THE POTATO-BEETLE. 27 



beetles flying during autumn are brighter in color, and have 

 evidently all issued quite recently, vy^hile those found in 

 spring and summer sho^v^ considerable wear, hence it is 

 very probable that the species issues in autumn and hiber- 

 nates as a beetle, while the true may-beetles, though also 

 mature at that season, do not leave the ground until spring. 



Many complaints have been made about these sombre 

 looking rose-beetles. In some cases they have eaten ofl" the 

 flowers of apple, plum, strawberries, blackberries, rasp- 

 berries and others. They have destroyed the male flowers 

 of the corn, and have eaten their way into the young ears 

 of corn, and especially the ears of sweet corn have suflered 

 severely in many places. Again the ripening fruit of many 

 plants was eaten into, and when apples and berries were ex- 

 posed to be dried these insects were not slow to appropriate 

 a large share of them for themselves. Whenever a tree is in- 

 jured and is bleeding, large numbers of such beetles congre- 

 gate and are found in such numbers as to form clusters com- 

 posed of niany hundreds, even several thousands, of indivi- 

 duals, all intent on obtaining the sweet sap. Not un- 

 frequently these beetles settle in the flower-heads of thistles, 

 and feeding there become beneficial. 



Poisoning their food is out of the question, and the 

 only method we possess of reducing their number is to 

 gather them in nets and bags werever they occur in such 

 clusters. Jarring the trees upon which they are found in 

 numbers quite early in the morning over large sheets of 

 muslin will bring many beetles down, and these can be 

 readily gathered and disposed of. During the warmer por- 

 tions of the day they are very active, much more so than 

 most other beetles, and can not be captured. When drying 

 fruit for the winter a screen of mosquito netting will pro- 

 tect it against these and most other insects attracted by 

 such tempting food. 



THE POTATO-BEETLE. 

 {Dorypliora decemlineata Say). 

 This well-known insect was described last year and it 

 was shown in that article why it had been so uncommon 



