North Carolina. Adults are dark brown, marbled with irregular bands of white and 
yellow, and from 18 to 25 mm long. Recently felled trees are particularly attractive 
to them. M. carolinensis (Oliver) breeds in dead and dying pines in the South- 
eastern States. Adults are only about 17 mm long, otherwise they are very similar in 
appearance to those of the southern pine sawyer. The spotted pine sawyer, M. 
maculosus Haldeman, a common species in the Far West, also occurs in eastern 
forests. It breeds in dead and dying pines. Adults are dark reddish to blackish with 
patches of fine yellowish hair, and are about 16 mm long. The tip of each elytron is 
prolonged into a tooth. 
Orthosoma brunneum (Forster), the brown prionid, breeds in decaying co- 
niferous and hardwood logs in southeastern Canada and throughout much of the 
Eastern United States. The adult is light brown, flattened, and from 25 to 50 mm 
long. The pronotum is narrower than the elytra and has three sharp spines on each 
side. There are three fine, raised longitudinal lines on each elytron. The body of the 
larva is slightly tapering and shines with a lemon or yellowish tinge. 
Eggs are deposited from June to late summer in wood that has been dead for 
several years, especially in wood with very high moisture content and containing 
decay fungi. The larvae feed for 2 to 3 years, packing their tunnels with coarse, 
fibrous frass. Crossties, structural timbers, poles, or other wood in contact with the 
ground may be severely damaged or destroyed. Damage can be prevented by 
keeping the wood dry or by treating it with a preservative before placing it in 
contact with the ground. 
Stenodontes dasytomus dasytomus (Say), the hardwood stump borer, occurs 
from Virginia southward and westward and breeds in the heartwood of living 
hardwood trees such as various oaks, sycamore, willow, and boxelder. Wood in 
contact with the ground is also attacked. The adult is a large, somewhat flattened, 
reddish-brown beetle from 23 to 47 mm long. The head 1s large and the sides of the 
prothorax are armed with small, fine teeth. Eggs are deposited around wounds, 
particularly near the base of the tree, and the larvae bore into the heartwood. They 
feed there gregariously for 3 or 4 years, completely honeycombing the wood. 
Shade trees are sometimes weakened so badly that they break and fall during 
storms. Crossties and other wood products in contact with the ground are also 
subject to serious damage. 
Archodontes melanopus melanopus (L.) breeds in the roots of live and water 
oaks, boxelder, persimmon, and hackberry from Virginia to Florida and westward 
along the Gulf Coast. The adult is broad, rather flat, dark brown, and from 33 to 50 
mm long. The head is distinct and rather large, and the edges of the prothorax are 
finely toothed. Full-grown larvae are almost 90 mm long. 
Eggs are deposited at the base of young trees, just below the ground line. The 
larvae bore into the roots and excavate large, flattened galleries in the wood. Huge 
galls form on infested roots and interfere with the growth of the tree. Heavily 
infested trees may die and be replaced by clumps of bushlike suckers. It has been 
suggested that this species was largely responsible for the creation of large, 
comparatively barren areas of scrub oak in parts of southern Georgia and Florida. 
Rhagium inquisitor (L.), the ribbed pine borer, occurs throughout the United 
States and in southern Canada, and it breeds in the inner bark of various species of 
dying conifers. The adult is black except for mottlings of reddish-brown or gray and 
is about 9 to 21 mm long. The thorax is slender and bears a spine on each side. The 
larvae are distinguished by their very thin, flat heads. Eggs are deposited in early 
spring in crevices of the bark of trees that died or were cut during the preceding 
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