242 BOAED OF AGRICULTURE. 



ft 



and transparent that the air-vessels and viscera can be seen 

 through it, while though it has three pairs of legs, it is so 

 gross and un wieldly that it lies, when dug out of its retreat, 

 flat upon its side. 



How many years the grub lives before changing into the 

 beetle we do not know, but probably at least three. It 

 arrives at maturity in the autumn, and early in May in this 

 State the chrysalid (fig. 2, pupa) may be found in little rude 

 cells or chambers about six inches under the mould, in which 

 position we have found it in Maine late in May. During the 

 latter part of May and early in June, i. e. for about a month 

 it flies about at night, especially on warm nights. By day it 

 hides in fruit and other trees-, clinging to the undersides by 

 its long, curved claws, which are admirably adapted for the 

 purpose. Here it does at times much injury especially, as 

 Harris remarks, to cherry-trees. 



Where it lays its eggs is not definitely known, but it is 

 probable that it burrows in the soil and there lays its eggs, as 

 does the European cockchafer of whose habits Harris gives a 

 summary, and also the Goldsmith beetle, of which we give 

 an account farther on. Riley however says that "Soon after 

 pairing, the female beetle creeps into the earth, especially 

 wherever the soil is loose and rough, and after depositing her 

 eggs to the number of forty or fifty, dies. These hatch in the 

 course of a month, and, the grubs growing slowly, do not 

 attain full size till the early spring of the third year, when 

 they construct an ovoid chamber, lined with a gelatinous 

 fluid ; change into pupjB, and soon afterwards into beetles." 



In the autumn at the approach of cold it descends to a con- 

 siderable depth below the surface to avoid the frost, probably 

 about two feet below the usual depth at which the ground is 

 frozen in the winter. At the approach of warm weather, 

 however, it makes its way up near the surface, where it forms 

 a slight cell by wriggling about, and then passes into the 

 pupa state. It is said that they sometimes pupate and appear 

 in the winged state in the autumn. 



As to remedies against this grub, the careful gardener will 

 in the first place destroy all those that he sees by crushing 

 them to death. When the manure is spread over the straw- 

 berry-bed he must watch it narrowly for the grubs so easily 



