32 



They have earned the name of Borers because they are, in fact, " animated gimlets," 

 and spend their lives while in the larval state in perforating and feeding upon trees ; 

 some live and carry on their operations in the trunks, others in the branches ; some 

 devour the wood, others the pith ; some are found only in shrubs, some in the stems of 

 herbaceous plants, others confine their attentions to the roots. Some are to be found only on 

 one species of plants, others have a wider range. Some bore straight holes, others branch 

 off at divers angles, others make tracks as various as those of an engraver, while some are 

 regular screws. The Germans, lovers of music, as they are, call these beetles " Fiddlers," 

 because they give forth, especially when annoyed or taken in the hand, a squeaking or 

 rasping noise produced by rubbing the j oints of the thorax and abdomen together. Some 

 of the family are not only musical-boxes, but scent bottles as well, and emit a fragrant 

 odour not unlike that of otto of roses. 



The members of this family, as a rule, are very handsome, and readily attract notice 

 by their elegant forms and resplendent attire, that is, when of full age ; when young — in 

 the creeping age — they are ugly in the extreme. Harris tells us that the various members 

 of the family resemble each other in the following respects : the antennae are long and 

 tapering. The body is oblong, approaching to a cylindrical form, a little flattened above, 

 and tapering somewhat behind. The head is short and armed with powerful jaws. The 

 thorax is either square, barrel-shaped or, narrowed before, and is not so wide behind as the 

 wing-covers. The legs are long; the thighs thickened in the middle; the feet four-jointed, 

 not formed for rapid motion, but for standing securely, being broad and cushioned beneath, 

 with the third joint deeply notched. Most of these beetles remain upon the trees and 

 shrubs during the day time, but fly abroad at night. Some of them, however, fly by day, 

 and may be found on flowers, feeding on the pollen and blossoms. 



The pride of our Canadian forests, the maple tree, suffers much 

 from the attacks of Clytus speciosus (fig. 13), the largest of our native 

 members of the family. This beautiful beetle is easily recognized ; it 

 is about in inch in length, and the third of one in breadth. The head 

 is yellow with antennae and eyes of reddish black. In shape the body 

 is somewhat cylindrical, a little flattened above and tapering behind. 

 The thorax is black with two yellow transverse spots on each side. The 

 wing covers for more than half their length are black, for the rest they 

 are yellow ; they are gaily ornamented with bands and spots arranged 

 as follows : A yellow spot on each shoulder, a broad yellow curved 

 band or arch, of which the yellow scutel forms the keystone, on the base of the wing 

 covers ; behind this a zig-zag yellow band forming the letter W ; across the middle another 

 yellow band arching backwards, and on the yellow tip a curved band and a spot of a black 

 colour ; the legs are yellow. 



The under side of the abdomen is reddish yellow, variegated with brown. The female 

 has the advantage of her mate in size, but her antennae are somewhat shorter. She po- 

 ssesses a pointed tube at the end of the abdomen, through which the eggs are passed from 

 her body into the cracks and crevices of the bark. The tube can be contracted or exten- 

 ded at the will of the fair owner and to suit the emergency of the case. 



The parent lays her eggs on the bark of the maple in J uly or August. As soon as 

 the grubs are hatched they burrow into the bark, and there find protection during the 

 cold of winter. When the warm days again return the larvae begin again their labours, 

 penetrating deeper and deeper into the heart of the tree, sometimes tunnelling as much as 

 three inches into the solid wood, they make long and winding galleries up and down the 

 trunks. A carpenter is known by his chips, so their presence is readily detected by the little 

 heaps of sawdust that they throw out of their work-shops. If in time a stiff wire is 

 inserted into their holes they can be easily put an end to by impaling. They are long, 

 whitish, fleshy, deeply marked by transverse cuts ; their legs, although sixteen in number. 

 s are merely rudimentary promises of legs, and for ornament, not use ; they are of no avail 

 for the purpose of locomotion. Not by means of their eight pairs of legs, but by alter- 

 nately contracting and extending the segments of their bodies, do these worm-like creatures 

 force their way along, and in order to assist their progress each segment is furnished with 

 fleshy tubercles capable of protrusion, and which being pressed against the sides of their 



