THE BEETLE. 17 



Description of the dorr-beetle. 



to the end of October) is not merely for food, 

 but as a proper nidus for their eggs, and to 

 nourish the young family of grubs which they 

 produce. 



The dorr-beetle, may-bug, or cock-chafer, 

 has, like all the rest of the tribe, a pair of cases 

 to its wings, which are of a reddish brown co 

 lour sprinkled with a whitish dust, which easily 

 comes off. In some their necks are covered with 

 a red plate, and in others with a black one. The 

 fore-legs are very short, and the better calculated 

 for burrowing in the ground, where this insect 

 makes its retreat. It is well known for its even- 

 ing buzz to children; but still more formidably 

 introduced to the acquaintance of husbandmen, 

 and gardeners; for in some seasons, it swarms in 

 such numbers as to eat up every vegetable pro- 

 duction. 



The larvae or grubs of this species, are more 

 voracious, and more destructive to vegetation, 

 than those of almost any of the insect tribes. 

 The eggs are deposited in the ground by the 

 winged insect. From each of these proceeds, 

 after a short time, a whitish worm with six legs, 

 a red head and strong claws, and about an inch 

 and a half long, which is destined to live in the 

 earth under that form for four years, and there 

 undergo various changes of its skin, until it as- 

 sumes its chrysalid form. It subsists, during its 

 subterraneous abode, on the roots of trees and 

 plants, committing ravages often of the most 



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