20 THE MAGAZINE OF HORTICULTURE. 



of June, and flies in our faces while sitting at an open window 

 in the evening. Few persons are aware of the vast amount 

 of mischief done to vegetation by these insects, both during 

 their embryo and their perfect state. During dayhght, they 

 sleep on the under sides of the leaves of trees and other 

 plants, being unable to bear a strong light, and choosing these 

 situations for purposes of concealment. At the dusk of eve- 

 ning they come out from their retreats, and fly abroad during 

 the remainder of the night. They devour the leaves of al- 

 most all kinds of trees; and thus occasion an incalculable 

 amount of mischief. 



But it is in their grub state that they commence their dep- 

 redations upon the productions of the earth. The grub of 

 the beetle, commonly called the potato worm, is the favorite 

 food of all the larger birds. About two hundred eggs are de- 

 posited by the female beetle, about six inches below the sur- 

 face of the ground, after which the parent soon perishes. 

 From the eggs, in the course of fourteen days, are produced 

 little whitish grubs, each having six legs near the head, and 

 a mouth with very firm and hard jaws. Their food consists 

 of the roots of plants, especially those of a tender and farina- 

 ceous sort, of which they consume great quantities. Late in 

 the autumn they bury themselves in the earth, below the 

 reach of the frost, and remain torpid until spring. In this 

 manner they spend three years of their life, before they be- 

 come perfect insects, when they commence their ravages anew 

 in a different element. 



It is recorded in " Anderson's Recreations," that a curious 

 observer, having discovered a nest of five young jays, re- 

 marked that each of these birds, while yet very young, con- 

 sumed at least fifteen of these full sized grubs daily, and 

 would require many more of a smaller size. The writer 

 makes a calculation, founded on the supposition that they 

 would require, of large and small, about twenty apiece. At this 

 rate the five birds together would consume one hundred. Al- 

 lowing that each of the parents consumed fifty, the family 

 would devour 200 every day. The whole would amount, in 

 three months, or in one season, to 20,000. This may be 



