COLEOPTERA. 1 07 



September. Its head, thorax, body beneath, antennae 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 irimnculaia 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 

 aval shape than the preceding. The head, thorax, and under-side 

 of its body are dark green, the wing-covers silvery white, orna- 

 mented 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 six 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, these are short, and very thick, 

 the back arching upwards very much in the middle. I beheve 

 that they go into the ground to turn to pupae. Should they be- 

 come so numerous as seriously to injure the lime and elm trees, it 

 may be found useful to throw decoctions of tobacco or of walnut 

 leaves on the trees by means of a garden or fire engine, a method 

 which has been employed with good effect for the destruction of 

 the larvae of Galeruca Calmariensis. 



