34. 



this place I found many plants bad been dwarfed and ruined by their ravages. It also 

 occurs, to what extent I am unable to say, at Hamburg and Clarence Center, in the 

 same County. I recently visited a portion of this State, Oswego Co. , formerly clad to some 

 considerable extent with white pine, and there are yet standing some virgin forests of 

 this splendid tree. In divers places in that county I found our borer ; it is so abundant 

 in one locality, at least, that it proves a grave enemy to the young pines of second 

 growth where the primitive trees have been removed by the lumberman. There is near 

 Hastings Center an " old slash" in which at least one-half of the many such small pines 

 have been injured ; indeed, in one neglected corner, among scores, scarcely one tree had 

 escaped. In this instance, also, many pines were stunted, while some thus weakened 

 had been broken off by the wind. In other localities where the pine is indigenous I 

 have been unable to find it, or else it was only occasional ; for example, at Portage, 

 where young pines are plentiful, and although the trunks bore masses of pitch closely 

 like those from the wounds by Zimmennani, yet a diligent search discovered but one 

 pupa skin, and of the identity of it I am not quite certain, as it was badly broken in re- 

 moving from the pitch. 



April 12th last, at Hastings, I took many larvae of various sizes from .25 to .7 of 

 an inch in length when crawling, so there is no longer a doubt as to the winter stage. 

 None of these taken were "livid or blackish green, " but dull white ; nor do the hairs arise 

 from a "series of black dots," but from light brown ones. I take it to be a case where a 

 naked hybernating larva is lighter than during the warm summer. Otherwise the cater- 

 pillars were as described by Mr. Grote. 



In a clump of pines whose trunks were from 6 in. to 1 ft. in diameter many of the 

 larger ones had been "boxed," i. e., inclined incisions had been cut by the axe through 

 the sap-wood in order to catch the pitch exuding from the wound. Around the borders 

 of these " boxes " the galleries with both pupa skins and living larvae were plentiful. It 

 appears that the larva cannot penetrate the outer bark of other than quite tender trees ; 

 nor could I find evidence of their attacking the branches of larger trees, although I had 

 opportunity to examine such that had been felled during the winter just past. Since 

 this larva so readily take advantage of a wound, may it not stand related as a messmate 

 to other borers ? At both Chehtowaga and Hastings I found on trunks in the same neigh- 

 borhood masses of exuding pitch in which were larvae of an orange colour, attaining a 

 length of .45 of an inch, remaining through the winter, and going into pupa towards 

 spring, as I found them in both conditions April 12th and early in May. These larvae 

 are those of one of the pine weevils. It appears to me that Zimmennani may and 

 does take advantage of these wounds by the weevil, as it does of those made by the axe. 



I have found the moth's galleries in both trunk and branch, both above and below 

 the whorls (usually below), sometimes completely girdling the stem, thus killing the 

 portion above ; in one instance I found a gallery passing from one whorl to the one 

 above. 



Now, when the moth borer and the weevil work together and pretty much in the 

 same way, i. e., by cutting the inner bark and the cambium layer, thus scoring and 

 girdling the stem, to which culprit belongs the greatest amount of credit for mischief? 

 Both are guilty of enough to justify everlasting execration. 



It remains to add a word about its insect enemies. The hymenopterous parasite 

 which Mr. Grote found to fill certain of the chrysalids, I have found in every location 

 where the moth is at all abundant ; there is another which I have found quite as abun- 

 dant. Early in April I obtained from the galleries of last year a number of brown 

 cocoons, about .4 of an inch long, nearly cylindrical, ends rounded, texture thin papery, 

 pupa visible through the cocoon. The skin and head of the victim was found at one end 

 of this cocoon, showing that the caterpillar was the host. 



In a few days there appeared lrom each cocoon a lively fly. Expanse of male, .6 

 in. ; of female, .7 in. Colour above black, legs yellow, underside of abdomen white with 

 a row of black dashes on side, front of male white, of female black. A white line on 

 shoulder of each extends on to the costa. Ovipositor as long as the abdomen. 



I shall presently refer the species for identification. 



