154 TRANSACTIONS OF ROYAL SCOTTISH ARBORICTJLTURAL SOCIETY. 



Clark, Kelly-Methlick, has warred against paUiatus in this way, 

 and with extremely satisfactory result. 



Hylobius abietis, L. — The Large Pixe Weevil. 



This beetle, one of the very woi*st enemies of the forester in 

 Scotland, does its harm in the adult stage, not, as with many 

 other forest pests, during its larval life. The adult weevils attack 

 plantations or nurseries of young conifers, principally spruce and 

 larch and pine, sometimes also feeding off young broad-leaved 

 species which may be mixed with the conifers. The beetle does 

 its worst work on plants of from two to five or six years of age 

 by gnawing patches of bark out of them right into the cambium, 

 so that acres and acres of young plants may be destroyed. The 

 beetle is half an inch long. It is black or deep brown in colour, 

 with yellow scales or hairs on various parts of the body; in the 

 old beetles these scales may have been rubbed off. There is a 

 well-marked proboscis. 



I have known H. abietis to be confused with Pissodes pini, 

 not so much in mode of work, for P. pini is most harmful as grub, 

 but in appearance. The two pests may be distinguished thus : — 



Hylobius abietis. Pissodes pini. 



Femur of all the six legs with No spine or tooth on the 



a marked spine or tooth. femur. 



Antennae inserted on the pro- Antenna? inserted about the 



boscis, near its apex. middle of the proboscis. 



Larger. Smaller. 



Hylobius abietis chooses as its favourite place of egg-laying the 

 roots of the stumps of felled conifers. From the eggs, laid singly, 

 hatch yellowish legless grubs, which make long galleries in the 

 cambial region. When full grown, the grubs hollow out a well- 

 marked bed in the wood, and here, covered by a quantity of 

 sawdust and woodchips, they lie, and pass into the pupal 

 condition. 



The adult beetles have a long life, extending to two years and 

 more, it may be. The egg-laying of the individual is not con- 

 fined to a limited period, but may be partly performed in one 

 year, and after the winter's hibernation may be resumed. 



The beetles may be found from April onwards. The first eggs 

 of the year are laid by the adults, whose egg-laying, begun in the 

 previous year, had been interrupted by the intervention of winter, 

 and by other beetles which had issued in the previous year, but 



