CHAPTER I 

 INJURIOUS INSECTS 



The number of insects injurious to plants is very large, and their rapid 

 increase is often alarming, as in only comparatively few cases are effectual 

 remedies available. It is our intention to take a hasty glance at the more 

 important of those insects which cause material injury to Trees and Shrubs. 

 With the space at our disposal the descriptions must necessarily be brief. 



Among the Coleoptera or Beetles there are many which may be classed 

 as Pests. 



The Cockchafer or "May-bug" (Mclolantlia vulgaris) is a large heavy- 

 looking reddish-brown insect about 1 in. long. The head and thorax are 

 black, the abdomen being of the same colour, with stripes of white hairs 

 on the underside. The pointed tip of the abdomen projects beyond the 

 elytra. The larvae or " White-grubs " devour the roots of Roses and seedling 

 trees, young Oaks and Fir-trees often suffering severely. The adult insects 

 live on the foliage of fruit-trees, Roses, and such forest-trees as the Oak, 

 Chestnut, and Beech, the needles of Larch and Spruce, and the male cones 

 of Scots Pine. The beetles fly in the evening, so must be collected and 

 killed during the day. The larva?, which live in the ground for three years, 

 may be trapped in pieces of turf laid with the grass downwards. 



The Summer Chafer (Rhizotrogus solstitialis) appears in June and July. 

 It somewhat resembles the larger Cockchafer, but is only about jj in. long. 

 The larva? live about two years in the ground, and the adult beetles live 

 partly on the foliage of Rose-trees. They must be collected in the daytime. 



The Garden Chafer or Bracken-clock {Phijllopertha horticola) is known 



in Wales as the Coch-y-bonddu, and appears in May and June. It is 



about h in. long, the front part of the body being of a metallic greenish 



colour, and the elytra or wing cases of a reddish-brown hue, the male being 



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