24 INSECTS OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



one family called melolonthad*, or Melolonthians. The fol- 

 lowing are the general characters of these insects. The body is 

 oblong oval, convex, and generally of a brownish color ; the 

 antennae are nine or more commonly ten jointed, the knob is 

 much longer in the males than in the females, and consists gener- 

 ally of three leaf-like pieces, sometimes of a greater number, 

 which open and shut like the leaves of a book ; the visor is short 

 and wide ; the upper jaws are furnished at base on the inner side 

 with an oval space, crossed by ridges, like a millstone, for grind- 

 ing ; the thorax is transversely square, or nearly so ; the wing- 

 cases do not cover the whole of the body, the hinder extremity of 

 which is exposed ; the legs are rather long, the first pair armed 

 externally with two or three teeth ; and the claws are notched be- 

 neath, or are split at the end like the nib of a pen. The powerful 

 and horny jaws are admirably fitted for cutting and grinding the 

 leaves of plants, upon which these beetles subsist ; their notched 

 or double claws support them securely on the foliage ; and their 

 strong and jagged fore-legs, being formed for digging in the 

 ground, point out the place of their transformations. 



The general habits and transformations of the common cock- 

 chafer of Europe have been carefully observed, and will serve to 

 exemplify those of the other insects of this family, which, as far 

 as they are known, seem to be nearly the same. This insect de- 

 vours the leaves of trees and shrubs. Its duration in the perfect 

 state is very short, each individual living only about a week, and 

 the species entirely disappearing in the course of a month. After 

 the sexes have paired, the males perish, and the females enter the 

 earth to the depth of six inches or more, making their way by 

 means of the strong teeth which arm the fore-legs ; here they de- 

 posit their eggs, amounting, according to some writers, to nearly 

 one hundred, or, as others assert, to two hundred from each 

 female, which are abandoned by the parent, who generally as- 

 cends again to the surface, and perishes in a short lime. 



From the eggs are hatched, in the space of fourteen days, little 

 whitish grubs, each provided with six legs near the head, and a 

 mouth furnished with strong jaws. When in a state of rest, these 

 grubs usually curl themselves in the shape of a crescent. They 

 subsist on the tender roots of various plants, committing ravages 



