REPORT ON FORESTS. 225 



had bored out almost the entire center of each board, leaving 

 only a mere shell. Of course the whole work had to be removed, 

 and I secured some specimens, intending to raise the species to 

 maturity ; but, in October, 1899, the larvae are yet unchanged 

 and manifest no apparent desire to get into the pupal stage. 

 This case demonstrates both the longevity of the insects and the 

 damage caused by them. 



A somewhat different case occurred in Jersey City, where hard- 

 wood timber had been made into paneling. The wood seemed 

 in fair condition ; part of it was veneered and all of it was filled, 

 heavily varnished and polished. In the spring of 1898 the 

 owner was astonished to find the little powder post beetle, 

 Lyctus striatus^ emerging in great numbers, leaving their small 

 exit holes everywhere in such quantity as to utterly ruin the 

 appearance of his trimming. The larvae, in their early stages, 

 had not been noticed when the material was worked up, and 

 had developed normally after the woodwork was finally in place. 

 It is diificult to cover wood so as to prevent beetles from coming 

 out^ but as a rule the insects need a recognizable surface for 

 entrance and will rarely enter a varnished or painted board or 

 post. Indeed, even lime will answer as an outdoor preservative, 

 very few insects caring to bite into or even to come to rest on it. 

 The latter, however, may be due to the fact that they are too 

 conspicuous on such a white surface for their own safety. 



A fallen tree or log left to lie in the forest first becomes a prey 

 to bark slippers, as in the case of the cord-wood ; but the bark 

 remains in place and furnishes shelter to the host that is work- 

 ing beneath it. Click-beetles, and their larvae, the wood-feeding 

 wire-worms, come in, as do also the grubs of some of the weevils. 

 These make surface burrows only, but in the heart-wood are the 

 giant borers, both round and flat head, that make galleries nearly 

 one-quarter of an inch in diameter. These attain a length of 

 from 2 to 3 inches, and the resulting adults are the largest of 

 their kind. The round-headed borer makes a species of Priomts, 

 a stout black, long-horned beetle about i %■ inches long and half 

 an inch in width across the shoulders. It is one of the species 

 of slow growth and requires three years to come to maturity. 

 Examples are most frequent in pine logs, living in the " fat," 

 which without their assistance would resist decay indefinitely. 



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