DAMAGE CAUSED BY ANIMALS. 159 



mately die off, so that the canopy overhead is apt to become 

 gradually interrupted, and finally broken. Here, too, the best 

 preventive and remedial measure consists in the felling of stems 

 and poles attacked, which may be known by the resin which has 

 oozed out of the punctures made for ovi-deposition, and which, 

 glittering in the sunlight, are easily seen when the stems are 

 bathed in strong sunshine. Peeling the bark of the stems felled 

 is not necessary, as the larvae soon die when the bark begins 

 to dry. 



The Silver-fir Weevil or Rostral Beetle, Pissodes picece, also attacks 

 Silver fir in much the same way, but occurs less frequently and 

 in much smaller numbers. 



C. LAMELLICORN OR PLATYCORN BEETLES (Scarabceidce). 



78. The Cockchafer, May-beetle, or May-bug, Melolontha vulgaris. 



As a beetle, this insect's attacks are almost exclusively confined 

 | to broad-leaved species of trees ; but as the larvse or grubs 

 damage conifers principally, it is included here among the insect 

 enemies of coniferous trees. 



It is perhaps unnecessary to describe the well-known appear- 

 ance of this beetle, 1 but it may be remarked in passing, that the 

 male can easily be distinguished from the female by means of its 

 beautifully feathered antennae. The larva, specifically called a 

 j grub, is from 1/6 to 2 inches in length when full grown, with a thick, 

 | yellowish-brown head, six long feet attached to the thorax, 

 yellowish- white in colour, and thickening somewhat towards the 

 end ; the latter part is generally bluish, owing to the excrement 

 I showing through. The chrysalis is of a brownish-yellow colour, 

 j with a double-pointed termination. The ova are egg-shaped, 

 . yellowish-white, and about the size of hemp-seed. 



The beetle swarms in May, or somewhat later in raw localities. 



1 The beetle is from 1 to 1 '2 inches in length ; the thorax is black or, less frequently, 

 | reddish-brown ; the elytra or outer wings and legs are ruddy-brown, each of the 



former having five longitudinal ribs, the depressions between which are covered with 

 ! fine hairs. The belly is black, with five triangular white spots on the sides. The 



abdomen gradually terminates in a somewhat broad, elongated, and pointed anus. 



The feelers have ten joints or sections, the laminae being seven-fold and feathery on 



the male, but smaller, narrower, and only six-fold on the female. Trans. 



