7086 ' Insects. 



to have come out of the wood-work of the bedstead, but no holes could 

 be discovered in it. 



Tremex Columha, Linn. Every one who has ever visited the neigh- 

 bourhood of the beautiful city of Montreal in the summer season must 

 have noticed the numerous dead tfipes, stretching their leafless branches 

 to the sky, and indeed in many spots a very large proportion of the 

 trees, especially the beautiful hickories {Carya tomentosa ? Nutt.), 

 have fallen victims to the ravages of the Tremex, aided by the larvae 

 of a small coleopteron (a species of Scolytus) undermining the bark 

 of those trees which have been rendered sickly by the borings of that 

 handsome but destructive insect. Trees weakened by the Tremex 

 larvae, which bore perpendicularly upwards in the very heart of the 

 wood, are very apt to snap off in high winds, long before they are 

 killed outright. In such cases I have found that the fracture follows 

 the course of one of their long borings, and 1 have taken the fully- 

 formed insect out of trees with otherwise a perfectly sound and healthy 

 appearance. The perfect insects make their exit from the trees in 

 August and September, and although so abundant are but seldom 

 seen on the wing. I did not meet with it in the woods to the north 

 of the Ottawa, where the other Sireces were so numerous. It occurs 

 at Sore], on the St. Lawrence, forty-five miles below Montreal, and 

 Mr. Gosse mentions it as having observed it in the Eastern townships. 



Family Eyaniad^, Leach. 



Pelecinus Polycerator, Fabr. (Needle Ichneumon). I have taken 

 this remarkable insect at Sorel and Montreal, north of the Ottawa, in 

 the township of Grandison, and at the Falls of Niagara, in August and 

 September. At Sorel it is very numerous, though Mr. Gosse, who 

 gives a good figure of it in his ' Canadian Naturalist,' and who speaks 

 of it as occurring in the Eastern townships, observes that it does not 

 appear to be common anywhere. The long hind legs, with their 

 swollen tibiae hanging down, as it slowly sails through the air a few 

 feet above the ground, give it a very curious appearance, and impress 

 the observer with the idea that the insect is carrying a heavy weight 

 attached to its legs. It inflicts a slight prick with the point of its 

 anal segment when captured in the fingers. I much regret that I have 

 never had an opportunity of studying the economy of this most in- 

 teresting species. 



Family IcHNEUMONiOiE, Leach. 



Lchneumon Cenlratoi; Say. Common about Montreal in July, and 

 hybernating under bark of dead trees in autumn. 



