1822 ARBORETUM AND FRUTICETUM. PART II, 
ared head, and about 14in. 
-long. In this state it con- 
tinues four years, during 
which time it commits the fir yy 
most destructive ravages on => 
the roots, not only of grass, 
but of all other plants and 
young trees. When full 
grown, the larva dig in the 
earth to the almost incredible depth of 5 ft. or 6 ft., spin. a smooth case, 
and then change into a chrysalis. In this state they remain till the fol- 
' lowing spring, when the perfect insect comes from the ground, and com- 
mences an immediate attack on the leaves of trees; and, according to 
Salisbury, the leaves of the oaks in Richmond Park were, during one sum- 
mer, so eaten by it, that scarcely an entire leaf was left. The most remarkable 
account of the ravages of these insects is, however, given by Molyneux, in 
one of the early volumes of the Philosophical Transactions, in which their ap- 
pearance in the county of Galway, in Ireland, in 1688, is narrated. They 
were seen in the day-time perfectly quiet, and hanging from the boughs’ in 
clusters of thousands, clinging to each other like bees when they swarm; but 
dispersing towards sunset, with a strange humming noise, like the beating of 
distant drums ; and in such vast numbers, that they darkened the air for the 
space of two or three miles square ; and the noise they made in devouring the 
leaves was so great, as to resemble the distant sawing of timber. In a very 
short time the leaves of all the forest trees, for some miles. were destroyed, 
leaving the trees as bare and desolate in the middle of summer as they would 
have been in winter: they also entered the gardens, and attacked the fruit 
trees in the same manner. Their multitudes spread so exceedingly, that they 
infested houses, and became extremely offensive and troublesome. They were 
greedily devoured by the swine and poultry, which watched under the trees 
for their falling, and became fat on this unusual food : even the people adopted 
a mode of dressing them, and used them as food. Towards the end of the 
summer they disappeared suddenly, and no traces were perceived of them the 
ensuing year. (Phil. Trans., xix. p. '743., &c.) About the middle of the last 
century, 80 bushels of these beetles were gathered on one farm near Norwich. 
(See Encyc. of Agri., ed. 2., p. 1116.) The best method of destroying these 
insects is to shake the branches on which: they hang at noonday, when they 
are in a state of stupor, and then to sweep them up and carry them away; or, 
torches may be held under the trees, which will stupify the beetles, and 
occasion them to fall. Birds are very useful in destroying these noxious insects. 
In the Magazine of Natural History, vol. v. p. 65., a story is told of a gentle- 
man, who, finding his oak trees stripped of their leaves in the middle of sum- 
mer, suspected some rooks of having destroyed them. “ That the oaks were 
nearly bare:was beyond dispute ; and he had himself seen the rooks settling 
on them, and pecking away right and left with their bills. War was therefore 
declared against the rooks; but, fortunately, before hostilities were commenced, 
the gentlemen was convinced, by some one who knew more of natural history 
than himself, that the rooks were not in fault: on the contrary, they had only 
flocked to the trees for the sake of devouring the myriads of cockchafers, and 
of the larvee of moths, which were the real depredators.” Blackbirds act in 
the same manner ; and the Rev. W. T. Bree relates an instance of these birds 
stocking up the grass to find the larvze of the cockchafer, in a garden where 
there was plenty of ripe fruit. (See Mag. Nat. Hist, vol. vi. p. 518.) The leaves 
are also devoured by the larve of one of the species of flea weevil (Orchéstes 
quércus). A’grilus viridis, CryptorhYncus quércus, and Acalles réboris are also 
coleopterous insects found among the leaves of the oak. Aleyrddes proletélla, 
a minute but very interesting homopterous insect, also feeds upon the leaves 
of the oak. (Réaumur, Mémoires, tom. ii. pl. 25.) eye: ; 
The young Stems and Buds of the Oak are also infested by various species of 
. 
