GOLDEN CHAPEK. 247 



gardens, and the maggots feed on roots, as of grass, &c., and 

 conjecturally also on decayed matter, as they are found in 

 the decayed wood-soil which accumulates within old hollow 

 trees. When full-grown the maggots are upwards of an inch 

 and a half in length, thick and fleshy, of a whitish colour, 

 with an ochreous head armed with strong jaws ; the three 

 pairs of short feet are of a rusty ochreous colour, and the 

 hinder portion of the grub or maggot is enlarged, curved 

 towards the head, and of a lead colour. These grubs are 

 much like those of the Cockchafer; but, amongst other points, 

 are distinguished (as mentioned by John Curtis) by being 

 covered with transverse rows of short hairs, and also by the 

 feet being jointed, whereas the feet of the Cockchafer grubs 

 are blunt and rather dilated at the tips (a comparison of the 

 figure, p. 242, with that at p. 246 will show the different 

 appearance). 



The grubs are considered to live underground for two or 

 three years, and when full-fed they make earth-cases " as 

 large as a walnut," at a considerable depth beneath the 

 surface, which are smooth inside, but covered outside with 

 l^ellets of soil which have passed through their own bodies 

 (in an instance specially watched, this was noticed to take 

 place in the second week in June). In these earth-cocoons 

 they turn to ochre-coloured pupse. The figure, p. 246, shows 

 the appearance of the back of one of the pup?e (the legs and 

 wings being folded beneath so that only just the base of the 

 wings at the insertion of the thorax shows). 



The beetles appear early in the summer, and on a sunny 

 day look exceedingly beautiful from their golden metallic 

 gleam as they fly about with the help of their large mem- 

 branous wings, and thus, if the weather be fine, they contrive 

 to do a deal of mischief during the summer by passing from 

 one crop to another. In wet weather they die earlier in the 

 season. 



In the neighbourhood of Isleworth, where Strawberries are 

 grown in fields of many acres to supply the London market, 

 I have had the beetles brought me in great numbers, and to 

 a greater or lesser extent they are a very common infestation; 

 but the following note, sent me on the 25th of May (1895) by 

 Mr. Leonard Micklem, from Yardley House, Chingford, Essex, 

 records such an unusually numerous appearance of this beetle 

 that it is worth special notice : — 



" I am sending you by post three specimens of a green 

 beetle which is becoming an insupportable pest in my garden, 

 in the hope you may be able to suggest some method of 

 eradicating it. The l^eetle appears annually with the Apple 

 blossoms, which it devours greedily, and is now paying 



