2 
cept in a few localities, notably in New England, where it has invaded 
the transition zone. It is particularly injurious in the States of Magsa- 
chusetts, Rhode Island, Delaware, and Ohio, and has been reported as 
very destructive in portions of New York, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois, 
Indiana, Kansas, Nebraska, southern Michigan, and Vermont. 
Light, sandy regions are greatly preferred by the insects as a breeding 
ground, and clay lands, unless near sandy soil, are seldom troubled with 
them. 
According to Harris, the rose-chafer, for some time after it was first 
noticed, confined its ravages to the blossoms of the rose. There is a 
record, however, of its having been destructive to grapes as early as 
1810. In later years it has extended its range of food plants, until now 
it is nearly omnivorous. The grapevine and: the rose especially suffer 
from its depredations, but it is almost equally destructive to the apple, 
pear, cherry. peach, plum, and most other fruit as well as forest trees. 
In times of their great abundance these insects completely destroy 
flowers and other ornamental plants of many sorts, even attacking corn, 
wheat, and grasses, berries, peas, beans, and nearly all garden fruits 
and vegetables. Almost anything green is relished. 
The beetles do not confine their ravages to any particular portion of 
a plant, but consume blossoms, leaves, fruit, and all alike. In their 
attacks upon the grape they first devour the blossoms, then the leaves, 
which they completely strip, leaving only a thin network, and later the 
young berries are eaten. Whole vineyards and orchards are often 
devastated, and the fruit crop of large sections of country destroyed. 
It is no uncommon sight to see every young apple on a tree completely 
covered and obscured from view by a sprawling, struggling mass of 
beetles. 
For the past six or eight years the rose-chafer has been particularly 
injurious in the grape-growing region of southern New Jersey, and has 
been the subject of extensive research and experiment by Dr. J. B. 
Smith, entomologist of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment 
Station, who has added much to our knowledge of the pest. 
NATURAL HISTORY AND HABITS. 
The rose-chafer, as already stated, appears early in June, the date 
varying somewhat according to locality and season, and the beetles 
mate and begin feeding soon after they emerge from the ground. For 
from four to six weeks after their appearance they continue feeding, 
almost constantly paired. The female deposits her eggs singly, from 
twenty-four to thirty-six in number, a few inches beneath the surface of 
the earth, and in about two or three weeks’ time they hatch and the 
young larvee or grubs begin feeding on such tender rootlets, preferably 
of grass, as are in reach. In autumn they have reached maturity, when 
they present the appearance shown in the illustration at f. They are 
