REPORT OF THE SOCIETY 9-7 



Three main plots were marked off, two far control and the third for life 

 history studies. All trees were numbered. At first, identification tags of cartridge 

 paper were used for this purpose; but these attracted too much public attention 

 and were often as a consequence, torn off by curious visitors. Stencelling the 

 trees in wldte lead, however, proved q\>(e satisfactory. Large round tobacco 

 tins were used to catch the adults and to collect frass. The bottom of each 

 tin was first removed; sides split up about an inch all around with a shears; 

 the cut parts turned outward at right angles to the sides; the tin then nailed 

 on to the tree over the hole where frass was issuing and the top put on. Banding 

 the trees with wire cloth was found unsatisfactory as the specimens became 

 mutilated on account of entanglement in the netting, and in some cases were 

 destroyed by ants. 



The plots were visited dail}^ throughout May and June to determine the 

 date of emergence, obtain adult and pupal records and remove empty skins from 

 the deserted burrows as they were discovered. The larval borings were cleared 

 from the entrance of the tunnels by means of a long-haired brush. 



Several experiments in egg deposition under more restricted conditions 

 were carried out at the Divisional Field Laboratory which was situated closed 

 to the park, the results of which appear further on. Notes were kept on the 

 hatching of all eggs, both in the laboratory and in the field, as well as on the 

 habits of 3'oung caterpillars and older larvae at work within the wood. During 

 the winter the plots were v'isited and special trees felled for the purpose of 

 locating the positions of the hibernating larvae and obtaining other data. 



A great many photographs were taken; also drawings, charts and tables 

 made, some of which have been used to illustrate the text. 



DISTRIBUTION 



P. macmurtrei is confined for the most part to Eastern Canada and the 

 Atlantic States but has been taken as far south as Texas. (U. S. Bull. 3, Div. 

 Entom., p. 5.) The western limit appears to be Minnesota. 



Its host, as shown from Canadian records is the oak. It has been briefly 

 recorded from chestnut in New York State Museum Report for 1919, on page 

 516 as follows: "P. macmurtrei Guer. — Larva in oak and chestnut." In Trac- 

 ker's ''Classification of Lepidopterous Larvae" on page 78, this short, very 

 indefinite note appears: — "P. macmurtrei bores in a number of different trees." 

 Felt, in Memoir 8, N.Y. St., Museum, Vol. 2, page 439, devotes half a page to 

 a description of P. inacmurtrei and makes the following brief note; "bores in 

 black oak". Apart from these three references, no host other than oak is 

 recorded in the scanty literature available on the subject. 



THE HOST TREE 



Before beginning a discussion of the bionomics of P. macmurtrei, it may 

 be well to give a just bri^f account of some observations and field notes 

 made by the writer on the characteristics, habits and economic status of the 

 host tree. 



The Red Oak, Quercus rubra Linn., is a native of Canada and has a range 



of growth extending from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to the west of 



Lake Superior. It is a handsome, straight-trunked tree, branches well and 



affords good shade. It appears to favour a great varietv of soils and conditions, 



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