280 INSECTS INJURIOUS TO THE GRAPE. 



soap-suds have also been recommended, and are deserving of 

 trial. On chilly mornings the beetles are comparatively slug- 

 gish and inactive, and may then be jarred from the vines on 

 sheets and collected and destroyed. These insects are much 

 more abundant in some seasons than in others. 



No. 151.— The Rose Beetle. 



Macrodactylus suhspinosus (Fabr.). 



This beetle, commonly known as the rose-bug, attacks the 



rose, and is also very injurious to the grape-vine, the apple, 



cherry, peach, plum, etc. Its body (see Fig. 289) is a little 



more than one-third of an inch Ions;, slender, and 

 Fig. 289. . ,. , , , ?' ^ ' 



tapernig a little towards eacli extremity, its color 



is dull yellowish when fresh, arising from its being 



covered with a grayish-yellow down or bloom, and 



its long, sprawling legs are of a dull pale-reddish 



hue, with the joints of the feet tipped with black and 



armed with very long claws. The down on the body of the 



beetle is easily rubbed off, producing quite a change in its 



appearance, the head, thorax, and the under side of its body 



becoming of a shining black. 



These beetles sometimes appear in swarms about the time 



of the blossoming of the rose, which in the Northern United 



States and Canada is usually during the second week in June; 



they remain about a month, at the end of which period the 



males become exhausted, drop to the ground, and perish, 



Avhile the females burrow under the surface, deposit their 



eggs, then reappear above ground, and shortly afterwards die 



also. 



Each female lays about thirty eggs, which are buried in 



the earth to the depth of from one to four inches ; the eggs 



are about one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter, whitish, and 



nearly globular. In about three weeks they hatch, and the 



young larvae at once begin to feed on such tender roots as are 



within their reach. They attain full growth in the autumn, 



when they arc about three-quarters of an inch long and about 



