194 



INSECT CALENDAR. 



231. Diabro- 

 tica vittata. 



we have oftenest found it, clad in its rich dress of velvety black 

 and red. 

 Later still, when the lilac blooms, and farther south the broad- 

 leaved Kalraia, the gaily-colored Hum- 

 ming Bird moth (Sesia) visits the flowers 

 in company with the Swallow-tail butter- 

 fly (Papilio Turnus). At twilight, the 

 Hawk moth (Sphinx) darts noiselessly 

 through our gardens, as soon as the hon- 

 eysuckles, pinks and lilies are in blossom. 

 Among the flies, mosquitoes now appear, though they have 

 not yet, perhaps, strayed far from their native swamps and fens ; 

 and their mammoth allies, the 

 iJaddy-long-legs (Tipula), rise 

 from the fields and mould of 

 our gardens in great num- 

 bers. 



Of the beetles, those which 

 feed on leaves now become 

 specially active. The Squash 

 beetle (Diabrotica vittata. Fig. 

 231, and Fig. 230, D. 12-punc- 



tata) now attacks the squash , , , 



plants before they are fairly ^ 



up ; and the Plum weevil (Con- Fig. 232. Plum Weevil and Young, 

 otrachelus nenuphar. Fig. 232) will sting the newly formed 

 fruit, late in the mouth, or early in June. Many other weevils 

 now abound, stinging the seeds and 

 fruit, and depositing tlieir eggs just 

 under the skin. So immense are the 

 numbers of insects Avhich fill the air 

 and enliven the fields and woodlands 

 just as summer comes in, that a bare 

 enumeration of them would overcrowd 

 our pages, and tire the reader. 



A word, however, about our water 

 insects. Late in the month the May fly 

 (Ephemera, Fig. 233) appears, often 

 rising in immense numbers, from the 

 surface of pools and sluggish brooks. In Europe, whole clouds 

 of these delicate forms, with their thin white wings, have been 



May FJy. 



