UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 

 BULLETIN No. 1107 



Washington, D. C. 



PROFESSIONAL PAPER 



December 4, 1922 



THE LEAD-CABLE BORER 



OR "SHORT-CIRCUIT BEETLE" 



IN CALIFORNIA 



By 



H. E. BURKE, Entomologist, R. D. HARTMAN, Field Superin- 

 tendent in Insect Control, and T, E. SNYDER, Entomologist, 

 Forest Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology 



CONTENTS 



Revlev of Injury to Metals by Boring 



Insects Throughout the World ... 1 



Injury to Lead Fuses by Insects . . 3 

 Damage to Lead Sheathing of 

 Aerial Cables by Scobicia de- 



clivis Lee 4 



Damage by the California Lead-Cable 

 Borer (Scobicia decllvls) to Trees 



and Forest Products 9 



Biology of Scobicia declivis 11 



Distribution 11 



Food Plants 12 



Associated Insects 12 



Predatory and Parasitic Elnemles . 12 



Life Cycle 13 



Seasonal History 14 



Description and Habits .... 14 



Control Experiments 20 



Tests at Falls Church, Va., 1918 



and 1919 20 



Results of Experiments at Fall^ 



Church, Va„ 1918 and 1919- . . . 21 

 Tests at Los Gates, Calif., 1918- 



1920 21 



Page 

 Control Experiments— Continued. 



Results of Experiments at ^Los 



Gates. Calif., 1918-1920 . . , . 23 

 Experiments in California During 



the Season of 1921 80 



Results of Experiments In Cali- 

 fornia in 1921 30 



Results of Experiments in Cali- 

 fornia in 1922 39 



The Metal-Penetrating Ability of 

 the Insects Associated with the 



Cable Borer 40 



Summary and Conclusions 41 



Literature Cited . 42 



Insects Attacking or Penetrating 



Metals 42 



The California Lead-Cable Borer 



(Scobicia declivls) 46 



Appendix 49 



Taxonomy and Morphology of the 

 Larval Stages of Scobicia de- 

 clivls Lee— Adam G. Boving . . 

 Description of Mature Adult of 

 Scobicia declivls— R. O. Hartman . 



49 



64 



WASHINGTON 



GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 



1922 



