140 



GARDEN MANAGEMENT. 



to the initiated, seem to unite their forces in order to attack the queen of 

 flowers. During June and July, the rose-beetle {Cetonia aurata) may be seen 

 wheeling round the rosetree, with its low hum, its wing-cases and elytra erect, 

 instead of being extended from the body. It feeds upon pollen and honey, 

 and in doing so bites off the anthers of the flowers, while its larvae feed upon 

 decaying wood and vegetable matter, burying themselves in the ground, hke 

 the cockchafer. 



323. Among the moths, the bell-moth {Argyrotoza BergmannioMo) is dis- 

 tingiiished by the rich golden yellow of its breast and fore-wings, shghtly 

 clouded with orange, and bars of purple-brown with silvery scales. This 

 moth, in the cateiiDillar state, is very destructive round London to roses. 

 The moths deposit their eggs in the summer in the incipient buds, and they 

 commence their operations on the leaves as soon as they appear, attaching them 

 back to back by their silk-like thread-fibres. Kound these leaves others grow 

 in distorted shape, while the caterpillar revels on its core, "a worm i' the bud," 

 devouring the petals of the flower as well as the leaf. When disturbed, the 

 caterpillar drops down, suspended, however, by a thin web which it spins, 

 by which it is able, when the danger disappears, to resume its former position. 

 The only method of destroying these insects is by sharply pinching the buds 

 where they are suspected to be in the early spring : this will relieve the plant, 

 and enable it to throw out fi-esh leaves. If allowed to arrive at maturity, the 

 moths should be destroyed as soon as they appear, and before they can deposit 

 their eggs. The ashy-white bell-moth {Spilonota acjziana) is another moth of 



the Totricidce, which has been 

 reared from the leaves of the rose, 

 and of habits similar to the pre- 

 ceding, with similar remedies. 

 The yellow-tail moth, which has 

 usually been found on the oak, 

 the elm, and the blackthorn, 

 ilr. Westwood has also found on 

 the Scotch rose in his garden, 

 feeding upon the petals, and 

 afterwards attacking the leaves. 

 This moth appears at the end of 

 July, and the caterpillar (which 

 is thickly clothed with long black 

 hairs) feeds also on the pear. 



324. The Gall-flies {Cynipidce) 

 produce the large woolly galls 

 upon various kinds of roses. The 

 larvae of Rhodites Rosce are white 

 fleshy grubs, destitute of feet, 

 BEDEGUAE, OH BAGGED EOBiiT. which are transformed into white 



inactive pupae at their full size : they undergo their change to the perfect 



