392 'fifth report of the entomological commission. 



show any signs of decay until the worm is about fully grown, when 

 it wilts and is past recovery. About a month after the worm is 

 hatched it crawls just under the surface of the ground, fastens a little 

 earth together around itself by a slight web, and changes to a chrysalis 

 of a very light mahogany-brown color three-fourths of an inch long, 

 the moth appearing early in September. 



Larva. — Dull-colored, with wart-like spots ; livid or purplish brown ; darker 

 before than behind, though varying much as to depth of shading. 



The moth. — Fore-wings lilac-gray, speckled with minute yellow dots, with a dis- 

 tinct white band running across them. Expanse of wings, SS"'™. 



AFFECTING THE LEAF-BUDS. 



20. The maple-bud beetle. 

 Platycerus quercus Weber. 



Order Coleoptera ; family Luc anid^. 



This beetle was noticed May 6 by Mr. Harrington gnawing holes 

 in the center of the leaf buds, where, hidden within, it feasts on the 

 growing leaves. "In one instance a pair of beetles (male and female) 

 were found in the same cavity. I have sioce found the beetles upon 

 the leaves of various trees, and the larvoe in old logs and stumps of 

 elm, etc." (R<^p. Ent. Soc. Ontario, U87, 31.) 



The ieetle. — In Platycerus the eyes are almost entire, while the sixth ventral seg- 

 ment is visible (it is not so in Dorcns, whose eyes are hollowed out). Body flat, 

 black (reddish beneath in the female), with sometimes a greenish hue ; antennae with 

 the terminal joints lamellate ; while the jaws of the male are long and like pincers, 

 those of the female being shorter. Length, 10'"". (Horn.) 



AFFECTING THE LEAVES. 



21. The spiny maple worm. 

 Dryocampa ruMcunda (Fabricius). 



Order Lepidoptera ; family Bombycid^. 



Sometimes nearly stripping soft maples of their leaves, large smooth worms longi- 

 tudinally striped with pale and darker green lines, and recognizable by two anteriorly 

 projecting black horns on the second segment behind the bead, and transforming ta 

 a pale, ocher-yellowish, thick-bodied moth, tinged, especially on the fore wings, with 

 a rosy hue, and expanding a little over 2 inches. 



Although in the Eastern States this insect, especially the moth, is 

 not common, yet we have observed it as far east as Brunswick, Me., where 

 it feeds on.the maple, the moth there appearing the middle of June ; in 

 the Western States, Illinois, Missouri, and Kansas, it proves during 

 certain years very destructive, entirely or nearly stripping the soft or 

 swamp and sometimes the silver maple of its leaves, and discouraging 

 people from planting this tree along roadsides. It is known to feed on 

 the oak. 



