Insecta. 



39 



injury by eating the roots of grasses, strawberry plants, 

 corn, grain, and other plants. The larva lives in the ground 



e 



FIG. 31. THE COLORADO POTATO BEETLE AND ITS DEVELOPMENT. 



a > eggs; 3, larvae; c, pupa (underground); d, adult; e, wing cover; f, leg. 

 From Hyatt's Insecta. 



two or three years. The last of its stay is passed in a 

 pupa state, when it is inactive, lying in a smooth, oval 



cavity it has made for itself. 



The Colorado Potato Beetle. This is 

 too well known to need description. It is 

 a native of the Rocky Mountain region, 

 where it lived on a species of Solanum (to 

 which genus the potato belongs) ; when 

 the potato began to be cultivated near its 

 home, the beetle transferred to the new 

 plant, and, starting in 1859, it spread east- 

 ward till it reached the Atlantic coast in 

 1874. 



The Ground Beetles. Among the most 

 common of our beetles are the ground 

 beetles, to be found under logs, boards, and stones, or running about on 



FIG. 32. COMMON GROUND 

 BEETLE. 



From Hyatt's Insecta. 



