THE RIBBED PINE-BORER! 
Rhagium lineatum Oliv. 
Water N. Hess 
Order, Coleoptera Family, Cerambycidae 
The ribbed pine-borer (Rhagium lineatum Oliv.) is one of the commonest 
and most widely distributed species of cerambycids in North America. 
It is especially abundant in the vicinity of central Pennsylvania and about 
{thaca, New York, where this study was conducted. Since these insects 
are very abundant and the limited literature concerning them contains 
little information regarding their life history, it has seemed advisable to 
make a more careful study of their habits. 
A number of authors have briefly discussed the economic importance of 
the insect. Their reports, however, are conflicting and indefinite. 
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HISTORY OF THE SPECIES 
The ribbed pine-borer, originally described by Olivier in 1795, has 
subsequently been briefly referred to by many authors. Kirby (1837) 
reports the insect from latitude 54°, and also from Massachusetts. Harris 
(1842) found the larvae of the species living between the bark and the 
wood of pitch pine. He states that they attack living trees, often exten- 
sively loosening the bark, which falls off in large flakes as a result and the 
trees die. LeConte (1850) states that the insects are found from Maine 
to Chihuahua, Mexico. 
Rathvon (1862) describes the larva as a whitish grub about an inch 
long. He found larvae in large numbers just underneath the bark of 
trees, which they caused to fall off in large pieces, frequently resulting 
in the death of the trees. Packard (1883) reports the larvae as very 
common under the bark of pines that have been cut down for a year 
or more. He found the chief injury to consist in the loosening of the 
bark, which forwards the decay of dead timber. Hopkins (1899) found 
uhe insects to be very common bark borers, mining under the bark 
1 The author is indebted to Professor Glenn W. Herrick and Dr. Robert Matheson, of the Department 
of Entomology at Cornell University, under whose direction this study was made, 
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