FIG .4. Eggs natural size, and much enlarged. 



Undoubtedly the elm leaf- 

 beetle must be regarded as the 

 most serious pest to shade- 

 trees in this State. It prob- 

 ably destroys more shade-trees, 

 certainly more elm trees, than 

 all other insect pests com- 

 bined. 



STORY OF ITS LIFE 



In the fall of the year many 

 of the full-grown beetles, in 

 searching for snug crannies in 

 which to pass the winter, find 

 their way into* dwelling houses, congregating especially in the attics 

 where they may often be found by the score. Housekeepers are some- 

 times alarmed when they see so many of these beetles crawling on the 

 window panes, walls, and ceilings of the rooms, likely thinking that 

 here is another household pest. Fortunately, so far as the writer 

 knows, these insects do not injure household articles of any descrip- 

 tion. Other individuals hide away under loose pieces of bark on trees, 

 in cracks in fences and telegraph poles, in outhouses, sheds, and in 

 any other sheltered places they are able to find. Here they remain in 

 a quiet, inactive condition through the long winter months. With the 



warm days of spring, the bee- 

 tles awake and begin crawling 

 about on the walks and on the 

 window panes. 



As soon as the leaves begin 

 to appear, the insects fly to the 

 trees for their first spring meal. 

 After feeding for some time 

 they deposit their conspicuous 

 orange-colored eggs (Fig. 4) in 

 clusters of five to twenty-five 

 on the undersides of the leaves. 

 Each egg is flask-shaped and 

 stands upright with its larger 

 end attached to the leaf. The 



FIG. 5. Grubs nearly grown, eggs hatch in five or six days 



during hot weather, but in cool 



