INSECTS AND VERMES. 453 



Chatters are eaten by the turkey, the rook, and the house- 

 Bparrow. 



The scaralxnix xul*tit'mlix fir>t appears about June 26 : they 

 arc very punctual in their coming out every year. They are 

 a small species, about half the size of the May-chaffer, and are 

 known in some parts by the name of the fern-chaffer. WHITE. 



A singular circumstance relative to the cockchaffer, or as it 

 is called here the May-bug, scarabceus melolontha, happened 

 this year (1800) : My gardener in digging some ground 

 found, about six inches under the surface, two of these insects 

 alive and perfectly formed so early as the 24th of March. 

 When he brought them to me, they appeared to be as perfect 

 and as much alive as in the midst of summer, crawling a.bout 

 as briskly as ever : yet I saw no more of this insect till the 

 '2'2d of May, when it began to make its appearance. How 

 comes it, that though it was perfectly formed so early as the 

 24th of March, it did not shew itself above ground till nearly 

 two months afterwards ? MAKKWICK. 



PTINUS PECTINICORNIS. 



Those maggots that make worm-holes in tables, chairs, bed- 

 posts, &c. and destroy wooden furniture, especially where 

 there is any sap, are the larvae of the ptinus pc'ctinicornis. 

 This insect, it is probable, deposits its eggs on the surface, 

 and the worms eat their way in. 



In their holes they turn into their pupae state, and so come 

 forth winged in July : eating their way through the valances 

 or curtains of a bed, or any other furniture that happens to 

 obstruct their passage. 



They seem to be most inclined to breed in beech; hence 

 beech will not make lasting utensils, or furniture. If their 

 eggs are deposited on the surface, frequent rubbing will 

 preserve wooden furniture. WHITE. 



