Some are known to feed upon all kinds of grain in store; one finds its food 

 in rice, another in barley, and others in maize. Many species of Balanius 

 undergo their changes in nuts, the larva feeding upon the kernels; another 

 group is to be found in Cynips galls; and one species, geographically dis- 

 tributed from San Diego to Alaska, is to be found beneath seaweed upon 

 the shores. Enough has been instanced to show clearly that we can draw 

 no inference from the fact that two insects are found in the same natural 

 group, that for that reason their habits are similar; and it is evident that a 

 classification by habits would be of little aid to the systematic entomologist. 



CHRYSOMELID^E. 



DIABROTICA soRO^Lec. This is a most destructive insect to our peach 

 orchards, and is. not as yet sufficiently studied. If it resembles in habit 

 the eastern species of the genus, and feeds in the larva stage upon the roots 

 of cereals, it may be possible to rid ourselves in some degree of this pest 

 by some rotation of crops. In the meanwhile sprays and washes are beyond 

 a doubt not only useless, but in most cases a positive injury. We shall 

 have to study further before speaking positively of the larval history of this 

 insect pest. 



PTINID^E. 



PTINUS INTERRUPTUS Lee. Black fungus of the laurel, Umbellularia 

 Californica. 



PTINUS QUADRIMACULATUS Melsh. Decayed Ceanothus thyrsiflorus. 

 HEDOBIA GRANOSA Lee. Dead branches of Umbellularia Californica. 



HADOBREGMUS GIBBICOLLIS Lee. Decaying wood of Myrica Californica 

 and dead willow. 



VRILLETTA CONVEX A Lee. Dead Quercus agrifolia. 



PTILINUS BASALTS Lee. Dead twigs of Umbellularia Californica. 



SINOXYLON DECLIVE Lee. Any dead tree or unpainted wood, very partial 

 to wine casks and oak barrels. The depredations are done by the beetle 

 while boring for a suitable place to deposit its eggs. Its burrow is straight 

 across the grain of the wood, reaching the interior of the cask, causing 

 waste and deterioration of the contents. Hot solution of alum applied to 

 the outside of the casks will prevent boring. 



POLYCAON STOUTII Lee. Dead and dried willow. 



POLYCAON CONFERTUS Lee. Found boring into a slab of chestnut oak 

 that had been deposited for years in the museum of the University of Cali- 

 fornia; also bred from the stem of dead apricot trees that had been grafted 

 on a peach root. 



There appears strong evidence that these trees were not destroyed by the 

 borer, but through the influence of the "black knot" on the roots, they 

 being diseased with knobs as large as a man's fist on every root; while all 

 the trees killed had the root diseased, only a portion was infested with the 

 larva of this beetle. 



During July, while on a visit to the Napa Valley, I saw a lot of roots 

 and stems of grapevines that had been grubbed the year before. These 

 were old vines, and had been discarded on account of splitting of the main 

 stem. On examination these were found to contain both the worm and 



