THE BEETLE. 14g 



half a foot deep, and in it she places her eggs, 

 which are of an oblong shape, with great regu- 

 larity, one by the other. They are of a bright 

 yellow colour, and no way wrapped up in a com- 

 mon covering, as some have imagined. When 

 the female is lightened of her burden, she again 

 ascends from her hole, to live as before, upon 

 leaves and vegetables, to buzz in the summer 

 evening, and to lie hid among the branches of 

 trees in the heat of the day. 



In about three months after these eggs have 

 been thus deposited in the earth, the contained 

 insect begins to break its shell, and a small grub 

 or maggot crawls forth, and feeds upon the roots 

 of whatever vegetable it happens to be nearest. 

 All substances of this kind seem equally grateful ; 

 yet it is probable the mother insect has a choice 

 among what kind of vegetables she shall deposit 

 her young. In this manner these voracious crea- 

 tures continue in the worm state for more than 

 three years, devouring the roots of every plant 

 they approach, and making their way under 

 ground, in quest of food, with great dispatch and 

 facility. At length they grow to above the size 

 of a walnut, being a great thick white maggot 

 with a red head, which is seen most frequently in 

 new-turned earth, and which is so eagerly sought 

 after by birds of every species. When largest, 

 they are found an inch and a half long, of a 

 whitish-yellow colour, with a body consisting of 

 twelve segments or joints, on each side of which 

 there are nine breathing holes, and three red feet. 

 The head is large in proportion to the body, of a 



