COLEOPTERA. 10^ 



they are now very properly distributed into four separate ^oups 

 or families. The lirst of these, ealled (iALi:iu;cAD.K, or Galeru- 

 cians, consists mostly of dull-colored beetles; having an o])long 

 oval, slightly convex body; a short, and rather narrow, and 

 uneven tliorax ; slender antenn;p, more than half the length of 

 the body, and implanted close togetJKT on th(> forehead ; slender 

 legs, which are nearly equal in sizt;; and claws split at the end. 

 They lly mostly by day, and are, by nature, either very timid 

 or very cunning, for, when we attempt to take hold of them, 

 they draw up their legs, and fall to the ground. They some- 

 times do great injury to plants, eating large holes in the leaves, 

 or consuming entirely those that are young and tender. The 

 larva) are rather short cylindrical grubs, generally of a blackish 

 color, and are provided with sL\ legs. They live and feed 

 together in swarms, and sometimes appear in very great num- 

 bers on the leaves of plants, committing ravages, at these 

 times, as extensive as those of the most destructive caterpillars. 

 This was the case in 1837 at Sevres, in France, and in 1838 

 and 1839 in Baltimore and its vicinity, where the elm-trees 

 were entirely stripped of their leaves during midsummer by 

 swarms of the larvae of Galeruca Calmariensis ; and, in the 

 latter place, after the trees had begun to revive, and were 

 clothed with fresh leaves, they were again attacked by new 

 broods of these noxious grubs. These insects, which were 

 undoubtedly introduced into America with the European elm, 

 are as yet unknown in the New England States. The eggs 

 of the Galerucians are generally laid in little clusters or rows 

 along the veins of the leaves, and those of the elm Galeruca 

 are of a yellow color. The pupa state of some species occurs 

 on the leaves, of others in the ground ; and some of the larvae 

 live also in the ground on the roots of plants. 



One of the most common kinds is the Galeruca vittata* or 

 striped Galeruca, generally known here by the names of striped 

 bug, and cucumber beetle. This destructive insect is of a light 

 yellow color above, with a black head, and a broad black stripe 

 on each wing-cover, the inner edge or suture of which is also 



* Crioceris vittata of Fabricius. 



