106 COLEOPTERA. 



together in June and July, on logs or on the trunks of trees 

 in the woods, the males paying their court to the females, 

 or contending with their rivals, waving their antenna?, and 

 showing the eagerness of the contest or pursuit by their 

 rapid creaking sounds. 



The head of the Lamias is vertical or perpendicular ; the 

 antenna} of the males are much longer than the body, and 

 taper to the end ; the thorax is cylindrical before and behind, 

 and is armed on the middle of each side with a very large 

 pointed wart or tubercle ; the tips of the wing-covers are 

 rounded ; and the fore legs are longer than the rest, with 

 broad hairy soles in the males. 



The titillator is of a brownish color, variegated or mottled 

 with spots of gray, and the wing-covers, which are coarsely 

 punctured, have also several small tufted black spots upon 

 them ; the middle legs are armed with a small tooth on the 

 upper edge ; the antennae of the male are twice as long as 

 the body, and those of the other sex equal the body in 

 length, which measures from one inch and one eighth to 

 one inch and one quarter. What kind of tree the grub of 

 this insect inhabits is unknown to me. 



Trees of the poplar tribe, both in Europe and America, 

 are subject to the attacks of certain kinds of borers, differing 

 essentially from all the foregoing when arrived at maturity. 

 They belong to the genus Saperda. In the beetle state the 

 head is vertical, the antennas are about the length of the 

 body in both sexes, the thorax is cylindrical, smooth, and 

 unarmed at the sides, and the fore legs are shorter than the 

 others. Our largest kind is the Saperda calcarata of Say 

 (Plate II. Fig. 21), or the spurred Saperda, so named 

 because the tips of the wing-covers end with a little sharp 

 point or spur. It is covered all over with a short and close 

 nap, which gives it a fine blue-gray color, it is finely punc- 

 tured with brown, there are four ochre-yellow lines on the 

 head, and three on the top of the thorax, the scutel is also 

 ochre-yellow, and there are several irregular lines and spots 



