I OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 115 



the habit ol" all snout-beetles. Mr. Howard thus describes his own 

 observations of these insects: "It requires about a day to make a 

 puncture and deposit the egg. During the time the puncture is being 

 made, the male stands guard, occasionally assisting the female in ex- 

 tracting her beak: this he does by stationing himself at a right angle 

 with her body, and by pressing his heavy pro-sternum against the tip 

 of her abdomen ; her stout fore legs serving as a fulcrum, and long 

 body as a lever. When the beak is extracted, the female uses her 

 antennm for freeing the pincers or jaws of bits of wood or dust, the 

 antenna^ being furnished with stiflF hairs and forming an excellent 

 brush. Should a strange male approach, a heavy contest at once 

 ensues, and continues until one or the other is thrown from the tree. 

 The successful party then takes his station as guard. These contests 

 sometimes last for hours, and are always repeated if the proper male 

 is defeated, though not often if he is successful. I think it is by mere 

 'happen so' that the stranger passes by or runs across the busy 

 couple, and if successful in routing his rival he takes the same care of 

 the female as did the vanquished individual. The habits of these 

 insects are much like those of the Curculio family. When disturbed 

 they told themselves up as well as they can and drop to the ground,, 

 where they feign death. They will soon ' come to ' and hide beneath 

 pieces of bark, stones or other rubbish, Curculio-like." 



Mr. Howard is of opinion that this insect requires two years for its 

 transformations, passing the first winter in the larva, the second in the 

 beetle state. In some stove-wood (apparently red-oak) which was, in 

 places, riddled by it as though pierced with different sized shot, I have 

 myself found both larvae of difterent sizes and beetles, in mid- winter; 

 but it is difficult to draw conclusions from such facts, as many insects 

 which are known to develop within a single year, are found in differ- 

 ent states throughout the year, owing to irregularity of development 

 and lengthened period during which eggs are being deposited. 



The larva bores in all directions through the heart-wood. It is 

 found most commonly in stumps or in felled trees the year after they 

 are cut ; yet both Harris and Mr. Howard concur in stating that it also 

 works in living trees. Harris speaks of it as infesting the White oak, 

 but it is, with us, equally common on the Black, lied and Post oaks. 



The larva (Fig. ol, a) has the legs sub-obsolete, the thoracic joints 

 swollen and the end of the body slightly swollen and blunt. 



EursALis MINUTA — Larvu. — Length 0.55-0.75 ; diameter in middle of body 0.05 inch. 

 Body ahnost straight, cylindrical, r2-jointed, with a few faint hairs only on prothorax 

 and around anus: thoracic joints short, bent a little forward, swollen and broadly 

 and deeply wrinkled, with two especially prominent swellings on top of joints 2 and 3, 

 converging toward head, and having each a granulated rufous spot : the other joints 



