69 



any other class, and as several of them are of large size and very common, they annually 

 destroy an enormous amount of produce. The greatest amount of injury is done during 

 the larval state, which they spend in the ground consuming the fibrous I'oots of plants. 

 The most injurious of these beetles, on account of the great amount of damage they have 

 done, have already called forth very full descriptions in our annual reports, consequently, 

 it is not worth while again to take up space by describing them. Among the most pi-omi- 

 nent are : 



The May-bugs or Chafers, which were all included by Fabricius in the genus 

 Melolontha, a word used by the ancient Greeks to distinguish the same kind of insects, 

 which were supposed by them, as the name implies, to be produced from or with the 

 flowers of apple trees. They are, I have no hesitation in saying, the most injurious insects 

 in the world. The accompanying figure 

 (33) gives a faithful representation of these 

 insects in their different stages, and they 

 may be easily recognized from it; they are 

 already too well known, I fear, to farmers. 

 In fig. 33, No. 2 the larval stage, known as the 

 " white Worm," which is the greatest depre- 

 dator, is also represented. It is a soft white 

 worm with six legs and a brownish head; 

 the body is very fat, and is about an inch 

 and a half long. It lives for several (as a 

 rule three) years in this stage, during which 

 time it destroys everything that comes within 

 its reach in the way of roots of plants. It 

 has been found to be very injurious to the 

 roots of strawberries, potatoes, corn and other 

 vegetables, but particularly so to grass. They 

 have been known to abound in such pro- Fig. 33 



digious numbers that they ate all the roots of the grass in a pasture, and the plants could be 

 rolled up from the surface as if they had been cut off by a turf-cutter's spade. The pupa 

 stage of this insect is also shewn. The insect itself is scientifically known by the name 

 of Lachnosterna quercina, Knoch. A full and most interesting account of this insect is to 

 be found in the Annual Report of 1872, and in the same report also will be found an 

 article by Mr. Saunders treating of the "Rose-bug," Macrodactylus subspinosus 

 Fab. (fig. 34), an insect also belonging to this division, which has proved very 

 destructive to grape vines in some localities. 



There is another beetle which feeds entirely on the wild and cultivated vines, 

 but never occurs, I believe, in sufficient numbers to cause very material damage; 

 Fig, 34 this is the spotted vine beetle or Peli- 

 dnota 2)unctata, Linn. It is a large handsome 



beetle, of which Fig. 35 is a life-sized represen- 

 tation, the colour of the smooth elytra or wing 



cases is reddish-brown and each of them is 



decorated with three conspicuous black spots. 



The thorax, which is of a deeper colour, also 



bears two more rather smaller ones. The 

 jaws and scutellum are both black and its legs 



and under surface are of a dark metallic green. 



The Larva, Fig. 35, a, is a large fat grub much 



like the white- worm but may be at once identi- 

 fied by a distinct heart-shaped swelling. Fig. d; 



on the last segment ; the colour too, is of a 



purer white, and the skin is less wrinkled. It 



has been found feeding upon the rotten stumps 



and roots of pear trees. Towards the end of 



the summer the larva forms a cocoon of chips Fig. 35 



r^^^ 



