92 DR. HARRIS'S REPORT. April, 



mucli more slender than the other larvae of this genus, and are found 

 in the stems of the tall blackberry and other species of Rubus. Ro- 

 esel has described and represented the transformations of an Euro- 

 pean insect closely resembling these, which also lives in the interior 

 of the sterns of some kind of bramble. 



, In Stenocorus the body is slender, the head nutant, or forming an 

 oblique angle forwards ; the antennae are long and spiny ; the thorax 

 approaches to an orbicular form, and is frequently armed at the sides 

 with spines or tubercles ; the apex of the elytra is emarginated or 

 notched, and toothed or terminated with spines. 



Stenocorus cinctus, our largest species, is said to inhabit the hick- 

 ory, in which the larva perforates long galleries in the direction of 

 the fibres. 



Stenocorus putator, or the oak-pruner, so named by Prof. Peck, 

 inhabits the white and black oaks. The egg is laid at the origin of 

 a bud or small twig, near the extremity of a branch ; the larva pene- 

 trates at that spot to the pith, and then continues its course towards 

 the body of the tree, thus forming a cylindrical perforation several 

 inches in length in the centre of the branch. Having reached its full 

 size, which it does towards the close of summer, it divides the branch 

 at the end of its burrow, nearest the body of the tree, by eating it off 

 transversely from within, leaving only the ring of bark untouched. 

 It then retires backward, stops the end of its hole near the transverse 

 section with fibres of the wood, and awaits the fall of the branch, 

 which is usually broken off and precipitated to the ground by the au- 

 tumnal winds. The leaves of the oak are rarely shed before (he 

 branch falls, and thus serve to break the shock. The pupa state 

 takes place in the branch, and the perfect insect is disclosed from 

 the middle of May to the first of July. These insects are noctur- 

 nal, like most of the capricorn beetles, and frequently enter houses 

 in the evening. I have repeatedly seen branches lopped by the 

 larvae, which were nearly an inch in diameter, and five or six feet in 

 length, the transverse section being almost as regular as if made by 

 a saw. It is evident that this kind of pruning must be injurious to 

 the trees, and should be guarded against if possible. By collecting 

 the fallen branches in autumn, and consuming them before spring, 

 we prevent the development of the perfect insect, while we derive 

 some benefit from the branches as fuel. 



