THE COMMON POTATO BEETLE. 



Nearly every child who has seen potatoes growing in fields 

 or gardens has seen the brown striped beetles, so commonly 

 called " potato bugs," represented in Fig. 33, d. Those who 

 have lived upon farms will know that these beetles may be 

 found in the potato field soon after the plants come up, eating 

 the tender leaves, and laying upon the under surfaces of the 



Fig. 33. — Transformations of the Colorado Potato Beetle. 



latter masses of orange-colored eggs (Fig. 83, a). These eggs 

 are sometimes deposited also upon the leaves of grasses, smart- 

 weed, or other plants in the field. A week or more later they 

 hatch into little grubs that feed upon tlie leaves, gradually 

 increasing in size (ft, ft, ft) and occasionally moulting or shed- 

 ding their skins. In a few weeks they finish their larval 

 growth ; they then descend to the ground, where just beneath 



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