98 COMMON BRITISH INSECTS. 



substantial nourishment afforded by decaying wood, 

 in which it remains for three years. 



Sometimes, on opening a wood ant's nest, one of 

 these larvae is found in it, a circumstance which has 

 gained for it the name of King of the Ants. It most 

 probably takes advantage of the large quantity of 

 wood-chips, bits of straw, fir-leaves, and similar 

 material, with which the ants make their nest ; and 

 finds therein an abundant supply of food. The ants 

 do not meddle with it, probably finding that it remains 

 in one spot, and does not interfere with the conduct 

 of their nest. 



After it has remained in the larval state for the 

 full period, it makes for itself a cocoon from the wood- 

 chips or other materials on which it has been feeding ; 

 and it sometimes happens that when a decayed tree- 

 trunk is suddenly blown or cut down, a great quantity 

 of these cocoons roll out from among the ruins. Even 

 when the larva has taken up its abode in an ants' 

 nest, it makes a cocoon from the surrounding 

 materials. 



NEXT we come to the small though important 

 family of the Melolonthidae, which includes those 

 insects which are popularly called Cockchafers. Only 

 five species of this family inhabit England, and of 

 these only two are even tolerably common. These 

 two, however, more than compensate by their enor- 

 mous numbers for the paucity of the other species ; 

 and in some seasons are so exceedingly plentiful that 

 they become an absolute pest to the agriculturist, 

 laying waste thousands of trees, and destroying acre 

 upon acre of pasture land. 



