FAMILY SCOLYTIDAE 603 



Beetle. <5 Brown. Head with front slightly concave and 

 pubescent, coarsely punctured, two depressions just above the 



epistoma separated by a median longi- 

 Description. tudinal carina ; eyes bipartite ; antennal 



scape and funiculus, in most specimens, 



darker than the club, which is closely covered with pale pubescence, 

 solid, obtusely rounded apically ; prothorax transverse and depressed, 

 constricted in front and without tubercles on the anterior margin, 

 apex and sides clothed with longish hairs, the whole surface finely 

 asperate. Scutellum bluntly triangular. Elytra not quite twice as 

 long as prothorax, very slightly narrower than latter at its greatest 

 width, sides sub-parallel, apex obtusely rounded, surface with long 

 hairs, especially towards the sides and apex, finely lineate-punctate, 

 interstices irregularly and closely punctate. 



2 Head brown, front sub-convex and pubescent, sculpture similar 

 to that of male ; prothorax sub-globose, apical margin bitubercu- p 1(; 



late and the anterior part strongly asperate, whilst the posterior ^ , . , 



.... . ' A ylotertis intermeduts, 



portion is onlv shghtlv rugose. Scutellum similar to that of male. 



V,, . .... Sampson, sp. nov., 



Elytra lineate-punctate, the punctures rather more distinct towards -, 



.,,..*.. in silver nr. 



the base, interstices irregularly punctured. Under-side less hairy than XT -, , 



. ^ C. North- West Himalaya, 

 in male. Length, <5 3.2mm., $> 3.5 mm. 



The flight-time of this beetle is probably about the first fortnight in 



July at elevations of 8,000 ft. The female girdles the 



Life History. pendulous side branches of the silver fir, and oviposits 



in the portion above the girdle. I am unable to say 



whether the male beetle helps the female in this work. The girdle is made 

 about a third of the length of the branch down from its upper extremity, the 

 ringing being done just above the point of juncture of a small offshoot 

 side branchlet. The egg or eggs are apparently laid generally just above 

 the girdle. The object of the girdle is to kill the portion of the 

 branch above, and thus provide a supply of dying wood for the larva to 

 feed upon. The larva on hatching out bores up the branch, mining out a 

 fairly deep gallery in the sapwood. This gallery may be straight or may 

 curve about, but always goes up the branch. The wood consumed by the 

 larva is passed out at its anal extremity, and fills up the part of the gallery 

 it has already gnawed out. When full-fed the grub enlarges the top of 

 the tunnel, forming a pupal chamber, and pupates in this. It was in these 

 enlarged chambers at the head of the galleries that the beetles were ob- 

 tained in July, the galleries below the chamber being invariably blocked up 

 with the wood excreta of the larvae. In some cases I noticed that branches 

 were ringed in several places at successive offshoot branchiate with the main 

 branch. In each case a gallery was present above the girdle. Whether 

 this was the work of the same beetle or of different ones I was not able to 

 determine. It would seem, however, that only one egg is laid, or only 

 one larva develops, above each girdle. In none of the galleries from which 

 beetles were obtained was any opening to be seen on the outside of the 

 branch, the girdle (usually partially or wholly encircled with resin) and the 



