Nov. 17,1923 
Oak Sapling Borer 
315 
end of the chamber an extension of the gallery turns abruptly outward, 
reaching almost to the inner bark. In this chamber the full-grown 
larva passes the winter and pupates early in the spring. 
DESCRIPTION 3 
The full-grown larva is from 25 to 30 mm. long, the width of the prothorax is between 
5 and 6 mm., and the head is about 4 mm. wide. 
The Goes larva belongs to the general type of longicom larvae, which are specialized 
for a typical wood-boring life. The body, robust, fleshy, and yellowish, is almost 
cylindrical but slightly flattened dorsally and ventrally and somewhat broader 
anteriorly. The abdomen is extended and the segments readily telescope. The 
head is invaginated into the prothorax, with the exception of its minor anterior part, 
which carries the movable labrum and large membranous clypeus, the forceful mouth 
parts, and the different sensory organs. As in all members of the subfamily Lamiinae, 
to which Goes belongs, the shape of the head is very characteristic; it appears oblong 
when liberated and has almost parallel sides and a long unpaired suture along the 
dorsal middle line. It penetrates the entire length of the prothorax and its posterior 
foramen is located more ventrally than in the longicom larvae of the other groups, 
thus making the movements of the head and especially the up-and-down movements 
more free than in these larvae. 
In Goes the sides of the head narrow gradually to the base, while in closely related 
genera they suddenly constrict behind the middle of the head; the anterior chitinized 
and dark margin of the head capsule is without particular limitation posteriorly, not 
especially thick, and not projecting; the eyes are small, only one ocellus is present 
on each side; the antennae are very small, and the chitinous rings of the head capsule 
from which they extend are closed behind, not bisected by the frontal sutures, as 
is the case in related genera. The mandibles are strong and heavily chitinized, as 
in all longicom larvae, but they have a rather unusual shape, being elongate, with a 
short, oblique cutting edge, and therefore they produce very characteristic scars or 
marks in the surfaces of the galleries which they gnaw. As in all the genera of the 
subfamily to which it belongs, Goes is completely legless, and its locomotion is there¬ 
fore entirely dependent on the large warts or “ampullae” of the abdomen. These 
warts are present in all longicom larvae, usually developed on the dorsal and ventral 
sides of the posterior thoracic and the first seven abdominal segments, and their sur¬ 
faces are subdivided in different ways by small furrows or wrinkles and often set 
with minute chitinous asperities. 
It has been noticed that a striking correlation exists between the development of 
the surfaces of the ampullae and the different environments in which the longicom 
larvae live. Thus the chitinous asperities are characteristic of the forms in living 
trees and glabrous ampullae in the forms in dead wood. Therefore the presence or 
absence of these asperities offers good classifying characters, especially for the dis¬ 
tinction of species. Applied to the genus Goes, it is found that in five of its six known 
species the dorsal warts of the abdominal segments carry four transverse rows of small 
tubercles set with rather coarse asperities, and all of these species, among which is 
Goes tesselatus, attack living trees; the sixth species has glabrous ampullae and has 
only been found in dead wood, feeding beneath the bark. 
In many longicom larvae the dorsal surface of the ninth segment is provided with 
one or two chitinous plates or terminates with an unpaired median thorn or carries 
small hooks or chitinous granules; in Goes it is covered with a single smooth shield, 
shaped like a nail, posteriorly rounded and of a light yellowish color. 
The spiracles are lateral, oval, with two lips and a narrow linear opening. Nine 
pairs are present; the mesothoracic is twice as large as the abdominal ones and is 
pushed somewhat forward into the prothorax. 
Very remarkable but easily overlooked structures are two minute chitinous pits 
or pores, one at each end of an oval, obliquely transverse tubercle, on the sides of the 
first eight abdominal segments. These pits represent the external ends of a sensorial 
organ which is concealed in the pleural tubercles and probably is some sort of ear 
or so-called “ chordo-tonal ” apparatus. The shape of these pleural tubercles, the 
number of the setae which they carry, and the more or less distinct development of 
the pits offer good generic characters in the subfamily to which Goes belongs. In 
Goes each tubercle is broadly oval; it carries two setae, and the pits are darkly chitin¬ 
ized and comparatively distinct. 
3 By Adam G. Boving, Forest Insect Investigations, Bureau of Entomology, United States Department 
of Agriculture. 
