BEETLE. 



BEETLE. 



their skins, and reascend to the surface for 

 food. At the close of their third summer, (or, 

 as some say, of the fourth or fifth), they cease 

 eating, and penetrate about two feet deep into 

 the earth ; there, by its motions from side to 

 side, each grub forms an oval cavity, which is 

 lined by some glutinous substance thrown 

 from its mouth. In this cavity it is changed 

 to a pupa by casting off its skin. In this state 

 the legs, antennae, and wing-cases of the future 

 beetle are visible through the transparent skin 

 which envelopes them, but appear of a yellow- 

 ish white colour; and thus it remains until the 

 month of February, when the thin film which 

 encloses the body is rent, and three months 

 afterwards the perfected beetle digs its way to 

 the surface, from which it finally emerges dur- 

 ing the night." 



Some account of the destruction occasion- 

 ally wrought by these insects may be found 

 under the head of COCK-CHAFER. 



In their winged state, many species of tree- 

 beetles act as conspicuous a part in injuring 

 trees as their grubs do in destroying herbage. 

 " During the month of May they come forth 

 from the ground, whence they have received 

 the name of May-bugs or May-beetles. They 

 pass the greater part of the day upon trees, 

 clinging to the under-sides of the leaves, in 

 a state of repose. As soon as evening ap- 

 proaches, they begin to buzz about among the 

 branches, and continue on the wing till to- 

 wards midnight. In their droning flight they 

 move very irregularly, darting hither and thi- 

 ther with an uncertain aim, hitting against ob- 

 jects in their way with a force that often causes 

 them to fall to the ground. They frequently 

 enter houses in the night, apparently attracted, 

 as well as dazzled and bewildered, by the 

 lights. Their vagaries, in which, without hav- 

 ing the power to harm, they seem to threaten 

 an attack, have caused them to be called dors, 

 that is, darers ; while their seeming blindness 

 and stupidity have become proverbial in the 

 expressions 'blind as a beetle,' and 'beetle- 

 headed.' Besides the leaves of fruit-trees they 

 devour those of various forest-trees and shrubs, 

 with an avidity not much less than that of the lo- 

 cust, so that in certain seasons, and in particular 

 districts, they become an oppressive scourge, 

 and the source of much misery to the inhabit- 

 ants. Mouffet relates that, in the year 1574, 

 such a number of them fell into the river Severn, 

 as to stop the wheels of the water-mills; and, 

 in the Philosophical Transactions, it is stated 

 that, in the year 1688, they filled the hedges 

 and trees of Galway in such infinite numbers 

 as to cling to each other like bees when 

 swarming; and, when on the wing, darkened 

 the air, annoyed travellers, and produced a 

 sound like distant drums. In a short time the 

 leaves of all the trees, for some miles round, 

 were so totally consumed by them, that at mid- 

 summer the country wore the aspect of the 

 depth of winter." 



The animals and birds appointed to check 

 the ravages of these and other insects so de- 

 structive to vegetation, are different in differ- 

 ent countries. In Europe, according to the 

 great French naturalist Latreille, they are the 

 tadjjer, weasel, martin, bats, rats, common 

 172 



dung-hill fowl, and the goat-sucker, or night- 

 hawk. In the United States, various birds may 

 be always seen in the spring of the year fol- 

 lowing the plough, among which the black* 

 bird family is by far the most numerous. 

 These ought to meet with the utmost protec- 

 tion, and by no means to be stoned, shot at, 

 killed, and frightened away, as is too often 

 done by the idle and inconsiderate. The fol- 

 lowing view of the subject will serve to set 

 the subject in the important light it deserves. 

 In "Anderson's Recreations," it is stated that 

 "a cautious observer, having found a nest of 

 five young jays, remarked that each of these 

 birds, while yet very young, consumed at least 

 fifteen of these full-sized grubs in one day, 

 and of course would require many more of a 

 smaller size. Say that, on an average of sizes, 

 they consumed twenty a-piece, these for the 

 five make one hundred. Each of the parents 

 consume, say fifty; so that the pair and family 

 devour two hundred every day. This, in three 

 months, amounts to twenty thousand in one 

 season. But, as the grub continues in that 

 state four seasons, this single pair, with their 

 family alone, without reckoning their descend- 

 ants after the first year, would destroy eighty 

 thousand grubs. Let us suppose that the half, 

 namely forty thousand, are females, and it is 

 known that they usually lay about two hundred 

 eggs each ; it will appear that no less than 

 eight millions have been destroyed, or pre- 

 vented from being hatched, by the labours of a 

 single family of jays. It is by reasoning in 

 this way that we learn to know of what im- 

 portance it is to attend to the economy of na- 

 ture, and to be cautious how we derange it by 

 our short-sighted and futile operations." Our 

 own country abounds with insect-eating beasts 

 and birds, and without doubt the more than 

 abundant Melolonthae form a portion of their 

 nourishment. (Harris.) 



The very numerous varieties of the beetle 

 family may be imagined from the fact taught 

 us by naturalists, that of the genus Melo- 

 lontha to which the beetles belong, more than 

 two hundred have been described. Several 

 of these found in the United States, produce 

 injuries in the perfect grub state which rival 

 those of the European cock-chafer. The May- 

 beetle, as it is generally called (Phyllophaga 

 quercind), is the most common species. 



" It is of a chestnut-brown colour, smooth, 

 but finely punctured, that is, covered with little 

 impressed dots, as if pricked with the point 

 of a needle; each wing-case has two or three 

 slightly elevated longitudinal lines ; the breast 

 is clothed with yellowish down. The knob of 

 its antennae contains only three leaf-like joints. 

 Its average length is nine-tenths of an inch. IB 

 its perfect state it feeds on the leaves of trees, 

 particularly on those of the cherry-tree. It flies 

 with a humming noise in the night, from the 

 middle of May to the end of June, and fre- 

 quently enters houses, attracted by the light. 

 In the course of the spring, these beetles are 

 often thrown from the earth by the spade and 

 plough, in various states of maturity, some 

 L p ing soft and nearly white, their superabun- 

 dai.* juices not having evaporated, while others 

 exhibit the true colour and texture of the pep- 



