THE PAINTED HICKORY BORER 



Cyllene caryae Gahan 



Order, Coleoptera Family, Cerambycidae 



E. H. DUSHAM 



The hickory is one of the most important of our American hardwoods, 

 not only on account of its fruit, but especially because of the valuable 

 qualities of its wood. " Tough as hickory " is not only a familiar expres- 

 sion but an apt phrase as well, for its wood is heavy, hard, strong, and 

 exceedingly tough. It is on account of these qualities that, more than 

 any other wood, hickory is used in the manufacture of such commodities 

 as are subject to excessive strain. Consequently, more than one-half of 

 the hickory cut today is tised in the construction of vehicles or their parts, 

 and at least one-third is made into handles for articles in which strength 

 and toughness are the main considerations. In addition to these, agri- 

 cultural implements consume three per cent of the entire cut, while the 

 remaining five per cent is used in the manufacture of athletic goods, porch 

 furniture, and various other commodities. The factory uses of hickory as 

 given by Kellogg (19 14)*, may be summarized in percentage as follows: 



Vehicles 61 



Handles 31 



Agricultural implements 3 



Sporting and athletic goods i 



Other uses 4 







Like most other trees, the hickory is subject to various insect injuries 

 which reduce the amount of timber suitable for manufacturing purposes. 

 It harbors a large host of different pests, some attacking the foliage, 

 fruit, and wood of living trees; others the wood of recently dead and 

 felled trees, sawlogs, handles, poles, and other unseasoned products from 

 which the bark has not been removed; while still others inflict serious 

 injury on the sapwood, even after seasoning, causing what is commonly 

 known as the " powder post " injury. 



Prominent among the insects of the second category is the painted 

 hickory borer, Cyllene caryae Gahan. 



CLASSIFICATION, HISTORY, AND SYNONYMY 



The painted hickory borer belongs to the order Coleoptera, suborder 

 Phytophaga, family Cerambycidae, and subfamily Cerambycinae. The 



1 Dates in parentheses refer to Bibliography, pages 198 to 203. 



175 



