186 Insects injurious to Pines and Spruces. 



734. The white-pine weevil (Pissodes strobi), allied to the species 

 here presented, does great damage to the young pines, by eating 



116. \Tissodes \>olatus. (The Length of the Insect is indicated by the 

 'hite Line in the lower left-hand Corner.) 



into the leading shoot. A method is practiced in Europe of de- 

 stroying thes and other insects of the pine, which consists in stick- 

 ing some newly cut branches of the pine-trees 

 in the ground, in some open place, at about 

 the season when the insects are laying their 

 eggs. In a few hours the branches will be cov- 

 ered with beetles, which may be shaken into a 

 cloth and burned. This is, however, altogether 

 impracticable in a forest, and the best check 

 upon their increase is provided by nature in the 

 ichneumon flies that deposit their eggs in their 

 bodies, and thus finally destroy them. The 

 accompanying engraving shows the effect of 

 these injuries upon the young twigs of the 

 pine. 



735. The Spruces suffer very much in the 

 same way as the pines, but the number of spe- 

 cies noticed is only about a quarter as great. 

 The most destructive are the bark and wood- 

 in Effect of Ravages of boring beetles, which although generally at- 

 Pine^wij 1 ""^ 0111110 tacking trees that are on the decline, appear at 

 times nevertheless to bore into perfectly sound and healthy trees. 

 The family of coleoptera known as Scobjtidce, which may be called 



