280 SOME NOXIOUS INSECTS. 



Out of doors there are but few wood-eating insects, 

 and with one or two exceptions they are not supposed 

 to do much harm in this country. 



One of these exceptions is the Scolytus destructor, an 

 insect which infests trees, especially the elm, and makes 

 multitudinous tunnels between the wood and the bark, 

 often separating the latter from the tree and causing it 

 to fall in large sheets to the ground. The tree, as a 



MUSK BEETLE. 



matter of course, dies, and, equally as a matter of 

 course, the Scolytus is looked upon as its destroyer. 



Entomologists of the present day, however, are scarcelj- 

 disposed to take this view of the case, and consider that 

 the Scolytus does not attack sound and healthy trees, 

 but only those which are dying. 



Besides the Scolytus, there are very few other wood- 

 devouring beetles sufficiently known to possess popular 



