49 



to require considerable dexterity to pierce thera without turning the tip of the pin ; they 

 nearly always cover the upper surface of the abdomen, the under surface of which is com- 

 posed of five segments, and has the two first connate. Sometimes in the males there is a 

 small sixth joint left visible, by the fifth one having a notch in the middle. The females 

 are provided with an ovipositor, composed of three horny pieces, with which they are able 

 to thrust their eggs into the smallest crevices of the bark of the tree, which is to form the 

 nursery and food of the young larvae. The legs are short, having the upper joints {femora) 

 stout, and sometimes bearing a spur, the second joints {tih'm) are slender, with two small 

 terminal spines, and the tarsi five jointed. On account of the shortness of their legs, they 

 are not at all active in running. The best authorities seem to agree in saying that they 

 have large wings and fly quickly ; but I cannot say that my observations so far have led me 

 to concur with this statement. The wings of all those which I have examined have been 

 small in comparison to the weight of their bodies, not being quite so large as the elytra, 

 and only having one small longitudinal fold at the apex. The chief protection of these 

 beetles lies in the similarity of their appearance to the objects amongst which they are gene- 

 rally found. At the slightest provocation they draw their legs in tightly to their bodies and 

 drop from the branch on which they may be resting or feeding, and, protected by their 

 firm tegument, they can fall upon the hardest rocks with perfect safety. When they reach 

 the ground they will lie perfectly still for a long time, and it requires sharp eyes indeed 

 to detect them, unless the exact spot where they fell is noticed. 



Notwithstanding that, on account of the number and beauty of the species, this family 

 has always been a favourite one with entomologists, the lifehistories of its different tribes are 

 still very incomplete ; thisis owing chiefly to the fact that most of the larvae mature in living: 

 trees, which renders the study of them very difficult. The larvae throughout the whole 

 family, are much more homogeneous than the perfect insects, and may be describedas yellowish- 

 white, legless grubs, Fig. 36 a, of slender form, but having the prothoracic segment, Fig. .36 c, 

 enormously widened in comparison to the rest of the body ; this enlarged division is much 

 flattened, and protected above and beneath with horny plates. The diff'erent stages of the 

 Agrilini are not so regular as in the other tribes, and vary in accordance with the group to 

 which they belong. 



There seems to be much diiference of opinion as to the time necessary for these insects 

 to reach maturity. I am of opinion that the normal period is a year, the ej^gs being laid 

 during one summer, and the perfect insects appearing in the next. At page 399 Vol. 10 

 of The Transactions of the Linntean Society," mention is made of a curious instance of re- 

 tarded development, A specimen of Buprestis splendens, a Swedish species be iring a close 

 resemblance to our Ancijlijchira striata, was found by a Mr. Montague in the act of emerging 

 from its burrow in the wood of a desk which had stood in the Otfice of Works, at Guildhall, 

 for 22 years. The insect, with the piece of wood containing the burrow, was sent to Sir 

 Joseph Banks, who found on enquiry that the makers of the desk had obtained the plank 

 from the Baltic. But even this is not the longest period an insect has been known to remain 

 alive in timber. Dr. Fitch describes a longicorn beetle which made its exit from the leaf of 

 a table, made of apple-wood, 28 years after the tree was cut down. 



It is in the larval state that these insects are most injurious, when burrowing in 

 the soft sap-wood beneath the bark, especially when in great numbers, as is frequently 

 the case, they cause the death of many young trees by completely oirdling them. Some 

 species occasionally shew great partiality for an individual tree ; e.g., in a grove of pine sap- 

 lings, near Ottawa, containing upwards of 100 trees, there are two upon which, at almost any 

 time, I could find three or four G. liberta, but upon no other trees in that locality have I 

 ever taken any at all. It is a notable fact that most insects prefer injured or diseased trees, 

 and which, on that account, have a feebler growth than would ordinarily be the case. It is 

 to these trees then that the horticulturist should pay especial attention when hunting for 

 them. Many remedies have been proposed for the protection of trees from the ravages of 

 borers, but the surest mode, and the one which has to be relied on chiefly, is hand-picking. 

 First learn which are your enemies and which your friends, anJ then go to work to hunt 

 them out steadily one by one. This at flrst seems an impossibility, but by carefully watch- 

 ing at the proper time to destroy the perfect insects, and with a little experience at larvae 

 hunting in the fall, an orchard may soon be cleared of its pests. Steps, of couit^e, should also 

 be taken to prevent the beetles from depositing their eggs upon the bark of the trees. The 



