BEETLE. 



two feet from each other. They flower in Au- 

 gust, and ripen their seed at the close of Sep- 

 tember. Seed of the previous year is always 

 to be preferred for sowing, but it will suc- 

 ceed, if carefully preserved, when two years 

 old. 



As a medicine, the seed of the beet is diure- 

 tic. The juice of beet-root snuffed up into the 

 nostrils promotes sneezing, and is beneficial 

 in headache and toothache. 



BEETLE (ScarabceMeae f Sax. b'ytei)- The 

 generic name of a class of insects, of which 

 tin-re are a great many species, all of them 

 having elytra or sheaths over their wings to 

 defend them from hard bodies, which they may 

 meet with in digging holes in the ground, or 

 gnawing rotten wood with their teeth, to make 

 themselves houses or nests. These insects are 

 extremely destructive to many sorts of crops. 

 The beetles most destructive to vegetables and 

 animals are the weevil beetle, the turnip-flta 

 l;il . the u'nod-bnrin beetle, and some others, 

 which are described at length by Mr. J. Dun- 

 can iu the Quart. Joiirn. of Agr. vol. ix. p. 394. 



American brr/frs. Passing over many groups 

 into which the extensive beetle family is divid- 

 ed, such as the ground-beetles, earth-borers, 

 and dung-beetles, which last, in all their states, 

 are found in excrement; the skin-beetles, which 

 inhabit dried animal substances, and the gigan- 

 tic Hercules-beetles, which live in rotten wood 

 or beneath old dung-heaps, we come to those 

 groups which rrquin 1 more particular notice 

 from their depredations upon plants, fruits, and 

 trees. 



One of the most common, and at the same 

 time mcst beautiful of the tree beetles of the 

 United States, is the Woolly Areoda, sometimes 

 called the goldsmith (Arfothi lanigrru), which 

 is thus described by Dr. Harris, in his highly 

 ctmg and valuable "Treatise upon In- 

 sects injurious to Vegetation." 



" It is about nine-tenths of an inch in length, 

 broad oval in shape, of a lemon-yellow colour 

 above, glittering like burnished gold on the top 

 of the head and thorax; the under side of the 

 body is copper-coloured, and thickly covered 

 with whitish wool ; and the legs are brownish- 

 yellow, or brassy, shaded with green. These 

 fine beetles begin to appear in Massachusetts 

 about the middle of May, and continue gene- 

 rally till the twentieth of June. In the morning 

 and evening twilights they come forth from 

 their retreats, and fly about with a humming 

 and rustling sound among the branches of 

 trees, the tender leaves of which they devour. 

 Pear-trees are particularly subject to their at- 

 tacks, but the elm, hickory, poplar, oak, and 

 probably also other kinds of trees, are fre- 

 quented and injured by them. During the 

 middle of the day they remain at rest upon 

 the trees, clinging to the under-sides of the 

 leaves ; and endeavour to conceal themselves 

 by drawing two or three leaves together, and 

 holding them in this position with their long 

 unequal claws. In some seasons they occur 

 in profusion, and then may be obtained in 

 great quantities by shaking the young trees on 

 which they are lodged in the daytime, as th^y 

 do not attempt to fly when thus disturbed out 

 fall at once to the ground. The larvae of these 



BEETLE. 



I insects are not known ; probably they live m 

 I the ground upon the roots of plants." 



Another member of the Rutilian tribe, to 

 which the goldsmith belongs, is the Spotted 

 Pelidnota, a large beetle found on the cultivat- 

 ed and wild grape-vine, sometimes in great 

 abundance, in the summer months. "It is," 

 says Dr. Harris, "of an oblong oval shape, 

 and about an inch long. The wing-covers are 

 tile-coloured, or dull brownish yellow, with 

 three distinct black dots on each ; the thorax is 

 darker, and slightly bronzed, with a black dot 

 on each side ; the body beneath, and the legs, 

 are of a deep bronzed green colour. These 

 beetles fly by day, but may also be seen at the 

 same time on the leaves of the grape, which 

 are their only food. They sometimes prove 

 very injurious to the vine. The only way to 

 destroy them is to pick them off by hand, and 

 crush them under foot. The larvoe live in 

 rotten wood, stumps, and roots." 



Among the tree-beetles, those commonly 

 called dors, chafers, May-bugs, and rose-bugs, 

 are the most interesting to the farmer and gar- 

 dener, on account of their extensive ravages, 

 both in the winged and larva states. Whilst 

 the powerful and horny jaws possessed by 

 most of these, are admirably fitted for cutting 

 and grinding the leaves of plants upon which 

 they subsist, their notched and double claws 

 support them securely on the foliage ; and 

 their strong and jagged fore-legs, being formed 

 for digging in the ground, point out the place 

 of their transformations. 



"The general habits and transformations oi 

 the common cock-chafer of Europe have been 

 carefully observed, and will serve," says Dr. 

 Harris, " to exemplify those of the other in- 

 sects of this family, which, as far as they are 

 known, seem to be nearly the same. This in- 

 sect devours the leaves of trees an& shrubs. 

 Its duration in the perfect state is vi ry short, 

 each individual living only about a week, and 

 the species entirely disappearing in the course 

 of a month. After the sexes have paired, the 

 males perish, and the females enter the earth 

 to the depth of six inches or more, making 

 their way by means of the strong teeth which 

 arm the fore-legs; here they deposit their 

 eggs, amounting, according to some wiiters, 

 to nearly one hundred, or, as others assert, to 

 two hundred from each female, which are 

 abandoned by the parent, who generally as- 

 cends again to the surface, and perishes in a 

 short time. 



" From the eggs are hatched, in the space 

 of fourteen days, little whitish grubs, each 

 provided with six legs near the head, and a 

 mouth furnished with strong jaws. When ic 

 a state of rest, these grubs usually curl them 

 selves in the shape of a crescent. They sub- 

 sist on the tender roots of various plants, com- 

 mitting ravages among these vegetable sub- 

 stances, on some occasions of the most 

 deplorable kind, so as totally to disappoint the 

 best founded hopes of the husbandman. Dui 

 ing the summer, they live under the thin coat 

 of vegetable mould near the surface, but, as 

 winter approaches, they descend below t 

 reach of frost, and remain torpid until the sue 

 ceeding spring, at which time they change. 



