OF THE STATE ENTOJIOLOGIST. lO^ 



tion. One man reported at the meeting of having seen it fourteen 

 years ago in Linn county, first on wild persimmon blossoms and then 

 on his grapes. But he caught them, and has been troubled but little. 

 Please return a description, etc^ etc., for our benefit and instruction. 



Yours respectfully, 



H. E. VAN DEMAN. 

 Geneva, Allen County, Kansas. 



This insect is named in the heading, and illustrated at figure 39. 

 It is one of those species whose larva develops under ground, and can 

 not be very well dealt with in this stage of its life. We must contend 

 with it in the beetle form, and there is no other effectual means than by 

 hand-picking, or by shaking into vessels and on to sheets. This work 

 can be greatly facilitated by taking advantage of the insect's tastes 

 and preferences. There is conclusive testimony that it shows a great 

 predilection for the Clinton, and its close allies, of all other varieties 

 of the Grape vine, and that it will gather upon that variety and leave 

 others unmolested, where it has a chance. Those who are troubled 

 with this beetle will no doubt take the hint. No better account of its 

 natural history has ever been written than that by Harris in his work 

 on "Injurious Insects," and I quote some of the more important 

 paragraphs : 



"The natural history of the Rose Chafer, one of the greatest 

 scourges with which our gardens and nurseries have been afllicted, 

 was for a long time involved in mystery, but is at last fully cleared up. 

 The prevalence of this insect on the rose, and its annual appearance 

 coinciding with the blossoming of that flower, have gained for it the 

 popular name by which it is here known. For some time after it was 

 first noticed, rose-bugs appeared to be confined to their favorite, the 

 blossoms of the rose; but within forty years they have prodigiously 

 increased in number, have attacked at random, various kinds of plants 

 in swarms, and have become notorious for their extensive and de- 

 plorable ravages. The grape vine in particular, the cherry, plum and 

 apple trees have annually suffered by their depredations ; many other 

 fruit trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and even the trees 

 of the forest and grass of the fields, have been laid under contribu- 

 tion by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, flowers and 

 fruits are alike consumed. The unexpected arrival of these insects 

 in swarms at the first coming, and their sudden disappearance at the 

 close of their career, are remarkable facts in their history. They 

 come forth from the ground during the second week in June, or about 

 the time of the blossoming of the damask rose, and remain from thirty 

 to forty days. At the end of this period, the males become exhausted, 

 fall to the ground and perish, while the females enter the earth, lay 

 their eggs, return to the surface, and, after lingering a few days, die 

 also. 



