THE PINE. 



423 



the species resemble hornets as to size and colour; the 

 females are provided with a strong horny ovipositor, by 

 means of which they deposit their eggs beneath the bark 

 of the tree, and the larva?, as soon as hatched, commence 

 boring into the wood in various directions. Of the Cole- 

 opterous wood-borers, the Hylobius abietis, one of the 

 largest of the British Curculionida, is plentiful in the 

 north of England and Scotland, but we have not ascer- 

 tained that it does serious injury to the trees, its larva 

 subsisting upon the decaying roots ; Pissodes pini, another 

 of the weevil tribe, and very destructive to the Pine 

 upon the Continent, is rare in this country. Of the Bo- 

 stricida, which come under the designation of subcortical 

 feeders, the species of the genus Hylurgus have always 

 been supposed to be particularly injurious to the Pine, 

 and amongst them none more so than the Hylurgus pini- 

 perda, represented in the annexed cut. The attack of 

 this insect upon the Pine, 

 like that of the Scolytus 

 destructor upon the elm, 

 seems very generally be- 

 lieved to be the imme- 

 diate cause of the decay 

 and death of the tree ; 

 this, however, we are 

 convinced is not the case, 

 for after many years of 

 attentive observation, we 

 have never in one single 

 instance found the Hy- 

 lurgus attacking a tree in 

 perfect health ; in all 

 cases, and these are by 



