770 



CERAMBYCID.E. 



the lower part of the face ; the upper jaws are robust 

 and horny, alike in both sexes ; the lower jaws are 

 terminated by two very distinct hairy lobes ; the eyes 

 are notched, or rather kidney shaped, the antennae 

 being inserted in the notch ; the thighs are generally 

 thick towards the tip, but slender at the bar ; and the 

 body is mostly long and narrow. 



These insects are, for the most part, of a large size, 

 and from their very great numbers, especially in 

 tropical climates, it is evident that they must be im- 

 portant instruments in checking the overpowering 

 masses of vegetation. Their forms are, in general, 

 very elegant, and their colours much diversified. 

 Except in the genera Necydalis and some of the Cal- 

 Kdiums which frequent flowers, the majority are found 

 upon the trunks of large forest trees, where they may 

 be observed sucking up the sap which flows from the 

 wounded parts. The females are, in general, dis- 

 tinguished by their larger size and shorter antennae. 

 In this sex also, the abdomen is terminated, in many 

 species, by a long horny and retractile borer, with 

 which they are enabled to introduce their eggs into 

 the cracks and crevices of trees. In these insects we 

 also perceive a peculiarity of structure, which is espe- 

 cially adapted to their mode of life. In the ground 

 beetles, Carabidce, the feet .are terminated by an arti- 

 culated tarsus, composed of several long and slender 

 joints having two strong claws at the tips ; but in 

 the Ccrambycidte, and, in fact, in the majority of wood 

 and plant feeding beetles, we find the feet terminated 

 by a short tarsus, having dilated points, and furnished 

 beneath with a spongy kind of cushion, which is 

 evidently adapted to enable them to retain a long 

 stationary position upon the upright steins of trees, 

 just as the cushioned feet of the fly permit it to 

 creep, head downwards, on the ceiling of a room. By 

 the assistance of this piece of mechanism, the Ceram- 

 bycidcE are able to creep up the standing trunks of 

 trees, but their walking motions are not distinguished 

 by that activity which is found in some of the groups 

 of beetles, a circumstance, in a great measure, depen- 

 dent upon the nature of their food, which, unlike 

 that of the last mentioned insects, of course requires 

 but little running after. They fly, however, with 

 more quickness, but they may be easily captured, 

 since they fall to the ground on meeting with the 

 least obstruction. During the day they generally 

 remain motionless upon the trunks of trees or in the 

 crevices of the bark, coming forth by night for the 

 purpose of coupling. When seized by the hand, 

 they make a sharp and tolerably loud sound, by rub- 

 bing the inner lining of the thorax against the base 

 of the abdomen which is introduced into the thoracic 

 cavity ; the motions which the insect makes in raising 

 or lowering the head, causes the posterior part of 

 the thorax to rub against the base of the abdomen, and 

 so to produce the sound in question. 



It is during the larva state that these insects are 

 the most injurious to timber, boring it through and 

 through in various directions. These larva are white 

 fleshy grubs, the body narrowed behind, composed of 

 twelve distinct segments, the head broad, horny, and 

 armed with two short but very robust jaws, with 

 which they gnaw their way through the wood, they 

 have also six almost rudimental legs. The antennae 

 which, in the perfect state, are such conspicuous and 

 oeautiful organs, are, in the larva, scarcely visible. 



An account of the ravages of one of the species of this 

 family is recorded by Professor W. D. Peck, in the fifth 



volume of the Massachusetts Agricultural Repository 

 and Journal, belonging to the genus Stcnocurus. It 

 appears to be diffused over a large portion of the 

 United States, probably from Maine to Georgia, 

 indeed, wherever the oaks, upon which it feeds, are 

 found, it is to be met with. For several years the 

 ground beneath the black and white oaks had been 

 observed to be strewed with small branches of those 

 trees from eighteen inches to two feet in length, 

 sometimes even reaching the length of five feet, and 

 an inch in diameter. The falling of these branches 

 is occasioned by the larva of a species to which he 

 gives the name of Stcnocorus putator, which, when 

 the duration of its existence in the larva state is nearly 

 complete, eats away the wood in a circular direction 

 leaving only the bark entire ; this is broken by the 

 first strong breeze, and the branch, with the larva in 

 it, falls to the ground. From the effects of its labours 

 it has received the name of the oak pruncr. Pro- 

 fessor Peck, in order to determine whether the larva; 

 descended to the earth to undergo their transformation, 

 as might be inferred from the proceedings of the 

 grubs, placed several branches inclosing them into a 

 vessel nearly filled with light garden mould, imagin- 

 ing, that as the larva is inclosed in the fallen branch, 

 with a sufficient supply of nutriment to carry it 

 through the feeding state, it was intended it should 

 enter the earth when that state was passed, and that 

 it was therefore impelled by instinct, to eat off the 

 branch, that it might be brought in safety to the 

 ground, before it was quite ready to quit the wood ; 

 but this conjecture proved erroneous, whence it is 

 evident that there must be some other reason for the 

 process. This may perhaps be found to exist in the 

 necessity of a degree of humidity, to favour the de- 

 velopment of the parts of the perfect insect, whilst in 

 the pupa state ; in the body and larger branches of 

 trees, the moisture is sufficient for this purpose, but 

 in these small branches which are killed, the moisture 

 would be exhaled by the action of the sun and wind, 

 if they remained on the tree ; whereas, by their fall- 

 ing and being thus placed nearly or quite in contact 

 with the moist earth their humidity is preserved. It 

 was not precisely with this view that the prepared 

 branches were treated as above mentioned, but the 

 purpose was attained. The vessel was kept in a warm 

 room, the wood was kept moist and one perfect in- 

 sect made its appearance in November, and another 

 in December ; but probably they would not have been 

 disclosed before spring if the branches had remained 

 abroad. The perfect insect itself is of a slender 

 form, about half an inch long, of a dark brown colour, 

 dotted with impressed points, and sprinkled every- 

 where with short white hairs. As the leaves are in 

 full vigour in July preparing the descending sap, and 

 as the greatest part of the new wood is formed after 

 the summer solstice, the loss of leaves at this season 

 must diminish. The trees increase in diameter in 

 proportion to the quantity of leaves taken from them, 

 but the falling of the branches with the larvae in 

 them, enables nature, though the species cannot be 

 destroyed, to check its ravages in some degree. It 

 is recommended to collect and burn the branches 

 from the time they begin until they cease to fall. 



The Rev. Lansdown Guilding has also published, 

 in the thirteenth volume of the Transactions of the 

 Linnaean Society, an interesting notice of the ravages 

 of another species of these beetles, belonging to the 

 genus Lamia, and which, from its remarkable habits, 



