INSECTS. 335 



month of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed down- 

 wards in folds from the head to the tail. The pupa has some- 

 what the form of the perfected beetle ; but it is of a yellowish- 

 white color, and its short stump-like wings, its antenna?, and its 

 legs, are folded upon the breast, and its whole body is enclosed 

 in a thin film,' that wraps each part separately. During the 

 month of June this filmy skin is rent, the included beetle with- 

 draws from it its body and its limbs, bursts open its earthen cell, 

 and digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus the va- 

 rious changes, from the egg to the full development of the per- 

 fected beetle, are completed within the space of one year. 



" Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, 

 it is evident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, 

 or the pupa state ; the enemy, in these stages, is beyond our 

 reach, and is subject to the control only of the natural but un- 

 known means appointed by the Author of Nature to keep the 

 insect tribes in check. When they have issued from their sub- 

 terranean retreats, and have congregated upon our vines, trees, 

 and other vegetable productions, in the complete enjoyment of 

 their propensities, we must unite our efforts to seize and crush 

 the invaders. They must indeed be crushed, scalded, or 

 burned, to deprive them of life, for they are not affected by any 

 of the applications usually found destructive to other insects. 

 Experience has proved the utility of gathering them by hand, 

 or of shaking them or brushing them from the plants into tin 

 vessels containing a little water. They should be collected 

 daily during the period of their visitation, and should be com- 

 mitted to the flames, or killed by scalding water. The late 

 John Lowell, Esq., states that, in 1823, he discovered, on a 

 solitary apple-tree, the Rose-bugs ' in vast numbers, such as 

 could not be described, arid would not be believed if they were 

 described ; or, at least, none but an ocular witness could con- 

 ceive of their numbers. Destruction by hand was out of the 

 question,' in this case. He put sheets under the tree, and 

 shook them down, and burned them. Dr. Green, of Mansfield, 

 whose investigations have thrown much light on the history of 



