to lay eggs. 
Liophloeus nubilus Fabr. (tessellatus Bondsd.). A specimen of 
this insect was received from J. H. Troy, New Rochelle, N. Y., 
December 31, 1917, through Dr G. G. Atwood of the Department 
of Farms and Markets and identified by Doctor Schwarz through 
the courtesy of Dr L. O. Howard as the above-mentioned species. 
Mr Troy states that, ‘‘ In the winter it eats the roots (greenhouses) 
and in summer the leaves of rhododendron and taxus.’’ The reported 
food habits lead us to suspect that most of the damage in this green- 
