158 



LEAF-BEETLES. 



of a light-brown color,, sometimes dark, and occasionally paler 

 and yellowish. The head is black, and there are six or eight 

 shining black dots on each of the other segments of the body, 

 each dot emitting a single brownish hair. The under surface is 

 paler than the upper ; its feet, six in number, are black, and there 

 i= a fleshy, orange-colored proleg on the terminal segment. 



"When mature the larvae leave the vines and descend to the 

 ground, where they burrow under the earth, and form small, 

 smooth, oval cells, within which they change to dark-yellowish 



^^'H^^ 



Fig. 1G3. — Haltica chalybca, lU. — After Division of Entomology, U. S. Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. 



pup?e. After remaining tw^o or three weeks in this condition, the 

 beetles issue from them, and the work of destruction goes on ; 

 but since they live altogether on leaves at this season of the year, 

 of wdiich there is an abundance, the injury done is much less than 

 in the spring. 



"The beetle is about three-twentieths of an inch long, and 

 varies in color from a polished steel-blue to green, and occasion- 

 ally to a purplish hue, with a transverse depression across the 

 hinder part of the thorax. The under side is dark green, the 

 antennae and feet are brownish-black ; the thighs are stout and ro- 



