

133 



Hylobius pales. — Herbst. (Pales weevil.) 



Tins species is of a deep chestnut-brown or black color, with 

 whitish spots or partial bands on the wing-cases, and abuut one-tbird 

 of an inch in length. The thighs are toothed on the under side, and 

 the snout, which is about as long as the thorax, is bent down perpen- 

 dicularly, or nearly so. 



The larvae, which are similar to those of other weevils, live in pine 

 trees beneath the bark, burrowing into and destroying the inner sur- 

 face of the bark, and the tender, newly-formed wood, often doing 

 much damage in pine forests. Wilson, the ornithologist, who has 

 described the destructive operations of this species in the forests of 

 South Carolina, suggests the protection and preservation of the wood- 

 pecker as a means of counteracting it, as they hunt for and destroy 

 vast numbers. 



Spec. char. Imago. — Snout nearly straight, directed perpendicularly 

 downwards; slender, cylindrical, and very nearly equal in size 

 throughout ; very slightly enlarged at the tip. Antennae with the 

 basal joint as long as the rest of the antennas; strongly elbowed, and 

 the club at the end somewhat globular ; inserted near the tip of the 

 rostrum. Thorax cylindrical, smaller in front than behind, expanded 

 and dilated in the middle, slightly narrower than the elytra; dis- 

 tinctly and closely punctured ; a slight median line visible. Elytra 

 slightly rounded at the shoulders ; striate, with large regular punc- 

 tures in the striae, of which there are eleven on each wing case. 

 Tibiae with a distinct spur or spine at the tip. General color a dark- 

 brown, almost black, with three obscure, interrupted, oblique, whitish 

 lines on each wing case, which run from the inner margin, behind 

 the middle, outward and forward toward the outer margin ; there is 

 also an indistinct whitish line in advance of these, which runs from 

 the middle of the anterior line mentioned, forward and inward toward 

 the inner margin ; these lines are more or less interrupted, and ap- 

 pear to be made up of quadrate whitish dots. Under side dark, with 

 numerous minute short pale hairs. 



Pissodes strobi — Peck. (White-pine weevil.) 



[ pi s- 18 -1 This is of a rusty-brown color, the 



thorax being darker than the wing-cases, 

 with a minute white dot usually present 

 on each side; there is a grayish-white 

 spot on each w^ng-ease behind the mid- 

 dle ; length one-fourth to one-third of an 

 inch ; the snout is rather longer than 

 the thorax and curved obliquely down- 

 ^ ^a^ ward. This species often proves very 



pwsodes strobi— a, larva; b' pupa, destructive to pine trees. The eggs, ac- 

 cording to Prof. Peck, are deposited upon the leading shoots of the 

 pine, probably immediately under the outer bark. The larvae hatched 

 therefrom bore into the wood, in which they reside during the pre- 

 paratory stages ; just before entering the pupa state they gnaw a pas- 

 sage from the interior to the outer bark, through which the beetle 

 may escape. These make their appearance during September and 

 October. This is its method of attacking the white pine, to which it 



