110 FIFTH ANNUAL REPORT 



"The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in number, and 

 are deposited from one to four inches beneath the surface of the soil; 

 they are nearly globular, whitish, and are about one-thirtieth of an 

 inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. 

 The young larv£e begin to feed on such tender roots as are within 

 their reach. Like other grubs of the Scarabasians, they lie upon the 

 side, with the body curved so that the head and tail are nearly in con- 

 tact; they move with difficulty on a level surface, and are continually 

 falling over on one side or the other. They attain their full size in 

 autumn, being then nearly three-quarters of an inch long and about 

 an eighth of an inch in diameter. They are of a yellowish-white 

 color, with a tinge of blue toward the hinder extremity, which is thick 

 and obtuse or rounded; a few short hairs are scattered on the surface 

 of the body; there are six short legs, namely, a pair to each of the 

 first three rings behind the head; and the latter is covered with a 

 horny shell of a pale rust color. In October, they descend below the 

 reach of frost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring, 

 they approach toward the surface, and each one forms for itself a 

 little cell of an oval shape, by turning around a great many times, so 

 as to compress the earth and render the inside of the cavity hard and 

 smooth. Within this cell the grub is transformed to a pupa during 

 the month of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed downward 

 in folds from the head to the tail. The pupa has somewhat the form 

 of the perfect beetle, but it is of a yellowish-white color, and its short, 

 stump-like wings, its antennae and its legs are folded upon the breast, 

 and its whole body is inclosed in a thin film that wraps each part 

 separately. During the month of June, this thin, filmy skin is rent, 

 tbe included beetle withdraws from its body and its limbs, bursts 

 open its earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface of the ground. 

 Thus the various changes from the egg to the full development of the 

 perfected beetle are completed within the space of one year, 



"Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it is 

 ■evident that we can not attack them in the egg, the grub or the pupa 

 state; the enemy in these stages is beyond our reach, and is subject 

 to the control only of the natural but unknown means appointed by 

 the Author of Nature to keep the insect tribes in check. When they 

 have issued from their subterranean retreats, and have congregated 

 'Upon our vines, trees and other vegetable productions, in the com- 

 plete enjoyment of their propensities, we must unite our efforts to 

 seize and crush the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded 

 or burned to deprive them of life ; for they are not affected by any of 

 the applications usually found destructive to other insects. Expe- 

 rience has proved the utility of gathering them by hand, or of shak- 

 ing them or brushing them from the plants into tin vessels containing 

 a little water. They should be collected daily during the period of 

 their visitation, and should be committed to the flames or killed by 

 •scalding water." 



