362 



COLLEGE ZOOLOGY 



scavenger-beetles eat or bury decaying matter and are therefore 

 beneficial. The tumble-bugs make balls of dung in which an 



egg is laid ; the larva feeds on the ball. 

 To this group belongs the Sacred Scara- 

 beus of the Egyptians (Fig. 300). The 

 leaf chafers are injurious. The adults 

 feed on leaves, pollen, and flower-petals. 

 The common June-bug, Lachnosterna 

 fusca, the obnoxious rose-chafer, Macro- 

 dactylus subspinosus, and the rhinoceros- 

 beetles, Dynastes, belong to this group. 

 One of the latter, D. hercules, found in 

 the West Indies, is six inches long. 

 Suborder <. Phytophaga. (Plant- 



Fig. 300. — Order Cole- j 



optera. Sacred beetle of EATING BEETLES, Fig. 301.) — The 



the Egyptians, Scarabeus plant-eating beetles include the leaf- 



sacer. (From Sedgwick's . 



Zoology, after Sharp.) beetles (Chrysomelid^e) , the pea- and 



bean- weevils (Bruchid^e), and the 

 long-horn beetles (Cerambyctce). The potato-beetle, Lep- 

 tinotarsa 10-lineata (Fig. 301), belongs to the first family. It 

 migrated up from Mexico into Colorado and thence east and 

 west until it became an important 

 pest. The elm leaf beetle, Galeru- 

 cella luteola, is another injurious 

 chrysomelid beetle. It has de- 

 stroyed a great number of valuable 

 elm trees in Massachusetts and 

 neighboring states. 



The larvae of the pea- and bean- 

 weevils burrow into peas and beans, 

 making them unfit either for food 

 or seed. 



The larva? of the long-horn beetles Fig. 301. — Order Coleop- 

 burrow in wood and are among the & £2£?\£»£. 



most destructive enemies of trees. Cambridge Natural History.) 



