oO INSECTS INJURIOUS TO VEGETATION. 



Hentz's Melolontha* variolosa, or scarred Melolontha, differs 

 essentially from the foregoing beetles in the structure of its an- 

 tennae, the knob of which consists of seven narrow strap-shaped 

 ochre-yellow leaver, which are excessively long in the males. 

 This fine insect is of a light-brown color, with irregular whitish 

 blotches, hke scars, on the thorax and wing-covers. It measures 

 nine tenths of an inch, or more, in length. It occurs abundantly, 

 in the month of July, at Martha's Vineyard, and in some other 

 places near the coast ; but is rare in other parts of Massachusetts. 



The foregoing Melolonthians are found in gardens, nurseries, 

 and orchards, where they are more or less injurious to the fruit- 

 trees, in proportion to their numbers in different seasons. They 

 also devour the leaves of various forest-trees, such as the elm, 

 maple, and oak. 



Omaloplia vespertina of Gyllenhal, and sericea of Jlliger, attack 

 the leaves of the sweetbriar, or sweet-leaved rose, on which they 

 may be found in profusion in the evening, about the last of June. 

 They somewhat resemble the May-beetles in form, but are pro- 

 portionally shorter and thicker, and much smaller in size. The 

 first of them, the vespertine or evening Omaloplia, is bay-brown ; 

 the wjng-covers are marked with many longitudinal shallow fur- 

 rows, which, with the thorax, are thickly punctured. This beetle 

 varies in length from three to four tenths of an inch. Omaloplia 



* In my prize essay, before alluded to, I proposed to restrict the genus Melolon- 

 tha to those species that have more than three leaves in the knob of the antennee, 

 as in the variolosa, and the European ScarabcEus Melolontha of Linnaeus. This has 

 actually been done by Latreille, but probably without being aware of my sugges- 

 tion. It would have been better, however, to have given this genus some other 

 name, instead of Melolontha, because this was first used by Linnreus as a specific 

 name, which, according to the well known rule of priority, cannot be discontinued 

 in its original application, without manifest injustice to the first describer. To 

 continue the comparison made, on another page, between the names used in nat- 

 ural history and those of persons, — insects, like ladies, may and do, frequently 

 and repeatedly, change their generical or family names ; but there is no good or 

 commendable authority for depriving either of them of their specific or baptismal 

 names. I therefore propose to restore to the Melolontha of the ancients and of 

 Linnaeus, its original distinctive or specific appellation, by calling it Polyphylla 

 Melolontha, literally the many-leaved Melolontha, in allusion to the unusual num- 

 ber of leaves in the knob of the antennae. Mr. Hentz's species will then become 

 Polyphylla variolosa. 



