COLEOPTERA. 117 



There are some, it is true, which may hereafter increase so as 

 to give us much trouble, unless effectual means are taken to 

 protect and cherish their natural enemies, the birds. 



The largest species in New England inhabits the common 

 milk-weed, or silk-weed {Asclepias Sj/riaca), upon which it 

 may be found, in some or all of its states, from the middle of 

 June till September. Its head, thorax, body beneath, antenna?, 

 and legs are deep blue, and its wing-covers orange, with three 

 large black spots upon them, namely, one on the shoulder, and 

 another on the tip of' each, and the third across the base of 

 both wing-covers. Hence it was named Chrysomela trimacu- 

 lata by Fabricius, or the three-spotted Chrysomela. It is nearly 

 three eighths of an inch long, and almost hemispherical. Its 

 larvae and pupae are orange-colored, spotted with black, and pass 

 through their transformations on the leaves of the Asclepias. 



The most elegant of our Chrysomelians is the Chrysomela 

 scalaris of Leconte, literally the ladder Chrysomela. It is 

 about three tenths of an inch long, and of a narrower and 

 more regularly oval shape than the preceding. The head, 

 thorax, and under side of its body are dark green, the wing- 

 covers silvery white, ornamented with small green spots on the 

 sides, and a broad jagged stripe along the suture or inner 

 edges; the antennae and legs are rust-red, and the wings are 

 rose-colored. It is a most beautiful object when flying, with 

 its silvery wing-covers, embossed with green, raised up, and its 

 rose-red wings spread out beneath them. These beetles inhabit 

 the lime or linden (Tilia Americana), and the elm, upon which 

 they may be found in April, May, and June, and a second 

 brood of them in September and October. They pass the 

 winter in holes, and under leaves and moss. The trees on 

 which they live are sometimes a good deal injured by them 

 and by their larvae. The latter are hatched from eggs laid by 

 the beetles on the leaves in the spring, and come to their 

 growth towards the end of June. They are then about sLx 

 tenths of an inch long, of a white color, with a black line 

 along the top of the back, and a row of small square black 

 spots on each side of the body ; the head is horny and of an 

 ochre-yellow color. Like the grubs of the preceding species, 



