284 
ECCOPTOPTERA SEXDENTATA, 
MOTS. 
THE SILVER FIR BRANCH GIRDLER. 
Plate XVII, fig. 5. 
Classification: —Order, COLEOPTERA. Family, Scolytide, 
Tree attacked :—Abies Webbiana, Lindl. (The Silver Fir.) 
Description. 
Imago @. The specimens obtained were not quite mature 
though fully developed. The beetle is bright yellow brown in 
colour all over but darkening slightly on dorsal surface of the 
elytra. Head projects beyond thorax. Antenne augled and 
knobbed; funiculus 7-jointed, the joints increasing in size up- 
wards, the top one being large; club blunt-oval. Head and pro- 
thorax one-third total length of insect. Elytra are toothed 
at their extremities, truncate and together with the prothorax 
uniformly pitted all over. Longish scattered yellow hairs 
are present on the dorsal surface of the insect. Front coxe 
contiguous ; tibia toothed on their outer edges. When fully 
mature, the beetle would doubtless be a dark brown or black in 
colour. Length 3 millim. PI. XVII, fig. 5, shows a dorsal and 
side view of this insect. 
The male insect is quite different in appearance. 
Life History. 
The flight time of this beetle is probably about the first fort- 
nightin July. The 9 lays her eggs in the pendulous side branches 
of the silver fir. These branches are ringed by the insect. I 
am not at present able to say whether the ¢ beetle helps the 
?in this work, as I have not yet found the former. The 
girdle is made about a third of the length of the branch down ~ 
from its upper extremity, the ringing being done just above a 
node, z.é., the point of juncture of small offshoot side branchlets. 
The egg or eggs are apparently laid above the ring, generally 
Just above it. The object of the girdle is to kill the portion of 
