THE PAINTED HICKORY BORER 189 



or else fly swiftly away, for their powers of flight are well developed. On 

 bright, warm days they work from about ten o'clock in the morning until 

 about half past five in the afternoon, with a maximum activity between 

 three and four o'clock. At night, and during cool, cloudy, or rainy days, 

 they hide under flakes of the bark, and are quite inactive. At such times 

 the pieces of bark covering them can be removed without causing the 

 beetles either to take flight or to drop to the ground, tho they sometimes 

 run about slowly until they again find shelter under some other piece 

 of bark. 



During the period of activity the males are always more numerous 

 than the females. The males also appear earlier in the day than the females 

 and are much more active than the females, coursing up and down the 

 trunks and branches, chasing away ants or other insects which may alight, 

 and frequently fighting with each other. The females, on the other hand, 

 move about rather slowly, possibly due to their shorter legs and greater 

 bulk. At intervals they stop to examine places on the bark or to try 

 crevices with their ovipositors. Both sexes, when handled, make the 

 characteristic squeaking sound so common to beetles of this family. 



Feeding habits 



Like many of the Cerambycids, the adults of this species are pollen 

 feeders. For some time the writer was puzzled as to what the food plants 

 of the beetles could be, for while males and females, confined in cages, 

 copulated freely, yet oviposition did not occur, and both sexes died in 

 three or four days when no food was supplied. Finally, the alimentary 

 canal of a female, taken while ovipositing in the field, was dissected and 

 was found full of pollen. An examination of all the flowers in bloom at 

 that time was then made, with the result that the beetles were found 

 actively feeding on the pollen of the flowers of hawthorn (Crataegus sp.). 

 From then on, no difficulty was experienced in breeding the insects in 

 captivity. With a supply of these blossoms in the cages, copulation took 

 place and eggs were deposited as usual. This would seem to indicate 

 that food is necessary before oviposition takes place. This also agrees with 

 the observations of Garman (1916) on Cyllene robiniae, a closely related 

 species. In feeding on the pollen, these beetles clamber over the flowers, 

 and at a distance are often mistaken for wasps which are also common 

 on flowers at that time, and which they much resemble in coloration. 

 After feeding, they usually clean off their antennae and tarsi by drawing 

 them thru the mouth parts. While Crataegus was the only flower on 

 which the writer found the beetles feeding, yet Mr. V..R. Haber, of Ithaca, 

 New York, mentioned having found them feeding on the pollen of alder 

 catkins in Ohio. 



