31 



The natural history of the rose-hug, one of the most 

 powerful assailants of the vine, was for a long time 

 involved in mystery, but is at last fully cleared up.* 

 Fabricius, a German naturahst, was the first to give a 

 scientific description of this insect, which he received 

 from America, and apphed to it the name of Melolon- 

 tha subspinosa. Its prevalence upon the rose, and its 

 annual appearance coinciding 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 appeared to be confined 

 to their favorite, the rose ; but within twenty years they 

 have prodigiously increased in number, have attacked 

 indiscriminately various kinds of plants, and have be- 

 come notorious for their extensive and deplorable 

 ravages. The grape-vine in particular, the cherry, 

 plum, and apple trees have annually suff'ered by their 

 depredations ; many other fruit-trees and shrubs, gar- 

 den 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 ahke consumed. The 

 simultaneous appearance of these insects in swarms, 

 and their sudden disappearance, are remarkable facts 

 in their history. They arrive early in June, and con- 

 tinue for about a month. At the expiration of this 

 time, the males become exhausted, fall to the ground, 

 and perish, while the females enter the earth, lay their 

 eggs, and also die. The eggs laid by each female are 

 about thirty in number, are deposited from one to four 



* See The Massachusetts Agricultural Repository (for July, 1827), 

 Vol. X. p. 1, &c.; also the New England Farmer. Vol. VI. pp.18, 

 41, 49, &c. 



