INSECTS INJURIOUS TO PLANTS. 89 



call the genus Macrodactylus^ that is, long toe, or long 

 foot. The natural history of the Rose-chafer, one of the 

 greatest scourges with Avhich our gardens and nurseries 

 have been afflicted, was for a long time involved in mys- 

 tery, but is at last fully cleared up. The prevalence of 

 this insect on the rose, and its annual appearance coincid- 

 ing with the blossoming of that flower, have gained for 

 it the popular name by which it is here known. For 

 some time after they were first noticed, Rose-bugs ap- 

 peared to be confined to their favorite, the blossoms of 

 the rose ; but within thirty years they have prodigiously 

 increased in number, have attacked at random various 

 kinds of plants, in swarms, and have become notorious 

 for their extensive and deplorable ravages. The grape- 

 vine in particular, the cherry, plum, and apple trees, have 

 annually suffered by their depredations. Many other 

 fruit trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and 

 even the trees of the forest and the grass of the fields, 

 have been laid under contribution by these indiscriminate 

 feeders, by whom leaves, flowers, and fruits, are alike con- 

 sumed. The unexpected arrival of these insects in 

 swarms, at their first coming, and their sudden disappear- 

 ance, at the close of their career, are remarkable facts in 

 their history. They come forth from the ground during 

 the second w^eek in June, or about the time of the blos- 

 soming of the Damask Rose, and remain from thirty to 

 forty days. At the end of this period the males become 

 exhausted, fall to the ground, and perish, while the fe- 

 ^males enter the earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, 

 and, after lingering a few days, die also. The eggs laid 

 by each female are about thirty in number, and are depos- 

 ited from one to four inches beneath the surface of the 

 soil. They are nearly globular, whitish, and about one- 

 thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty 

 days after they are laid. The young larvae begin to feed 



