COLEOPTERA 



619 



Fig. 624. 



pests in meadows and in cultivated fields. We have known large 

 strawberry^ plantations to be destroyed by them, and have seen large 

 patches of ground in pastures from which the dead sod could be 

 rolled as one would roll a carpet from a floor, the roots having been 

 all destroyed and the ground just beneath the surface finely pulver- 

 ized by these larvae. No satisfactory inethod of fighting this pest has 

 been discovered as yet. If swine be turned into fields infested by white- 

 grubs they will root them up and feed upon them. We have destroyed 

 great numbers of the beetles by the use of trap-lanterns, but many 

 beneficial insects were destroyed at the same time. 



II. The rose-bugs.- — -The common rose-bug, Macrodactylus sub- 

 spinosus, is a well-known pest. It is a slender beetle, tapering before 

 and behind, and measuring 9 mm. in length (Fig. 624). 



It is thickly clothed with fine, yellow, scale-like hairs, which 



give it a yellow color; the legs are long, slender, and of a 



pale rod color. These beetles appear in early stmimer, 



and often do great injury to roses and other flowers, 



and to the foliage of various fruit-trees and shrubs. This 



is a very difficult pest to control. The best method now 



known is to use Paris green when safe to do so; in other 



cases the beetles should be collected by jarring them into 



a large funnel which is fitted into a can. The larvae of rose-bugs feed 



on the roots of plants. 



III. The shining leaf-chafers. — These insects resemble the May- 

 beetles in form, but can be distinguished from them by the position 

 of the hind pair of spiracles, which are visible on the sides below the 

 edges of the wing-covers; and they differ from the other leaf-chafers 

 in which the spiracles are in this position in that the tarsal claws are 

 of unequal size, one claw of each pair being larger than the other. 

 These beetles are usually polished, and many of them are of brilliant 

 colors. To this group belong the most beautiful beetles known, 

 many appearing as if made of burnished gold or silver, or other metal. 



The goldsmith-beetle, Cotdlpa lanigera. — This is 

 one of our most beautiful species. It measures from 

 20 mm. to 26 mm. in length, and is a broad oval in 

 shape. It is of a lemon-yellow color above, glittering 

 like burnished gold on the top of the head and 

 thorax ; the under side of the body is copper-colored 

 and thickly covered with whitish wool. 



The spotted pelidnota, Pelidnota punctata. — This 

 beetle is reddish brown above, with three black spots 

 on each wing-cover and one on each side of the pro- 

 thorax (Fig. 625). The scutellum, base of the head, 

 and entire body beneath, are of a deep, bronzed- 

 green color. The adult is commonly found feeding on the leaves of 

 i^Tape. The larva feeds upon decaying roots and sttunps of various 

 trees. 



The Japanese beetle, PopUlia japonica. — This is a very serious 

 pest which feeds in the adult state on the foliage of man^v-- cultivated 



Fig. 625. 



