TKAXSACTIONS OF KOVAL SCOTIISH ARIJORICULTUKAL SOCIETV. 



forest conditions are markedly different from those prevailing 

 on the Continent, it is essential that we should study our forest 

 insects afresh from that aspect. The following paper is a short 

 account of observations on Hylastes ctiniciilanus made in the 

 field under forest conditions that are, unfortunately, all too 

 prevalent in Scotland. 



Material. — The material for the comparison of cuuicularius 

 with its congeners is based, partly on specimens taken at Skene, 

 Aberdeenshire, in 1914, and partly on specimens collected on 

 Darnhall Estate, Peeblesshire, during 19 15- 16. These specimens 

 have been submitted to the British Museum, and the identity of 

 the species has been confirmed there. 



The materials for the illustration of the life-history and of 

 the injuries caused to young plantations by H. cunicularius were 

 obtained on Darnhall. 



The Adult. — As I hope, in a later paper, to deal with the 

 genus Hylastes more fully than is possible here, I can best 

 describe H. amicularius by contrasting it with its more common 

 congeners, which are familiar to most naturalists interested 

 in the Coleoptera. 



The essential features distinguishing the three species are 

 the configuration and sculpture of the thorax. The following 

 table gives the characters of each species. Plate I. fig. 2 

 illustrates the configuration of the thorax in each. It is a familiar 

 figure in the continental text-books, and my only excuse for 

 introducing it here is its usefulness. The specimens from which 

 I have drawn it are all Scottish. 



