732 
ANNUAL REPORT OF NEW-YORK 
PINE. TWIGS. 
true male of the preceding species. These insects aro not com¬ 
mon. See Harris’s Treatise, page 428. 
254. Pine blight, Coccus Pinicorticis, Fitch. (Ilomoptera. Coccidoo.) 
Externally, upon the smooth bark of young trees, patches of 
white flocculent down-like matter, covering exceedingly minute 
lice invisible to the naked eye. See Transactions N. Y. State 
Ag. Soc., 1854, page 871. 
AFFECTING THE TWIGS. ^ 
255. White-pine weevil, Pissodes Strobi, Peck. (Coleoptera. Curculionidse.) 
[Plate iii, fig. 1.] 
In May, depositing numerous eggs in the bark of the topmost 
shoot of young trees, the larvm from which mine in the wood 
and pith, causing the shoot to wither and die, hereby occasion¬ 
ing a crook in the body of the tree at this point; an oblong 
oval and rather narrow weevil about a quarter of an inch long, 
of a dull dark chestnut-brown color, with two dots on the 
thorax, the scutel and a short irregular band back of the mid¬ 
dle of the wing covers milk white, the wing covers also varie¬ 
gated with a few patches of tawny yellow. 
This is a common insect in our State, and specimens of it 
may be found around and upon pine trees at all times of the 
year, but it is in the month of May that they are abroad in the 
greatest numbers, and it is chiefly at that time that their eggs 
are deposited. Young thrifty-growing pines are its favorite 
resort, and among these it selects those that are most vigorous, 
and whose topmost shoot has made the greatest advance the 
preceding year. But I have seen it 'so numerous that not only 
the topmost shoots of every tree in the grove, but many of the 
lateral ones also were invaded and destroyed by it. 
It is in consequence of its smooth straight growth to such a 
lofty height that the pine has been prized beyond any other 
timber for large buildings and bridges, and is especially valua¬ 
ble for the masts of ships. So very highly were the American 
pines esteemed for this last purpose, at an early day, that they 
were ranked with the precious metals, and a largo portion of 
