Entomological Society. 7271 



NONAGEIA? BONUII. 



Alis anticis amplioribus, ovato-triangularibus concoloribus osseo-albis, serie punc- 

 toruna semicirculari inter marginem posleriorem mediutnque ducta, sublus 

 tenehrosis ; alis poslicis ovatis furaeo-ciuereis umbra centrali tinclis ; fimbriis 

 caiididis; thorace et abdomine tenuibus ; antennis longioribus. 



Exp. al. 1 in. 2 lin. ad ] in. 3^ lin." 



Ravages of Hylobius Abietis. 



Mr. Janson communicated the following extracts from a letter which he had 

 addressed lo Mr. Walter Elliott, of Wolfelee, Hawick, N.B., in reply to his request 

 for information relative to the economy of Hylobius Abietis, and the plans best 

 adapted to arrest the ravages of this beetle : — 



" London, Sept. 18, 1860. 



'* My dear Sir, — Your favour, accompanied by specimens of Hylobius Abietis and 

 twigs of larch from which they had gnawn the bark, reached me in due course on the 

 3rd. The interesting remarks on the ravages of the beetle, and the specimens, were 

 communicated to the Society at its meeting on the same evening, and an account will 

 appear in the ' Proceedings.' 



" Having ransacked such foreign works as I possess which treat on insects inju- 

 rious to foresters, for information respecting the Hylobius, the following memoranda 

 will perhaps prove not altogether unacceptable. 



" This beetle appears to attack indiscriraately all the species of fir cultivated in 

 Germany, preferring however, according to Ratzeburg, Pinus sylvaticus and P. abies. 

 lu countries where firs are not grown this insect seems lo be unknown. 



" It is the perfect insect alone which is directly injurious. It gnaws the young 

 shoots, causing them to wither. The extremities of a tree thus attacked (the most 

 vigorous and healthy trees are invariably selected by the beetle) several years in suc- 

 cession, sickness and death inevitably ensue; in dry seasons especially, the mischief 

 this beetle occasions in fir woods where it abounds, is almost incredible. 



" The perfect beetles emerge from May to October, and copulation takes place 

 from the period first named to about the end of June, but is rarely witnessed later in 

 the year : the beetles which make their appearance after this time hybernate, and do 

 not copulate until the ensuing spring. The female deposits her eggs, and the larvae 

 subsist, either in the stems of sickly or dead, standing or felled trees, or in the stumps 

 and roots of those which have been felled remaining in the ground, and are therefore 

 scarcely lo be considered as directly injurious. Hence it will be obvious that by grub- 

 bing up all stumps, and keeping the plantations cleared of all sickly and dead trees, 

 an important step will be made towards reducing the numbers of the beetles. All 

 timber should be barked as soon after it is felled as practicable, as the females lay 

 their eggs in the bark only. All dead branches likewise should be lopped off close lo 

 the stem. 



" Ratzeburg mentions several plans adopted in Germany for entrapping the 

 beetles ; of these the most successful appear to be — 



"1. Pits and trenches with perpendicular sides, dug at frequent intervals round 

 the plantations and along the^ides of the paths or road-ways, into which the beetles 

 fall or fly, and from which, being unable to escape, they are to be taken and destroyed. 



