234 
HALF HOURS WITH INSECTS. [Packard. 
the larva of Euchroma columhica, from Central America). 
It will be noticed that the body is broad and flattened 
just behind the hard, horny head, while behind the en¬ 
largement the body becomes narrow and cylindrical. It 
thus bores broad, shallow grooves between the bark and 
the solid wood, consuming the sap wood, the vital part of 
the tree. 
Our largest and most abundant borer of this group is the 
Chalco 2 ')hora Virginiensis. It is an inch or more in length, 
the body rough and hard and dark steel brown, with a brassy 
or coppery hue. It may be observed fl 3 dng about on hot 
days in May and June, or sunning itself on the trunks of 
pine trees. 
Tlie grub forms a long, shallow groove, more or less ser¬ 
pentine in its course. As the young borer grows its track 
increases in width, which is stuffed with chips finely packed 
behind it. Finally when fully grown and ready to transform 
it bores a large oval hole deep in the wood, where the insect 
reposes during its pupal sleep. The insect lives one year 
as a larva. 
Another species {C. liherta) is rather smaller, but very 
similar to the Virginian Chalcophora, and when at rest 
resembles the young fruit cones. The beetle itself eats the 
young buds of the pine. Pine saplings are much injured 
by the larval Chrysobothris, which girdles the trunks and 
branches. 
When passing, in our strolls among the pines, some vet¬ 
eran tree whose days of usefulness have departed, and which 
already show signs of decay, our ears are often saluted with 
a harsh creaking noise issuing from the tree. The strain is 
intermittent and sometimes several voices join in a chorus 
of harsh, crepitant sounds. It is diflicult at first to fix upon 
the exact site of the choristers, but on pulling off a piece of 
the bark, out tumble two or three large shining white worms, 
which tell the story. They are the young of th^ common 
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