32 



HALF HOUKS WITH IXSECTS. 



[Packard. 



20), devour the beetle itself. In certain favorable 3-ears the 

 May beetle is fcarfull}" abundant. It is then necessarj^ to 

 resort to hand picking. If the French take the pains to 

 practise picking their chafers off the plants b}" hand, so that 

 in one instance about 80,000,000 were collected and de- 

 stroyed in a single portion of the department of the Lower 

 Seine, our gardeners can afford to take similar care. 



The Goldsmith Beetle (Fig. 21).— Of very similar habits 

 is an ally of the May beetle, the beautiful woolly yellow 

 j-j^ „^ beetle, which is as 



varied in its tastes 

 as the May beetle. 

 The insect in the 

 beetle state feeds 

 on the young, ten- 

 dor leaves of the 

 pear, elm, hickoiy, 

 poplar, oak, sweet 

 n \ guui and black- 



berry ; while the 



Goldsn^ith Beetle and larva. ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^^ 



mischief to the roots of strawbeny plants. The grub is white, 

 with a 3'ellowish head, and closeh" resembles that of the May 

 Beetle, simply differing in having longer antennae and feet. 

 Rev. Dr. Lockwood has made us acquainted with the 

 habits of this dcstructiA-e chafer. In the middle of June in 

 New Jersey the beetle lays in the night about fourteen eggs 

 in the soil, each egg being deposited singly and at different 

 depths. In about a month, i. e., the middle of July, they 

 hatch. In other resj^ects its habits are much as in the May 

 beetle. In one instance tvro acres of plants were '"irrotriev- 

 abl}' ruined." Dr. Lockvrocd adds that "the Goldsmith 

 grub can be taken at any hour of the day simpl}' by scratch- 

 ing the earth from around the roots of those plants whose 

 dark, shrivelled leaves tell of the enemy's presence. 



32 



