RAVAGES OP GRUBS. 



227 



on the fourth year from the time of its hatching. At 

 this time, the beetles may be observed issuing from 

 their holes in the evening, and dashing themselves 

 about in the air as if blind. 



Transformations of the cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris). «, 

 newly hatched larvas. b, larva, one jear old. c, the same larva 

 at the second year of its growth, rf, the. same three years old. e, 

 section of a bank of earth, containing the chrysalis of the fourth 

 year. /, the chafer first emerging from the earth, g, the perfect 

 chafer in a .sitting pcstnre. A, the same flying. 



During the three summers then of their existence 

 in the grub state, these insects do immense injury, 

 burrowing between the turf and the soil, and devour- 

 ing the roots of grass and other plants; so that the 



