LEAF-BEETLES. l6l 



showing that it may be much more generally distributed in out- 

 state than is suspected. In Missouri. Kansas, Nebraska, and 

 Colorado it is a bad insect, especially so in nurseries, where it 

 riddles the leaves of the apple with small irregular perforations. 



Miss Mary E. Murtfeldt, whose work in entomological in- 

 vestigations is so well and favorably known, has published the 

 following notes on the habits of this beetle in "Insect Life" : 



"I placed my beetles, received from Colorado, on fresh apple 

 leaves and awaited developments. More than a month elapsed 

 before I found eggs in the jar. On the 9th of July I found 

 several clusters attached to the stems and bases of the midribs of 

 the leaves. They are generally in twos and threes, ranged side by 

 side. They are about 1 mm. in length, oblong rather than oval, 

 ami of a pale, dull orange color, somewhat translucent, and Prof. 

 Topenoe, who has also obtained them, says that under a high 

 magnifying power the shells are seen to be minutely granulated. 



"By the 17th of July a number of larvae had hatched. They 

 are nearly cylindrical, of a dull black color, and rather more elon- 

 gate in proportion to their diameter than the larvae of H. chalybea. 

 When grown they feed on the parenchyma of the leaf, indiffer- 

 ently on either surface, but later they gnaw holes in it similar to 

 those made by the perfect beetle. The first molt took place in 

 eight days, and two or three of the small larvae perished in the 

 process, being unable to entirely withdraw themselves from the 

 outgrown skins. The second molt occurred one week later, and 

 in this also one larva perished. During these periods there are 

 no changes of color or maculation. August 2nd one larva had 

 completed its growth, and as it was making its way into the 

 earth, I put a stop to its further development by transferring it 

 to the alcohol bottle. The following characters are noted : 

 Length of mature larva from six to seven mm., diameter one and 

 one-half mm. ; form cylindrical, tapering somewhat posteriorly ; 

 general color varying from dull black to dark fuscous, piliferous 

 plates inconspicuous, of the same shape, number and arrange- 

 ments as those of H. chalybea, black in color, but slightly polished, 

 each giving rise to from one to three minute hairs, head roundly 



