SHOT-BORER BEETLES 



199 



written quite a neat little paragraph for my Report on the 

 remarkable circumstance of advance of one insect attack 

 being so minutely recorded. How awkward it would have 

 been ! How good of you to spare me a male specimen. It 

 is quite different your sparing me a specimen to my putting 

 anything I have in your hands ; I really hope you have not 

 robbed your own valuable collection too much. I have 

 been trying to compare them as well as I can manage under 

 present circumstances, but I cannot of course do much 

 without the microscope. The colour of mine is deeper, but 

 this is not much. It was alive, but mature, when I took it. 

 I do believe all good work is done in concert, though we 



J5T.CLE 



I, Beetle ? ; 2, larva magnified, with natural length of each ; 3 and 4, 

 cell, natural size, showing broad and flat, and also narrow view. 



FIG. 46. SHOT-BORER BEETLES, XYLEBORUS DISPAR, FAB. 



do not know how it may be fitting together yet. It is very 

 often a great comfort to me to think so. 



December 16, 1889. 



I put off writing for a few days because I wanted to tell 

 you more about the Xyleborus dispar (Shot-borer or Apple- 

 bark beetle), which I am afraid is likely to be a very serious 

 matter in other localities than where it first appeared, 

 and it is doing much mischief : I do not quite like to raise 

 the *' danger flag " on my own sole responsibility, so I have 

 sent out some of the new specimens to have my identifica- 



