COckCHiFERS. 



tliree pairs of legs. It may be found almost anywhere by digging- in 



the soil, and the larger specimens have a peculiarly large terminal seg- 

 ment of a livid grey colour. This 



grub lives among the roots of 



plants, a few inches below the 



surface of the soil. Its food is 



probably entirely vegetable, con- 

 sisting of the roots of grasses and 



other plants; hot dry weather 



sends the grubs down further from 



the surface, wet weather brings 



them up. The life occupies several 



months, probably nearly nine; the 



full-fed grub makes a smooth 



earthen case, curls up inside and 



transforms to the pupa. Nearly 



a year after the parent laid the 



eggs, the beetle comes out, pushing 



open the mud case, forcing its way 



up through the soil till it emerges 



to the light. It distends the air 



sacs in the body and flies away. 



Each species emerges annually at 



the proper season depending upon the climate, so that we find large 



numbers of a species coming out about the same time. They lie 



hidden in the day and in the 

 evening fly out, to seek a suit- 

 able plant on which to feed. On 

 such plants they gather in num- 

 bers, eating the tissue of the 

 leaves till the whole plant is 

 stripped, only the skeleton of the 

 leaf being left, The beetle* 

 mate, and lay eggs in the soil, 

 after which they die. The whole 

 period may occupy one year or 

 more and probably one or two 

 years are required by most Indian 



Cockchafer larva. (Twice magnified.) J 



species. 



Damage is done by the larvae to the roots of plants, especially in very wet 

 weather when the grubs come up near the surface. Crops are occasionally 



FIG. 226. 



Cockchafer Beetle. 

 Larva on the left. Pupa OH the right. 



