FAMILY SCOLYTIDAE 567 



galleries of the Pityogencs. It is an active and very wary insect, running 

 in the burrows with great speed. It feeds upon the larvae of the 

 scolytid, piercing them with its strong proboscis and sucking their body 

 contents. 



Pityogenes scitus, Blandford. 



REFERENCE. Blandford, Ind. Mus. Notes, vol. iii, p. 63 (1893). 



Habitat. Sibsagar, Assam. 



Tree Attacked. ? Pinus khasya. Sibsagar. 



Beetle. Sub-elongate, shining, sub-glabrous, piceous black, the antennae and legs ferru- 

 ginous. Closely resembles P. chalcographus. The forehead in female has three strong 



foveae with a central space raised, smooth and dull. The prothorax 

 Description. is narrowed anteriorly, the punctures on the posterior half close, well 



marked, and rugose ; the interspaces rilled with very fine punctures, 



only visible under a high magnification. Elytra testaceous yellow, sometimes with a distinct 

 dark lateral border ; flatter, less shining, and the rows of punctures not so distinct or regular 

 as in chalcographus, the punctures becoming obsolete near the apex ; the apical depression 

 three-toothed. In the male the forehead is convex, rugulose-punctate ; the elytra are 

 testaceous, strongly infuscate along lateral margin, and for the whole of the apical declivity 

 they are slightly narrower and flatter, the apical depression is shorter and more vertical, and 

 the teeth are situated farther back and closer to each other, and the anterior pair point directly 

 backward instead of obliquely upwards, and their base is longer. Length, 1.7 mm. to 2 mm. 



Somewhere about 1886 some specimens of this insect were reported by 



the Deputy Conservator of Forests, Sibsagar, Assam, 



Life History. as injurious to the makai (Shorea assamica). The beetles 



were sent on 4 April to the Indian Museum, through the 



Director of the Imperial Forest School, Dehra Dun. The insects were 



forwarded to Mr. W. F. Blandford, who found the species to be new to 



science. 



Italian Museum Notes has the following reference to this scolytid : 



" The insect was originally sent to the Indian Museum as 

 attacking the Shorea assamica tree in Sibsagar, Assam. On 

 Mr. Blandford's noticing, however, that other species of Tomicus and 

 Pityogencs, in the modern limits of these genera, are only to be found 

 in conifers, some small pieces of stick that were originally forwarded 

 with the insects were sent to the Royal Botanical Gardens, Sibpur, 

 for further examination. Here they were kindly looked at by 

 Dr. George King, who found that they do not belong to the Shorea 

 assamica tree, but possibly to the I'iiius kluisyti, the sticks, however, 

 not being sufficient for precise identification. The tree, therefore, 

 that is attacked by Pityo^e>ic\ \citits, Blandford, though not definitely 

 ascertained, is, no doubt, one of the conifers." 

 Beyond the fact that this beetle appears on the wing some time in March, 



nothing appears to be known about its life history, which will, in all 



probability, resemble that of P. coniferae. 



