220 PROTECTION AGAINST INSECTS. 



3. Strophosomus coryli, Fabr. 

 a. Descriptwn. 



The beetle is 4 to 6 mm. in length, short and thick, with 

 the elytra convex and suhspherical ; covered with close-lying 

 mottled brownish-grey scales, except over the base of the 

 suture, which is black and bare ; prothorax with a fine median 

 furrow ; antennae and legs ferruginous. 



b. Life-history, etc. 



Pairing takes place in June, and oviposition follows on 

 small roots near the surface of the soil. The larvae lie under 

 the surface-covering, especially in dry places, pupating in July 

 and the beginning of August. The perfect insects are dis- 

 closed in August and September. They are wingless, and 

 ascend trees by climbing, beginning in early spring to feed on 

 the needles and bark of young pines and spruce (by preference 

 about two years old). This insect, which is abundant both 

 in conifer woods and in those of broadleaved trees, is 

 occasionally very injurious. 



c. Protective Rules. 



Thorough grubbing-up of stumps and root-stocks ; employ- 

 ment in cultivations of well- grown and not too young plants ; 

 trap-ditches ; the collection of the beetles in August and Sep- 

 tember under pieces of bark on the ground, which are kept 

 down with stones and visited daily. Collection of the perfect 

 insects from the plants by shaking, which should be done in 

 the spring ; the beetles drop readily. 



S. obesus, Marsh., and S. limbatus, Schonh., are allied species 

 of similar appearance and habits. 



Various other species, as Sitones lineatus, L., and the Phyl- 

 lobii, weevils covered with bright or dull green scales, also eat 

 buds and shoots, chiefly of broadleaved trees. The usual 

 treatment is the collection, by shaking, of the insects at the 

 time of the injury. 



