INSECTA. 123 



goes the transforming process and comes forth iu May or 

 June a perfected insect. 



The May Buy (melolontha vulgaris) is one inch 

 long, black, -with brown elytra, the tail is pointed some- 

 what in the form of a beak. In many the thorax is 

 brown, like the wing cases. These insects may be ob- 

 served on the warm evenings in May some years in 

 great numbers flying round ; their motion is accompanied 

 Avith a buzzing noise. They are therefore very injurious 

 not only to fruit but forest trees, which, as they are very 

 voracious, they strip entirely of verdure. The female, 

 distinguished by her smaller feelers, deposits her eggs in 

 the earth, from which a grub or maggot comes forth ; 

 these grubs may be found under stones or tufts of grass, 

 in fields and meadows, often new-turned earth. They 

 have a white body and red head, and are eagerly sought 

 after by young anglers and birds. They live on the 

 roots of plants and grass, and, committing great devasta- 

 tion in the fields, are a great nuisance to the farmer. 

 The best way to get rid of them is to cherish ground 

 moles and insect-eating birds. Moles, burrowing in the 

 earth, feed upon them without injuring the roots; and' 

 birds, following the course of the plow, pick them up 

 eagerly as soon as the earth is turned up. There is a 

 smaller species, called by the Germans Brachkafer, that 

 comes in June, after the cockchafer or May bug has dis- 

 appeared. 



The Sacred Beetle* (scarabeus sacer) is about the 

 size of the horse beetle, very black and smooth, the head 

 is shield-shaped and finished neatly with six notches in 

 the anterior edge, resembling rays. These beetles abound 



* Also termed Pillularus. 



