38 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Schwarz studied the operations of this insect in the common huckle- 

 berry and states that it occurs here and there in huckleberry beds 

 and is apparently very local. His explanation for this condition is 

 that the beetles are probably subterranean, appearing only rarely 

 above the ground, apparently being very much at home in the soil. 

 He states that the adults winter either in the larval chambers or 

 special hibernating galleries. He found as many as fifteen larval 

 cells in one stem. Dr A. D. Hopkins records adults and pupae of 

 this species August 19, 1893 in Wisconsin, while our observations 

 the latter part of September 191 3 resulted in finding no larvae and 

 only a very few pupae, most of the insects having changed to adults. 

 An examination of one rhododendron stem only half an inch in 

 diameter resulted in finding twenty-four brood chambers opening 

 from one series of galleries. Two and three 

 series of galleries in stems of this size or larger, 

 should mean fifty to seventy-five beetles, re- 

 spectively. This gives an idea of the prolificacy 

 of the insect and explains the death of badly 

 affected shoots. A practical point in regard 

 to this insect as a rhododendron enemy is that 



„. ~ its operations appear to be confined largely to 



Fig. 8 Transverse r rr a j 



sections of rhodo- shaded localities where there is an abundant 



dendron stem show- mulch. Sunny, grassy areas which obviously 



ing work of pitted afford comparatively little shelter are practic- 



ambrosia ^ beetle a liy f re e from injury. Doctor Hopkins points 



(natural size, origi- ^ ^ ^ ^^ attacked b thJs beetk 

 nal ) 



succumb, since he has found galleries of this 



species deeply imbedded in growing wood, an indication of infesta- 

 tion years before. This is probably true of only the slighter in- 

 festations and does not necessarily apply to rhododendrons. 



Food plants. This borer has been found in sugar maple (Acer 

 saccharum), sassafras, dogwood (Cornus), water-beech (Car- 

 pinus), ironwood (Ostrya), hazel (Corylus), huckleberry (Gay- 

 lussacia resinosa), and Rhododendron. 



Distribution. This borer appears to be widely distributed, it 

 having been recorded from points in the eastern, middle, southern 

 and western United States. 



Remedies. The most obvious method of control is to cut out the 

 wilting infested stems and burn them. Care should be taken to avoid 

 breaking the shoots at the point of injury and thus allowing a num- 

 ber of the beetles to fall out of the galleries and make their way 



