194 NATURE STUDY AND LIFE 



wood, such as prunings of fruit and shade trees, never in 

 thoroughly dry nor in vigorously growing wood, and the 

 adult beetles, after passing the winter in such material, 

 attack the growing shoots in the early spring. Thus the 

 remedy consists in burning all prunings during the fall 

 or winter. 



The Rose Chafer, "Rose Bug," or "Rose Beetle," Macro dac- 

 tylus siibspinosiis. — The adult insect is too commonly 

 known to need description. But whence come the count- 

 less hordes that suddenly appear in June on rose bushes, 

 fruit trees, ornamental shrubbery, especially spiraeas and 

 grapes of every variety, is not so well understood. They 

 often come in such numbers that spraying with poisons 

 is ineffectual in preventing the plants from being stripped 

 of their leaves. The mystery of their sudden appearance 

 is explained when we learn their life story. The eggs 

 are laid in the ground in June and July, in grass land, 

 generally sandy meadows, and the grubs, resembling the 

 larvse of the June beetle, only smaller, feed upon the roots 

 of grasses, attaining their growth by autumn of the same 

 year. The following spring they transform into pupae 

 in the ground and in two to four weeks, according to 

 weather, emerge as adults. From this life story it is thus 

 seen that, for a neighborhood seriously afflicted by this 

 pest, the most effectual remedy consists in plowing up 

 their breeding grounds and raising some other crop than 

 grass. Little is known about the birds that feed upon 

 this beetle, and the children should be encouraged to keep 

 watch of all birds about their homes, for observations 

 in this field may prove of value. A large percentage 

 of the food of the bluebird, brown thrasher, catbird, house 



