INJURIOUS AND BENEFICIAL INSECTS. 243 



seen, aud kill them. When a vine is seen to die down sud- 

 denly in summer he must then dig around the roots and 

 search for them, and go over the bed carefully, even if help 

 has to be employed. It is better to spend even much time 

 and money for two or three years in succession, in endeavor- 

 ing to exterminate these grubs, than to yield passively to the 

 scourge. The remarks of Mr. Lockwood that we reprint in 

 our account of the Goldsmith beetle are eminently practical 

 as applied to this insect. As for special remedies, we have 

 none to propose. Watchfulness and care in culture are 

 better than any special nostrums. 



Undoubtedly the natural enemies of this grub are many, 

 but we have no observations bearing on this point. A fungus 

 attacks the grub in certain seasons, often in considerable 

 numbers. We have received specimens from Missouri of 

 dead and dried grubs, with a long stem growing out from 

 them, the result of the attacks of this fungus. It has been 

 figured by Mr. Riley, who states that another fungus attacks 

 this worm in Virginia. It is well known that caterpillars 

 and even the common house-fly are sometimes attacked by a 

 fungus which replaces the animal portion with its own vegeta- 

 ble substance. 



While many animals, such as the skunk, mole, crows, &c., 

 prey on the beetles, the only insect enemy I have personally 

 noticed is the fierce carnivorous Calosoma beetle (G. calidum) 

 which I have noticed on a blueberry-bush busily engaged in 

 tearing open the hard, horny sides of one of these beetles, 

 who was in vain struggling to escape ; on taking up the May 

 beetle a laro:e hole had been eaten into its side disclosinoj the 

 viscera. 



Occasionally the beetle appears in immense numbers. It 

 is then the duty of the agriculturist to pick them off the trees 

 and burn them. If the French take the pains to practise 

 hand-picking, as in one instance "about eighty millions were 

 collected and destroyed in a single portion of the lower 

 Seine " (Riley) , our gardeners can afford to take similar 

 pains. 



A description of the May beetle is scarcely necessary. The 

 admirable figure, taken from Harris's work, (fig. 3) gives a 

 good. idea of its appearance and size. It is bay colored, or 



