INSECTS AND DISEASES. 95 



vagaries, in which, without having 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 ex- 

 pressions 'blind as a beetle' and 'beetle- 

 headed.' 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 forelegs; here they deposit their 

 eggs. . . . 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 in a state of rest, these grubs 

 usually curl themselves in the shape of a 

 crescent." These annoying pests live in the 

 earth for three years, feeding on the roots of 

 roses and other plants, and give no sign of 

 their presence till the plant on which they 

 feed commences to wither or turn sickly. 

 So soon as evidence is given of their ravages, 

 the plant should at once be dug around and 

 search made for the grub, that his destruction 

 may save other plants from death. The grub 

 is more fond of the roots of strawberries than 

 of any other food, and if these berries are 

 grown alongside of roses a careful lookout 



