History and Habits of Pityogenes. 61 
moving shadows by backing upward and closing the 
entrance of the burrow with his body with the elytral 
declivity level with the surface of the bark and parallel to it. 
If the stiff hairs upon the elytra are gently touched while 
he is in this guarding position, he will respond by crowding 
closer to the burrow on the side stimulated. This would 
serve to effectively guard against the entrance of small 
enemies. If the elytra are firmly touched, the male will 
immediately retreat into the burrow if it is occupied by 
him alone, but if one or more mates share his burrow he 
can be driven from his guarding position only by vigorous 
prodding. 
The male cannot be driven from his burrow by flooding 
it with either water, pitch or spirits of turpentine. 
If the burrow is entirely filled with water, he will con- 
tinue to work submerged in water as long as the end of his 
elytra is not covered. If the entire body is covered, he 
immediately becomes motionless and remains so at the 
entrance of the burrow in the guarding position until the 
flood subsides below the end of his abdomen. 
Specimens when removed from the bark and submerged 
in a drop of spirits of turpentine die within a few seconds. 
When a burrow containing a male was filled with turpentine 
the occupant backed out to the entrance and although he 
showed evidence of great distress for nearly an hour, he did 
not leave the burrow and resumed work soon after the 
turpentine had evaporated and soaken into the bark. He 
was later as vigorous as any specimen under observation. 
In excavating the entrance gallery the male often taps 
resin ducts and the burrow becomes filled with liquid resin 
or pitch. He usually succeeds in disposing of this by con- 
structing a pitch tube composed of resin and frass, but some- 
times is overcome by too great a flow and his body remains 
embedded in the hardened pitch in the entrance gallery. 
The male does not leave the burrow even though it be- 
comes brimming full of pitch but remains in this sticky 
liquid with only the tip of his abdomen protruding. He 
seeks to dispose of the material in various ways, but seldom 
or never abandons his burrow. 
