7S 



.WARABJSUS MELOLONTHA. 



THE TREE BEETLE, OR COCK CHAFER. 



I KNOW of no greater pest to fruit or 

 forest trees than this insect when 

 in its perfect state, sometimes whole coun- 

 tries have been so much infested with 

 them that scarcely a single leaf was left. 

 In Richmond Park this summer, 1 ob- 

 served the leaves of the oak trees to be 

 most shockingly eaten up by them, so 

 much so timt scarcely a perfect leaf was 

 left. But it is not in the perfect state of 

 this insect that all its mischief is ac- 

 complished : in its larva state, in which it 

 exists for four years, it feeds on the 

 roots of young trees and plants. I remem- 

 ber seeing in a nursery near Bagshot, se- 

 veral acres of young forest trees, particu- 

 larly larch, the roots of which were com- 



