FAUNA. 247 



damage to the meadows, while the caterpillars devour the 

 roots of the grasses on extensive stretches of land. 



' Of the injurious forest insects I cannot say much. 

 Though we have a goodly share of these, we do not see 

 much serious injury done by them. As is known, the 

 injurious forest insects are divided into two sections : 1. 

 Insects which reduce the trees to a sickly condition ; to 

 this class belong the Chrysomelidae, Melolonshidae, many 

 Curculionidae, also Polydrosus nurcans, Strophosonins coryli> 

 Bruchus, Tortrix trobilana, Hylesinus piniperda, Retinia turion- 

 ana, Resinella buoliana, and the caterpillars of Lophyrus. 2. 

 Then come the insects which entirely kill the trees, or 

 make the wood altogether useless for technical purposes. 

 In this respect the Bostrychus lineatus has done great 

 damage of late years. In December 1879 the gales did 

 great destruction by breaking over and uprooting trees. 

 Many thousands and thousands upon thousands of trees 

 were overturned, and the mountain ridges suffered espe- 

 cially : in some places there were whole stretches of 

 forest levelled with the ground. In 1880 the Crown 

 ordered the sale of the fallen trees, but at the prices of 

 standing trees, and there were of course few bought. In 

 consequence of this, the prices were lowered in 1881, and 

 many were purchased and dressed. But still, in the 

 inspection made in the spring of 1882, it was seen that 

 Nature had not failed to do her work in the matter. 

 Bostrychus lineatus had created great devastation. It 

 wrought its way into the wood to the depth of two verst- 

 choks three and a half inches and from thick trees, 

 eight verstchoks fourteen inches in diameter, only 

 boards five and six verstchoks nine inches and ten and a 

 half inches in breadth could be obtained, I speak here 

 only of the Pinus sylvestris. 



' Moreover, in the summer of 1882, 1 made the observa- 

 tion that the said Bostrychus lineata readily attacked sick 

 overturned trees of Betula and of Alnus incana. Their 

 course in penetrating the Betula was irregular ; but in the , 

 Pinus sylvestris it was as follows :' [The description was 



