GRUBS. 



389 



When tlie grnb changes into a pupa, in the third autumn 

 after it is hatched, it digs a similar burrow about a yard 

 deep ; and when kept in a pot, and prevented from going 



Transformations of the cockchafer {Melolontha vulgaris), a, JSTewly-hatched larva^. 

 b, larva, one year old. c, the same larva at the second year of its growth, d, the same 

 three years old. e, section of a bank of earth, containing the chrysalis of the fourth 

 year. /, the ciiafer first emerging from the earth, g, the perfect chafer in a sitting 

 posture, h, the same flying. 



deep enough, it shows great uneasiness and often dies. The 

 perfect beetle comes forth from the pupa in January or 

 Februar}^; but it is then as soft as it was whilst still a 

 grub, and does not acquire its hardness and colour for ten 

 or twelve days, nor does it venture above ground before 

 May, 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. 



During the three summers then of their existence in the 

 grub state, these insects do immense injury, burrowing 



