THE TIMBER CAPRICORN. 257 



too common in this kingdom, it is supposed not to 

 have been originally a native. 



The circumstance of this destructive little animal 

 attacking only such timber as has not been stripped of 

 its bark, ought to be attended to by all persons who 

 have any concern in this article ; for the bark is a 

 temptation not only to this but to various other in- 

 sects ; and much of the injury done in timber might 

 be prevented, if the trees were all barked as soon as 

 they were felled. 



The female is furnished at the posterior extremity 

 of her body with a flat retractile tube. This she 

 inserts between the bark and the wood, to the 

 depth of about a quarter of an inch, and there de- 

 posits a single &gg. 



By stripping off the bark, it is easy to trace the 

 whole progress of the larva, from the spot where it 

 is hatched to that where it attains its full size. It 

 first proceeds in a serpentine direction, filling the 

 space which it leaves with its excrement, resem- 

 bling saw-dust, and so stopping all' ingress to ene- 

 mies from without. When it has arrived at its ut- 

 most dimensions, it does not confine itself to one di- 

 rection, but works in a kind of labyrinth, eating 

 backwards and forwards, which gives the wood un- 

 der the bark a very irregular surface : by this means 

 its paths are rendered of considerable w-idth. The 

 bed of its paths exhibits, when closely examined, a 

 curious appearance, occasioned by the erosions of 

 its jaws, which excavate an infinity of little ramified 

 canals. When the insect is about to assume its 

 chrysalis state, it bores down obliquely into the 



VOL. III. S 



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