80 LAMELLICORN-BEETLES. 



they are found upon trees. But as they are only active during- 

 the warmer portions of the day, resting or sleeping at other times 

 in beautiful cradles of white petals, protected by a covering com- 

 posed of yellow grains of pollen, they are easily shaken into an 

 inverted umbrella, or in extreme cases into a large sheet spread 

 under the tree. However, a simple shaking avails but little, the 

 trees must be jarred by a sharp blow made with a mallet covered 

 with cloth, to prevent injury to the trunks. Both species are 

 shown in Fig. 87, Plate I. 



THE ROSE-CHAFER, OR ROSE-BUG. 



{Macrodactylus subspinosus Fab.). 



This destructive beetle is only too well known in some parts 

 of the United States, but happily it is of rare occurrence in Min- 

 nesota, at least at the present time. It is found in June, about 

 the time when grapes and roses are in full bloom ; it eats such 

 dainty morsels as these highly scented flowers in preference to 

 anything else, but in their absence it is satisfied with leaves. 



Prof. Smith, who had ample opportunity in New Jersey to 

 study this beetle, which is illustrated in Fig. 89, writes about it 

 as follows : 



"Occasionally, for a number of years, the insects appear in 

 ever increasing abundance, until the swarms are so great that 

 they ruin not only vineyards, but orchards and gardens, eating 

 almost every kind of fruit and flower. In the presence of such 

 swarms we are almost helpless, and insecticides are of no possible 

 use. No contact poiso'n kills them, and the arsenites and other 

 stomach poisons act too slowly, as two or three days suffice to 

 ruin a vineyard. Lest this will seem strange, I will state that 

 I have seen on hundreds of acres of vineyard every vine bearing 

 multitudes, and every bunch of blossoms harbored from two to ten 

 or even more beetles. I have counted over twenty on a single apple, 

 and a full-blown rose may bear as many as thirty or even more. 

 We are reduced to actually collecting the specimens from the 

 vines by means of funnel or umbrella-shaped collectors, adapted 



