The adults are active all winter and lay eggs during this time. Eggs are deposited 
in the inner bark through holes chewed in the bark. The larvae feed beneath the bark 
in a manner somewhat similar to that of white pine weevil larvae, girdling and often 
killing the stem. Evidence of their presence is the swelling of the bark over feeding 
areas. Pupation occurs in chip cocoons in the wood. Adults apparently aestivate 
during the summer months. They again appear in the fall to feed on the twigs and 
leading shoots. Apparently, depending on location, all stages can be found through- 
out the year. May is the month of greatest adult emergence. 
Several other species of Pissodes also attack various coniferous species in eastern 
forests. P. affinis Randall breeds in the stumps and logs of eastern white, red, jack, 
and Scotch pines from New England to the Lake States. The adults feed on the 
inner bark of branches of living trees up to 17 m tall. They are dark brown or black, 
from 5 to 8 mm long, and are marked with white spots. P. dubius Randall, balsam 
bark weevil, breeds in windthrown, dying, or recently dead balsam fir and red 
spruce. It is probably the most important insect attacking dead and dying balsam fir 
following spruce budworm defoliation (//82). It also commonly attacks balsam fir 
weakened or killed by the balsam woolly adelgid. P. rotundatus LeConte, small 
spruce weevil, and P. fiskei Hopkins breed in windthrown red spruce. 
The New York weevil, /thycerus noveboracensis (Forster), 1s the only species of 
the subfamily Ithycerinae known in the East. It is sometimes placed in a separate 
family, Belidae. The adult is one of our largest weevils, 12 to 18 mm long. The 
body and elytra are covered with prostrate ash-gray and pale-brown hairs that give 
the insect a mottled appearance. It is widely distributed in the Eastern and Central 
States, but is most abundant in the Mississippi River Valley (304). Adults have been 
collected from oak, hickory, beech, and a number of fruit trees. The larvae are 
thought to breed in twigs and under branches of oak (/027). 
The pine gall weevil, Podapion gallicola Riley, occurs throughout the Eastern 
United States and southeastern Canada. It breeds in red, pitch, and Virginia pines. 
The adult is black and about 5 mm long. During June, eggs are laid in niches 
chewed into the bark of 1-year-old twigs. Young larvae feed first on the sides and 
floor of the egg niche and then bore into the cambium. Here they separate and 
tunnel outward from the niche. They continue to feed through three seasons. 
Pupation occurs in funnel-shaped cells in the bark during May of the fourth season. 
Galls are formed by hypertrophy of the xylem tissue surrounding each larva. The 
galls first appear as slight swellings on one side of the stem (/333). By the time the 
adults emerge, these swellings are larger, generally ovoid, and taper gradually 
toward the distal end (fig. 153). Old galls continue to enlarge, even after the insects 
leave them, some reaching a length of 37 mm. When several galls are formed on a 
small branch, the branch may be killed (/323). 
The members of the genus Magdalis are small cylindrical weevils frequently with 
toothlike spines at the anterior corners of the pronotum. 
The black elm bark weevil, M. barbita (Say), breeds in the trunks and branches 
of unhealthy elms from North Carolina to southern Canada. Adults are jet black, 
have long slender beaks, and are about 6 mm long. They emerge in May or June 
and deposit their eggs in the bark. The larvae feed in the inner bark and sapwood, 
constructing galleries up to 4 cm long. Pupation occurs in oval cells just beneath the 
bark. There appears to be one generation per year. The bark of heavily infested trees 
may be literally peppered with small, circular, emergence holes. 
The red elm bark weevil, MM. armicollis (Say), occurs in the Eastern States and 
southern Canada and breeds in dying or recently dead elms or occasionally in dead 
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