350 Forty-fourth Report on the State Musevm 



quoted as of the opinion that the larvae of this species feed on a 

 whitish substance in the mother galleries. Miss Ormerod had 

 observed the white linings in the tunnels of the X dispar, but it 

 seemed to her to be a mould, such as other observers have thought 

 to have noticed in the galleries of Coleopterous larvae allied to dispart 

 and on which they apparently fed. The limited observations that I 

 have made, lead me to believe that further examination and study will 

 show it to be a special secretion by the female or the parents, to serve 

 as food for the young, and that it constitutes the only food of the 

 larvae, living as they do within chambers excavated for them, and not 

 tunnelling separate galleries. 



At the time above mentioned the burrowed branches were cut in 

 pieces and inclosed in a case to secure such beetles as might there- 

 after emerge. On December 18th, following, I took from the case 33 

 male beetles and 293 female — all dead; December 24, ten females — 

 one alive; February 11, 1889, 18 females — all dead and the last to 

 emerge. The material is retained for further study of the burrows. 



The above recital well illustrates how much there is still to be 

 learned of our common insects, and may also serve as an apology for 

 the entomologist's inability at times to offer remedies for their 

 ravages. This "pear-blight beetle," destructive also at times to 

 apple, plum, and apricot stock, was described and its operations 

 observed as long ago as the year 1817, and has since been frequently 

 written of; but up to the present day it has succeeded in concealing 

 its early stages from us. Still more strangely, the male sex of the 

 species had never been recognized or known to science until found 

 by me among the large number of beetles reared from the Lockport 

 pear trees. [*J Another species, Xyleborus obesus of LeConte, had been 

 thought by Schwarz and others to be the male of X. pyri, but it now 

 proves to be quite distinct. The two sexes differ so markedly that 

 they may be separated at a glance without the chance of error. The 

 abdomen of the male is only about one-half so long as that of the 

 female, its thorax is less rounded and elevated, and the head is 

 porrected (bent downward), at least after death, so as 'to form quite 

 a curve with the body. Examples of the male have been contributed 

 to the cabinet of our principal Coleopterists, and others will be sent 

 to those who value them. 



Since the above was penned, Mr. Pomroy has written me in reply to 

 inquiries made, that the "young " to which he referred were the young 

 grubs of the beetles. He commenced to find the grubs and the eggs 



[* This requires correction. X dispar had been known in Europe for many years, In 

 its early stages and in both sexes. The rarity of the male had often been stated.] 



