THE BARK-BEETLES. 
85 
fortli to try their wings, and, with an uncertain and heavy 
flight, launch into the air. Among these beetles there are 
many of a dull red or fox color, nearly cylindrical in form, 
tapering a very little before, obtusely rounded at both ex¬ 
tremities, and about one quarter of an inch in length. They 
are seen slowly creeping upon the sides of wooden buildings, 
resting on the tops of fences, or wheeling about in the air, 
and every now and then suddenly alighting on some tree 
or wall, or dropping to the ground. If we go to an old 
pine-tree we may discover from whence they have come, 
and what they have been about during the past period of 
their lives. Here they will be found creeping out of thou¬ 
sands of small round holes which they have made through 
the bark for their escape. Upon raising a piece of the bark, 
already loosened by the undermining of these insects, we 
find it pierced with holes in every direction, and even the 
surface of the wood will be seen to have been gnawed by 
these little miners. After enjoying themselves abroad for a 
few days, they pair, and begin to lay their eggs. The pitch- 
pine is most generally chosen by them for this purpose, but 
they also attack other kinds of pines. They gnaw little holes 
here and there through the rough bark of the trunk and 
limbs, drop their eggs therein, and, after this labor is 
finished, they become exhausted and die. In the autumn the 
grubs hatched from these eggs will be found fully grown. 
They have a short, thick, nearly cylindrical body, wrinkled 
on the back, are somewhat curved, and of a yellowish-white 
color, with a horny darker-colored head, and are destitute of 
feet. They devour the soft inner substance of the bark, 
boring through it in various directions for this purpose, and, 
when they have come to their full size, they gnaw a passage to 
the surface for their escape after they have completed their 
transformations. These take place deep in their burrows late 
in the autumn, at which time the insects mav be found, in 
various states of maturity, within the bark. Their depreda¬ 
tions interrupt the descent of the sap, and prevent the forma- 
