86 



not, or has never yet been, found in such jflaces. It is the general be- 

 lief here that it breeds in the wood of Oak, yet, so far as my experience 

 goes, its larvae are never found in other than the Madrona wood. It is 

 very remarkable, in view of the above, that they should live and trans- 

 form within apples from which this beetle has been bred. 



On August 2, 1887, at St. Helena, Cal., a large number of the nearly 

 grown apples upon trees in a private garden were observed to be dead 

 and yellowish brown. One of these, taken to Alameda and exam- 

 ined, proved to contain a small whitish Coleopterous larva. This was 

 living and thriving on the dead and dry apple until April 16, 1888, 

 when it transformed to a pupa, from which the mature beetle issued on 

 April 28. Since then no infested apples have been observed, nor have 

 I seen any of the large fruit in the condition described above. The 

 work of these beetles was witnessed in the Santa Cruz Mountains May 

 25, 1888, chiefly upon grapes and plums, yet they will attack olives and 

 other trees as well. In many cases the shoots of grapes are cut off 

 entirely and fall to the ground, where either one or both sexes may be 

 found at work. In one case I noticed a plum tree the northern branches 

 of which were entirely destroyed. The beetle will often make several 

 holes into the center of a branch before entering; no doubt being com- 

 pelled to leave on account of the copious flow of sap. Seven such holes 

 were found in one branch, in the lowermost of which the beetle had 

 entered and formed a tunnel of about 3 inches in length. On the other 

 branches, aside from the many holes started, but two tunnels were 

 found and no insects were present. This will show that one of these 

 beetles alone is capable of disfiguring an entire tree, while two or three 

 specimens can destroy a tree. 



As a remedy, the recommendation of clearing and burning the dead 

 Madrona wood alone would certainly have a most remarkable effect 

 in reducing the numbers of this beetle. 



(Chrysobothris mail Horn.) 



The larva of this Buprestid is very destructive to currant bushes. 

 It is found in the Santa Cruz Mountains, at least in such numbers as 

 to destroy all the plants. Indeed, it is impossible to raise this fruit iu 

 that district on account of this insect. They have not been observed 

 as yet in the valleys, where in their place JEgeria tipuliformis Linn, is 

 more numerously represented upon this plant than in the hills. As 

 many as fifteen or even twenty Buprestid larvae may be found within a 

 single plant, the stems of which naturally die and break off near the 

 ground. The beetle is found most abundantly during June and July, 

 when they can be seen resting on the plants generally near the ground 

 during sunshine. It is then that they lay their eggs on the lower part 

 of the branches and close to the ground where most of the larvae are 

 found. Eggs are also placed at a height of 2 feet, or even more, ac- 

 cording to the size of the plant, and below the ground to the depth of 



