INSECTS. 107 



of winter, during which *they remain at rest in a torpid state. In 

 the spring they bore through the sap-wood, more or less deeply into 

 the trunk, the general course of their winding and irregular pas- 

 sages being in an upward direction from the place of their entrance. 

 For a time they cast their chips out of their holes as fast as they 

 are made, but after a while the passage becomes clogged and the 

 burrow more or less filled with the coarse and fibrous fragments ol 

 wood, to get rid of which the grubs are often obliged to open new 

 holes through the bark. The seat of their operations is known by 

 the oozing of the sap and the dropping of the saw-dust from the 

 holes. The bark around the part attacked begins to swell, and in 

 a few years the trunks and limbs will become disfigured and weak- 

 ened by large porous tumors, caused by the efforts of -the trees to 

 repair the injuries they have suffered. The grubs attain their full 

 size by the twentieth of July, soon become pupae, and are changed 

 to beetles and leave the trees early in September. Thus the exist- 

 ence of this species is limited to one year. 



White-washing, and covering the trunks of the trees with graft- 

 ing composition, may prevent the female from depositing her eggs 

 upon them ; but this practice cannot be carried to any great extent 

 in plantations or large nurseries of the trees. Perhaps it will be 

 useful to head or cut down young trees to the ground, with the 

 view of destroying the grubs contained in them, as well as to pro- 

 mote a more vigorous growth. Much evil might be prevented by 

 employing children to collect the beetles while in the act of provi- 

 ding for the continuation of their kind. A common black bottle, 

 containing a little water, would be a suitable vessel to receive the 

 beetles as fast as they were gathered, and should be emptied into 

 the fire in order to destroy the insects. The gathering should be 

 begun as soon as the beetles first appear, and should be continued 

 as long as any are found on the trees, and furthermore should be 

 made a general business for several years in succession. I have no 

 doubt, should this be done, that, by devoting one hour every day 

 to this object, we may, in the course of a few years, rid ourselves 

 of this destructive insect. 



The third of the wood-eaters, to which the locust-tree is exposed, 

 though less common than the others, and not so universally de- 

 structive to the tree as the painted Clytus, is a very much larger 

 borer, and is occasionally productive of great injury, especially to 

 full-grown and old trees, for which it appears to have a preferontfe. 

 It is a true caterpillar, belonging to the tribe of moths under con- 



