39 



ruricola and albqfasciatus, Neoclytus luscus and erythrocephalus, Stenosphenus notatus, etc. 

 Many larva? of some Cerambycide continued to work on under the bark ; late in the fall 

 I observed that most of these had penetrated the wood, but some remained under the bark 

 till April and May of the next year (1885). The most of the beetles appeared during the 

 first two weeks of June, though individuals occurred occasionally till September. A few 

 larvae were still found at work, but by October they, likewise, had bored into the wood 

 -and 'appeared as beetles the next June (1886). The normal period of metamorphosis is 

 therefore three years, but in individuals it may be retarded to four or more, years. 



At the present writing (June 5th) these beetles are issuing in great numbers from a 

 barrel of hickory limbs obtained in April, 1885, from a tree deadened in January, 1884, 

 thus verifying the first observation. 



How the larvae get under the bark could not be ascertained. When first examined, 

 in April, they were from 4 to 5 m.m. long; they ate the wood under the bark, following 

 its grain, and packed their burrow solidly with their dust. The growth and progress were 

 both slow, for by the next April they had scarcely more than doubled in length, and had 

 not travelled more than from four to six inches during the year ; but after July they 

 developed an enormous appetite, and consumed the wood for at least an inch in length, 

 and often entirely around the limb, ejecting their castings through holes made in the bark. 

 When full fed they bore obliquely an oval hole into the wood, penetrating it from four to 

 ten inches. The larva then packs the opening with fine castings and enlarges a couple of 

 inches of the interior of the burrow by gnawing off its sides a quantity of coarse fibre, in 

 which it lies, after turning its head to the entrance. When about to become a pupa (I 

 witnessed the process), the skin ruptures on the dorsum of three or four segments next the 

 head ; the head of the pupa appears, and after about half an hour's wriggling the whole 

 body is divested of its covering. To the observer the pupa appears to crawl out of the 

 skin, but in fact the skin with the large mandibles is forced backwards by the alternate 

 extension and contraction of the segments, assisted materially by the fibre that surrounds 

 it. After its soft body hardens, the same movements free it from the fibre, some being 

 shoved in advance of the head, and some posteriorly, the exuviae being often found at the 

 distal end of the hole. 



The time spent in the pupal state is indefinite, and does not seem to concern greatly 

 the time of the appearance of the beetle. Sticks split open at different periods from 

 December till March contained larva? and pupa? about equally, but no developed beetles. 

 A larva that I observed to go into the wood in April appeared as a beetle among the first 

 of such as had presumably pupated in the fall. 



The number of these beetles obtained that and the present season was great, and 

 afforded a good opportunity to observe individual variations, and they do differ greatly. 

 In length from 8 to 18 m.m. ; in pubescence, some being nearly naked and unicoloured, 

 others having it longer and condensed into spots or almost vittate ; some being quite 

 slender and elongate, while others are short and broad ; the surface of the elytra is mostly 

 uniform, but in some, especially such as are narrow and elongated, one or two costa? are 

 more or less evident. 



Now, although this account differs so widely from that given by Mr. Fitch, still the 

 beetles are the same. Unfortunately, I have never been able to find any pruned oak 

 limbs from which to obtain the insect myself, but I have a good set from Mr. Blanchard, 

 of Mass., presumably from the oak, which are identical. Through the kindness of Mr. F. 

 Clarkson, I have a set of those described by him in the Can. Ent., vol. 17, p. 188, from 

 oak limbs, and which became imagoes in November, and there is no perceptible difference. 

 Dr. Geo. H. Horn says, " They are the same." 



To identify Elaphidion parallelum had always been a puzzle to me, and I once thought 

 I had a real set ; I obtained it about a dozen times by exchange, but could never be 

 satisfied that the specimens received were not pauperized, or peculiar individuals of E. 

 villosum. On comparing my hickory insects with all the descriptions of E. villosum and 

 parallelum and their several synonyms, as far as I possess them, it was easy to pick out 

 sets that would answer satisfactorily all their requirements, and I became satisfied that 

 E. parallelum could not be separated. 



