INSECTS. 89 



Vwo are very short, and, with the first, are covered with punctures 

 and very minute hairs ; the following rings, to the tenth inclusive, 

 are each furnished, on the upper and under side, with two fleshy 

 warts situated close together, and destitute of the little rasp-like 

 teeth, ihat are usually found on the grubs of the other Capricorn- 

 beetles the eleventh and twelfth rings are very short ; no appear- 

 ance of legs can be seen, even with a magnifying glass of high 

 power. The grub, with its strong jaws, cuts a cylindrical passage 

 through the bark, and pushes its castings backwards out of the hole 

 from time to time, while it bores upwards into the wood. The 

 larva state continues two or three years, during which the borer 

 will be found to have penetrated eight or ten inches upwards in 

 the trunk of the tree, its burrow at the end approaching to, and 

 being covered only by, the bark. Here its transformation takes 

 place. The final change occurs about the first of June, soon after 

 which, the beetle gnaws through the bark that covers the end of its 

 burrow, and comes out of its place of confinement in the night. 

 Killing it by a wire thrust into the holes it has made, is one of the 

 oldest, safest, and most successful methods. Cutting out the grub, 

 with a knife or gouge, is the most common practice ; but it is 

 feared that these tools have sometimes been used without sufficient 

 caution. A third method, which has more than once been sug- 

 gested, consists in plugging the holes with soft wood. If a little 

 camphor be previously inserted, this practice promises to be more 

 effectual ; but experiments are wanting to confirm its expediency. 



TURNIP FLY OR BEETLE. The wavy-striped flea-beetle, Haltica 

 vtriolata, may be seen in great abundance on the horse-radish, va- 

 rious kinds of cresses, and on the mustard, and turnip, early in 

 May, and indeed at other times throughout the summer. It is very 

 injurious to young plants, destroying their seed-leaves as soon as 

 the latter expand. Should it multiply to any extent, it may, in 

 time, become as great a pest as the European turnip flea-beetle, 

 which it closely resembles in its appearance, and in all its habits. 

 It is considerably less than one-tenth of an inch in length. It is 

 of a polished black color, with a broad wavy buff-colored stripe on 

 each wing-cover, and the knees and feet are reddish yellow. Spe- 

 cimens are sometimes found having two buff-yellow spots on each 

 wing-cover instead of the wavy stripe. 



In England, where the ravages of the turnip flea-beetle have at- 

 tracted great attention, and have caused many and various experi- 

 ments to b?, tried with a view of checking them, it is thought thai 



