467 



Reply. — * * * Thcwillowcuttiugs contaiiiinslarvjcwliich yon sent were placed 

 aside and the adult insect was reared alin<jst immediately. Itisoneot the <fall-making 

 Saw-flies of the genus Euura and seems to he a new sjieeies. It prohahly inakes galls 

 upon the leaves during the summer, and has entered the twigs simply to hibernate. 

 The best remedy will consist in pruning and burning the atiected twigs during winter 

 or in removing during summer all leaves aflfected with galls. This will he a serious 

 labor, but you can determine whether it will be worth while. — [April 28, 1891. ] 



Oak Furniture Damaged by Borers. 



Having recently seen some nicely finished suites of furniture which have been 

 damaged by a borer of some sort, I wish to ask for information as to the name and 

 habits of the insect. 



The wood is red oak, white oak, and chestnut oak, and in the last case noticed the 

 furniture had not been finished more than a year, perhaps. As there are many very 

 elegant and costly pieces of furniture now being made of oak it will soon be an impor-' 

 tant matter to know how to avoid the worm. It seems to come out of the wood, as if the 

 egg had beeii deposited long before the tree was cut. Again, I am puzzled to know 

 how the egg or larva can stand the heat of the dry kiln without losing its vitality. 

 If the oak is specially liable to the attack of such insects it is a rather risky venture 

 to invest in costly furniture or cabinet work when made in that wood. 



If furniture is known to be infested already, is there any way to stop the destruc- 

 tion already begun ? — [T. C. Harris, Curator State Museum, Raleigh, North Carolina, 

 May 6, 1891. 



Reply. — There are various species of insects belonging to different orders that are 

 knownto injure oak furniture in the manner you describe, but since you do not give 

 particulars as to the appearance and size of the worm which emerged from the furni- 

 ture it is impossible to tell to what particular species it belongs. 



The borers which are most frequently found in furniture belong to the following 

 families of the order Coleoptera: Cerambycida',OT Longicorn Beetles, the larvae of 

 which are known as round-headed borers ; Biq)r€stid(e, the larva? of which are termed 

 flat-headed borers; Scolytidce, and, finally, Ptinidcc, the larvie of which have no par- 

 ticular name. The two families last named are mostly small insects, and if their 

 larvfe or imagos emerge from a piece of furniture the damage is usually not very 

 noticeable. Moreover, the PtinidcB only attack old furniture or perfectly dry timber. 

 Your worm, which presumably was of larger size, belongs, therefore, in all proba- 

 bility, to the Biq)restid(P or Ceramht/cida\ The species of these families rarely, if ever, 

 oviposit in perfectly healthy and living trees, but at once infest trees if they are 

 felled. If the trees after being felled are allowed to remain in the woods for weeks 

 or months during spring or summer the wood is sure to be infested with the larv;e of 

 one or several species of these beetles, and herein lies the chief if not the only 

 cause of the injury to furniture. After such trees have been sawed into boards the 

 larviP continue to live therein, and if they happen to be in the center of a board no 

 amount of heat of an ordinary kiln will hurt them in the least. If the felled trees 

 at or before the opening of spring be removed from the woods and placed in large, 

 airy sheds they would be protected from the attacks of the beetles, and this is the 

 best and most rational way of preventing injury to furniture. It is also recom- 

 mended to carefully inspect the boards before they are worked up. In most cases it 

 will be possible to detect the holes of the borers, and the latter can be killed by in- 

 jecting a quantity of benzine, kerosene, or bisulphide of carbon into the holes. 



In the dry wood of furniture the development of these borers is often greatly re- 

 tarded, and there are instances on record where after the lapse of ten or more years 

 the larvae or the imagos emerge from the wood. 



It can be said that the oak harbors a gn\ater number of borers than other trees, 

 and there are few, if any, kinds of trees which are not infested by one or several 

 species of wood-boring insects. — [May 8, 1891. ] 



