INSECTS AFFECTING I'AKK AND WOODLAND TREES 73 



Tolman of Concord, states that he took two spechiiens on pine. We are 

 inclined to believe that this latter was merely an accidental occurrence. A 

 small parasite, Bracon agrilli Ashm., has been reared from cocoons, 

 frequently occurring in the galleries and pupal chambers made by this insect 

 in hickory. 



Black elm snout beetle 

 Jfagda/is barb it a Say 



Dying or dead limbs witli the inner liark infested by short, white, curved, legless 

 grubs, or with the outer bark showing circular exit holes, are usually caused by the work 

 of this little black beetle. 



This small insect represented on plate 3, figure 6, is only about y^^ 

 inch long, and together with the closely allied M. armicollis Say., has 

 been reared from elm in considerable numbers. The adult of this species 

 is easily recognized by its jet-black color in connection with its occurrence 

 in elm. The difference between the other stages of this and related forms, 

 if any, are very slight. The method of work of this species is shown on 

 plate 3. 



Life history. The larvae of this beetle transform to pupae in May, and 

 adults begin to appear, according to Mr M. F. Adams of Buffalo, about the 

 2ist, and from the 23d to the 30th, he obtained them in large numbers, a 

 few emerging as late as June 9. The beetles feed to some extent on the 

 foliage, as the writer took a specimen on the underside of a young elm leaf 

 where it had skeletonized a small patch. This species apparently requires 

 but one year to complete its life cycle. The burrows of the grubs are about 

 1 1^ inches long, running generally with the grain, and are confined very 

 largely to the inner layers of the bark. The final transformations to the 

 adult occur in oval cells just beneath its surface. 



Food habits. This insect has been recorded by Mr \V. H. Harrington, 

 as feeding on the bark of dead or felled hickories. He states that the 

 grubs live in great numbers between the bark and wood. Dr J. B. Smith, 

 state entomologist of New Jersey, records it from shell bark hickory and as 

 breeding in fallen hickories. It seems very probable that the above reports 



