346 NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM 



Early history. This species was noticed by Dr Fitch in his fourth 

 report under the common name of fine writing bark beetle, but as this is 

 hardly characteristic of the work of this borer, the writer has preferred to 

 use the more pertinent common name employed by Dr Packard. Dr 

 Fitch states that this beetle occurs mostly in the pitch pine in New York 

 State and that he has also met with it in the limbs of aged white pines. 

 Dr Packard records the work of this insect under the bark of the southern 

 pitch pine at Houston Tex., where it appeared to be abundant and Dr 

 Hopkins in more recent years has taken the insect in various localities in 

 the Western States. He finds that it is a common and widely distributed 

 species over the greater part of the pine producing areas of the United 

 States from the Atlantic coast to and including the Rocky mountain region. 



He adds that it attacks all of the eastern and southern pines and 

 doubtless several of the western species in addition to the rock pine in 

 which he found it in large numbers in the Black Hill region. 



Description. The beetle is about ^ inch in length and varies in color 

 from a light brown to nearly black. It is rather stout, cylindric and the 



conspicuous excavation or declivity at the posterior 

 end of the wing covers is bordered on each side by a 

 row of six teeth or chitinized processes [rig. 67]. The 

 teeth are arranged on each wing cover as follows : a 

 minute tooth a little to one side of the median line, 

 a dorsal subequal pair, a minute tooth between them 

 and the two teeth of nearly uniform hight near the 

 ventral margin of the declivity. The prothorax is 

 thickly and rather finely granulated while the wing 

 covers are marked with rows of closely set rather 

 large punctures. The general form of the beetle 

 and the sculpturing of the dorsal surface are shown 

 in the accompanying figure. The antennae are 

 represented on plate 66, figure 8. 



Fig. 67 Tomicus calligraphus r 



(author's illustration) The white pupae are found in oval cells in 



