112 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



and in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it has repeatedly appeared in 

 great profusion upon hedges of the honey -locust, which have been 

 entirely stripped of foliage by these voracious insects. They are 

 also found on the wild indigo-weed. In the night, and in rainy 

 weather, they descend from the plants, and burrow in the ground, 

 or under leaves and tufts of grass. Thither also they retire for 

 shelter during the heat of the day, being most actively engaged in 

 eating in the morning and evening. About the first of August 

 they go into the ground and lay their eggs, and these are hatched 

 in the course of one month. The larvae are slender, somewhat 

 flattened grubs, of a yellowish color, banded with black, with a 

 small reddish head, and six legs. These grubs are very active in 

 their motions, and appear to live upon fine roots in the ground ; 

 but I have not been able to keep them till they arrived at matu- 

 rity, and therefore know nothing further of their history. 



About the middle of August, and during the rest of this and the 

 following month, a jet-black Cantharis may be seen on potato- 

 vines, and also on the blossoms and leaves of various kinds of 

 golden-rod, particularly the tall golden-rod (Solidqtgo aJtissima), 

 which seems to be its favorite food. In some places it is as plen- 

 tiful in potato-fields as the striped and the margined Cantharis, 

 and by its serious ravages has often excited attention. These 

 three kinds, in fact, are often confounded under the common 

 name of potato-flies ; and it is still more remarkable, that they are 

 collected for medical use, and are sold in our shops by the name 

 of Cantharis vittaia, without a suspicion of their being distinct 

 from each other. The black Cantharis, or Cantharis atrataj, is 

 totally black, without bands or spots, and measures from four 

 tenths to half of an inch in length. I have repeatedly taken these 

 insects, in considerable quantities, by brushing or shaking them 

 from the potato-vines into a broad tin pan, from which they were 

 emptied into a covered pail containing a little water in it, which, 

 by wetting their wings, prevented their flying out when the pail 

 was uncovered. The same method may be employed for taking 

 the other kinds of Cantharides, when they become troublesome 

 and destructive from their numbers ; or they may be caught by 

 gently sweeping the plants they frequent with a deep muslin bag- 



t Lytta atrata, Fubricius. 



