256 MISC. PUBLICATION 657, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
lated plants, cutting off the plants near the surface of the ground and 
boring down into the roots. The habits i in all respects are similar to 
those of O. ocellata. This is a serious pest in ornamental plantings of 
rhododendron. It seems to be well distributed through the North- 
eastern States, and frequent reports are received relative to damage 
caused by it. Early in the summer the tips of the branches are girdled 
by the adult. 
The adult of Oihenee ruficollis (¥.), the sassafras stem borer, 
ranges from 15 to 18 mm. in length. It is pale reddish-yellow, with 
the antennae, tibiae, and tarsi black, the elytra are densely clothed 
with gray pubescence. The larva bores in the stems and roots of 
sassafras, making a series of round holes along the stems for the 
exudation of frass. The habits of this species are similar in all re- 
spects to those of the sumac stem borer, except that only rarely are 
the stems cut off at the base by the larvae. The plants are more often 
badly deformed than killed. 
The adult of Oberea schaumi Lec., the poplar twig borer, is from 
11 to 16 mm. in length. It is usually pale yellow, with the antennae 
and elytra often black, and with four round, smooth spots arranged 
in a curve on the thorax. 
Early in the summer, throughout the Central States, the eggs are 
laid in the small twigs of poplars, often three or four in the same 
branch. The larva feeds in the small branches under the bark, caus- 
ing the death of the twigs, which still hang onto the tree. The appear- 
ance of shade trees is often ereatly marred by large numbers of these 
dying twigs. Numerous complaints are received from the Mississippi 
Valley of the j injury done by this insect to poplars. 
The adult beetle of the dogwood twig borer (Oberea tripunctata 
(Swed.) ) measures from 10 to 15 mm. in length. It is usually yellow, 
with three black spots on the thorax, and the wing covers are blackish 
along the sides and down the middle. 
Early in the summer, in the Eastern and Central States, the adult 
appears, and after girdling the tip, deposits the eggs in living twigs 
of elm, dogwood, viburnum, and many fruit trees. The larva feeds 
down the center of the branch, making a long series of closely placed 
round holes for the exudation of frass. At intervals it cuts off parts 
of the twig from within, proceeding on down into the green wood. 
It pupates “between two wads of fibrous frass and may or may not 
previously girdle the portion containing the cell. The development 
is usually completed in 1 year. Ornamental shr ubbery is injured by 
the girdling of the branches. This borer seldom appears in numbers. 
The beetles of the genus Oncideres are stout, very cylindrical insects 
of medium to large size. They are dark gray or grayish brown, often 
prettily marked. The antennae are as long or a little longer than the 
body. The thorax often has a spine on each side. The larvae are 
cylindrical, shining borers, having the head longer than wide and the 
anterior margin of the front beset with a transverse row of short 
carinae or ridges. The pronotum is raised, very shining, and finely 
striate; and the ampullae bear two, or rarely three, regular rows of 
tubercles. The larvae are legless (Linsley 276). 
Three species have been recorded as of economic importance in the 
Eastern, Southern, and Southwestern States. The habits are so 
similar that they can all be treated alike. 
