INSECT ENEMIES OF EASTERN FORESTS 327 
discussed further than to state that they may be found either in the 
bark or wood of dead twigs and in other dead vegetable matter. 
The genus Stephanoderes Eichh. contains larger species, ranging 
from 1.5 to nearly 2.5 mm. in length. They are similar to Hypothene- 
mus in habits, but are more often found in dying bark or the undecayed 
wood of twigs. Some species breed in the bark, others in the wood, 
and still others in the pith of shoots. They are usually of little or no 
economic importance in this country, but in tropical countries a few 
species are destructive. An excellent example is S. hampei Ferr., 
which destroys coffee beans and which has been distributed by com- 
merce to nearly every part of the world, although it has become estab- 
lished only in coffee-raising countries. Often the American species 
are not confined to any particular species of tree but may be found 
in almost any dead vegetable matter. 
The Oak-Bark Beetles 
Nearly all species of Pseudopityophthorus Sw. prefer to breed in 
the inner bark of the various species of oak, although several species 
may also be found in other trees. The eastern species of this genus 
range from slightly more than 1 to about 2 mm. long. They are dark 
brown to black and slender to moderately slender. The wing covers 
are finely punctured and not striate, and the males have the front of 
the head ornamented with a brush of long yellowish or ashen hairs. 
In habits the beetles are not particularly aggressive, preferring to 
breed in recently cut or dying limbs, but in some cases apparently 
healthy limbs are attacked and killed. On the whole, however, they 
should not be considered notably injurious. The burrows are of the 
transverse, forked type. 
Pseudopityophthorus asperulus (Lec.) ranges from 1.1 to 1.4 mm. 
long. It is found from Maine to Florida and westward.to Texas, and 
has been taken from various oaks, chestnuts, and birch. P. fag? Blkm. 
is similar in size and is known only from six specimens taken from 
beech in West Virginia. P. pubescens Blkm., 1.8 mm. long, occurs 
in Virginia and North Carolina, breeding in oak and chestnut. 
P. minutissimus (Zimm.), 1.5 to 1.9 mm. long, is common and is widely 
distributed from Massachusetts to Colorado and southward to Georgia 
and Mississippi in oaks and a considerable variety of other hard- 
woods. P. pruintosus (EKichh.), about 2 mm. long, occurs from New 
York to Michigan and southward to Florida and Texas. Oaks are the 
favored host, but chestnut, beech, hickory, blue beech, hornbeam, 
and maple are also attacked. 
Many of these beetles have been fully discussed by Chamberlin * 
and the genus was revised in 1931 by Blackman (4/). 
The Cone Beetles 
The cone beetles belonging to the genus Conophthorus Hopk. are 
small, stout, dark-brown to black, shining beetles, commonly 2.5 to 
3.25 mm. long, which bore into the stem and up through the axis 
of the young cones and there deposit their eggs, causing the cones 
° See footnote 22, p. 302. 
