COLEOPTEEA. 447 



Cockchafer, ffanneton, according to M. Mulsant, comes from the 

 Latin, Alitonus (which has sonorous wings), which first became 

 Halleton. Linnaeus gave them first the name of Melolontha, 

 which it probably had among the Greeks, and which seems to be 

 the case from this passage in Aristophanes, in his comedy of 

 "The Clouds." "Let your spirit soar," says the Greek author, 

 "let it fly whither it lists, like the Melolontha tied with a 



Fig. 431. Inca clathrata. 



thread by the leg." We see that the habit of martyrizing cock- 

 chafers is of very early date. The Common Cockchafer (Fig. 432) 

 is one of the greatest pests to agriculture. In its perfect state it 

 devours the leaves of many trees, principally those of the elm. 

 And so children call the fruit of the elm- tree by the name of 

 " Pains d'Hanneton." But the destruction which they occasion 

 in their perfect state is little when compared with that which is 

 caused by their larvae those white grubs so dreaded by agri- 

 culturists. 



Cockchafers make their appearance from the month of April, 

 if the season is warm. But it is in the month of May that they 



