190 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Green beetle or rose chaftr 



of dressing them, and used them as food. To- 

 wards the end of summer they disappeared so 

 suddenly that in a few days there was not a single 

 one left. 



Farmers have frequently sustained much in- 

 jury by these destructive insects, but happily the 

 rooks and gulls devour immense numbers of their 

 grubs. The sole employment of rooks, for nearly 

 three months in the spring of the year, is to 

 search for insects of this sort for food, and the 

 havoc that a numerous flock makes among them, 

 must be very great. 



Some farmers plough the ground' in order to 

 expose the grubs to the birds; and others take 

 the pains to dig deeper wherever the rooks point 

 them out by their attempts to reach them. 

 When the insects are in their winged state, to 

 shake the trees at noon, when they are all either 

 asleep or in a state of inactive stupor, and gather 

 or sweep them up from the ground, seems the 

 most eligible method. 



The green beetle or rose-chafer is the most 

 beautiful species of beetles. The upper parts of 

 the female are of a shining green colour, varying 

 according to the light in which it is held, and 

 marked transversely on the wing cases with a 

 few short white or yellowish lines; The male is 

 of a burnished copper colour with a greenish 

 cast. These insects are somewhat more than an 

 inch in length. They are to be found on flow- 

 ers, particularly on those of the rose and peony 

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