296 



in its larval state. In fact, a full life-history with a description of the 

 larva is yet needed, and as we reared it to the imago and made a study of 

 it in the iield in 1882 and 1883, and as the beetle attracted more than 

 usual attention the past year we hav^e deemed it advisable at this time 

 to publish the following account. 



A native North American insect, there is every reason to believe that 

 this Rose chafer, or Rose bug, as it is more generally called, has in- 

 creased in number with the progress of horticulture, for the perfect 

 beetle evidently shows a preference for the blossoms and sweeter and 

 more tender fruit of our cultivated plants as compared with those of 

 wild i)lants. Another reason may be found in the increased area of 

 pasture and meadow lands which form the natural breeding grounds of 

 the species. The first published account of this insect seems to be that 

 given by Dr. Harris in his " Minutes toward a history of some Ameri- 

 can species of Melolonthse particularly injurious to vegetation" (Mass. 

 Agric. Report and Journal, X, 1827, pp. 1-12), reported in N. E. Farmer, 

 1827 (vol. 6, p. 18, ff.). In this account Dr. Harris says that at the 

 time the bugs were first noticed they were confined to the roses, but 

 within forty years they had prodigiously increased in number and had 

 become very injurious to various plants. From this it would appear 

 that as far back as the last century the insect was known as injurious. 



Fig. 62. — Macrodactylus subspinosus: a, full-grown larva from the side; 6, head of larva from the 

 front; c, left mandible of larva from beneath; d, left maxilla of larva from above; e, last ventral seg- 

 ment of larva; /, pupa from beneath ; g, tip of last dorsal abdominal segment of pupa ; h, last segment 

 of pupa from the side— all enlarged (original). 



NATURAL HISTORY. 



According to Harris the iemale beetle lays her eggs to the number of 

 about thirty, about the middle of July, at a depth of from 1 to 2 inches 

 beneath the surface of the ground. He does not state the favorite 

 place for oviposition, but in our experience the larvte are especially 

 abundant in low, open meadow land or in cultivated fields, particularly 

 where the soil is light and sandy. Harris states that the eggs hatch 

 in about twenty days, and, while the period will vary with the tempera- 



