NATURE STUDY. 
PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE 
Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences. 
You. II. November, 1901. No. 6. 
Seasonable Insect Studies. 
BY CLARENCE MOORES WEED. 
I. THE EVENING PRIMROSE BORER. 
The dead and dry stems of the Evening Primrose may 
easily be found throughout the winter in most of the North- 
ern States. They stand firmly erect, the hard, woody tis¬ 
sues easily withstand wind and storm. If you cut off one 
of these dried plants near the bottom, and then, carefully, 
split it open longitudinally, you will be quite likely to find 
a series of peculiar cell-like open spaces occupying the mid¬ 
dle portion of the stem. Inside the outer woody layer is 
the central pith, the continuity of which is broken by these 
cell-like spaces. At each end of the space is a transverse 
septum, smooth and shining on the side toward the open 
space, and rough and irregular on the other side. 
Eying in this clean cavity there is probably a slender, 
light yellow, sub-cylindrical larva, about one-third of an 
inch long. It is distinctly divided into segments, and has 
a small brown head, with three pairs of short legs, each 
terminating in a hooked claw, on the segments directly be¬ 
hind the head. On each of the segments, from the sixth 
to the ninth, there is a pair of short and peculiar pro-legs, 
