THE BAEK-BEETLES. 85 



forth to try their wings, and, with, an uncertain and heavy 

 flight, launch into the air. Among these beetles there are 

 many of a dull red or fox color, nearly cylindrical in form, 

 tapering a very little before, obtusely rounded at both ex- 

 tremities, and about one quarter of an inch in length. They 

 are seen slowly creeping upon the sides of wooden buildings, 

 resting on the tops of fences, or wheeling about in the air, 

 and every now and then suddenly alighting on some tree 

 or wall, or dropping to the ground. If we go to an old 

 pine-tree we may discover from whence they have come, 

 and what they have been about during the past period of 

 their lives. Here they will be found creeping out of thou- 

 sands of small round holes which they have made through 

 the bark for their escape. Upon raising a piece of the bark, 

 already loosened by the undermining of these insects, we 

 find it pierced with holes in every direction, and even the 

 surface of the wood will be seen to have been gnawed by 

 these little miners. After enjoying themselves abroad for a 

 few days, they pair, and begin to lay their eggs. The pitch- 

 pine is most generally chosen by them for this purpose, but 

 they also attack other kinds of pines. They gnaw little holes 

 here and there through the rough bark of the trunk- and 

 limbs, drop their eggs therein, and, after this labor is 

 finished, they become exhausted and die. In the autumn the 

 grubs hatched from these eggs will be found frilly grown. 

 They have a short, thick, nearly cylindrical body, wrinkled 

 on the back, are somewhat curved, and of a yellowish-white 

 color, with a horny darker-colored head, and are destitute of 

 feet. They devour the soft inner substance of the bark, 

 boring through it in various directions for this purpose, and, 

 when they have come to their full size, they gnaw a passage to 

 the surface for their escape after they have completed their 

 transformations. These take place deep in their burrows late 

 in the autumn, at which time the insects may be found, in 

 various states of maturity, within the bark. Their depreda- 

 tions interrupt the descent of the sap, and prevent the forma- 



