REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST 1903 1 G9 



tacked till from four to six weeks after the initial injury. Mr 

 Young's investigations showed that trees entirely killed by the 

 fire were less subject to attack than those which had been so 

 severely scorched as to be nearly dead or in a dying condition. An 

 examination July 3 of a large tract at Big Moose, which was 

 burned over June 3 and was extinguished on the 18th, failed to 

 show any insects working on these trees; in fact, within the fire zone 

 they were scarce, only a few common moths and a lady beetle 

 being observed; just outside this fire zone, where trees had been 

 felled to keep the fire from spreading, a few spruce bark beetles, 

 Polygraphus rufipennis Kirby had begun to attack 

 the spruce. The trees were attacked in the following order : pine, 

 spruce, tamarack, birch, hemlock, balsam, beech and maple. 



Investigations by Mr Young on Aug. 12 of the area burned 

 June 3 show^ed a remarkable scarcity of bark borers (scolytids) 

 in the fire zone at Big Moose. This may possibly be explained by 

 the fire occurring at a time when no brood of adults was able to 

 take advantage of the favorable conditions, and it may also be 

 that the injured trees were not attractive enough to the insects 

 for some reason or other. In our own experience, we have come 

 across several burnings where it would appear as though bark 

 borers should be abundant, and yet examination has shown them 

 to be present in very small numbers. The timber on the above 

 mentioned area has been injured entirely by large buprestids men- 

 tioned in succeeding paragraphs, which cause comparatively little 

 injury to the lumber. The section burned Ap. 30 was also ex- 

 amined, and the principal damage here had evidently been caused 

 by the ambrosia beetles (mentioned in following paragraphs), 

 since they operate in sapwood and produce the black pin holes 

 which seriously affect the commercial value of lumber. 



Pine. Investigations July 9 at Lake Clear Junction, where a 

 fire occurred May 18, showed that the pine bark borer, T o m i c u s 

 p i n i Say, was working in the living tissues of a tree which had 

 been injured by the fire. 



The work of this species should be followed soon by that of the 

 sawyer, Monohammus confusor Kirby, or M. s c u t e 1 - 



