22 L. Peringney^ Insects Injurious to [Jan. 28, 



the rich-yellow alburnum or sap-wood, to the distance of one inch 

 from the surface, and tenanted by small fat grubs who had hastened to 

 close the orifice of their galleries by agglutinated saw-dust. I was not 

 able to retain the planks, and wait for the development of those 

 insects. The similitude of the larvae of the Ptinidae and Bostrichidae 

 is so great, that I cannot venture to ascribe to which family those 

 larvae belonged. 



Cedar-wood is supposed, on account of its fragrant smell, to be 

 distasteful to insects. But I found our blocks of Cedar ( Widdring- 

 tonia juniperoides) tenanted by numbers of a little Bostrichus, less 

 than 1 line long, and I was greatly amused to watch a small Ichneumon 

 fly very numerous also, entering every hole, looking evidently for the 

 larvae of the Bostrichus to deposit its eggs in. The damage done by 

 the Bostrichus was not great, however, only the bark and a little of 

 the sap-wood being perforated. 



TENEBRIONIDAE. 



Of that family, few species, belonging mostly to the tribe Helop" 

 inidae, are known to be injurious to trees. Yet I have found the 

 gregarious Helopid ^^ Zophius rufopictus''^ in the decaying trunks 

 of the willow " Salix capensis," and also in the crevices of fencing 

 poles made of poplar. 



CUECULIONIDAE. 



In their perfect state — imago — the Curculionidae or weevils are 

 mostly inoffensive, but in their primary stage, they are among the 

 most injurious of insects. There is really not a single vegetal, says 

 Mr. Ed. Perris, whose bud, leaf, stem, bark, wood, sap or root, is not 

 attacked and destroyed by those insects. We have no less than 1,073 

 kinds of those pests in S. Africa. Most noticeable among the tree- 

 haunting species, is the large Ilecocorynus loripes (exhibited in 

 drawer No 3). Dr. Becker, of Kowie, sent some time ago to the 

 Museum some branches of the Kaffir Plum-tree, Harpephyllum 

 cajfrum, on which that weevil is found, which had circular holes on the 

 outside. He suspected those galleries to be made by the larvae of the 

 Mecocorynus. But on inspection, they were found to be due to the 

 larvae of a Longicorn, probably either the Erioderus Jiirtiis or the 

 Megopis modesta. The larva of the Sphadasmus camelm (exhibited in 

 drawer No. 7) constructs an earthen cocoon, which it affixes to the 

 stem of a tree, which I have not been able to identify. 



BRENTHIDAE. 



16 species. All of them are truly xylophagous, but apparently 

 scarce. 



ANTIIRIBIDAE. 



28 species, living mostly in standing dry timber. The Ischnor,erus 

 nigellus is common round Cape Town, but seldom have I captured it 

 on indigenous trees, except on the Salix capensis. The poplar seems 

 to be his favourite haunt, and it is easily captured on the fencing 

 poles made of that wood. 



SCOLYTIDAE. 



The representatives of that family are the tree-destroyers par 

 excellence. Fortunately for us, six species only are described from S. 



