LAMELLICOUKIA. 51 



Wry rare; Holylioml, Wales (Steven* and Hrewer) ; one specimen recorded by 

 Stephens from " probably Derbyshire or Yorkshire." 



MEZiOZiONTHA, Fabricius. 



Tliis genus contains about twenty species, of which seven are found in 

 Kiiinpe; the remainder an- widely distributed, repneentatiYee occurring 

 in China and Japan, India and Ceylon, Manilla, Java, Borneo, &c. ; the 

 s I HTHJS are, as a rule, of large size, and may be known by the fact that 

 tin- antennal club is composed of seven lamellae in the male and six in 

 the female; the antenna* are 10-jointed, a character that will at once 

 separate them from Pkyttopertka and our species of R/rizotrogu* 

 (Ai/ijil<imnllti); the Melolonthae are exceedingly destructive insects, as in 

 the perfect state they devour leaves and in the larval state they consume 

 the roots of grass. 



Tbe larva of Melolontha vtilgarit, tbe common cockebnfer, lias been described by 

 many authors; it is large, thick, and fleshy, of a dirty white colour, with the head 

 ferruginous and shilling, and the legs pale ferruginous ; the antenna- are a little 

 longer than the mandibles, and are -I -jointed; the anterior pairs of legs are rather 

 shorter than the intermediate and posterior pain>, which are of equal length ; the 

 segments are transversely rugose, and the last is large and apparently divided by 

 a false articulation ; the upper surface of the body is furnished with short upright 

 bristles, and long separate hairs which are intermingled with those ; the pupa is 

 nith.-r large, with the abdominal portion slightly curved, but does not present any 

 striking peculiarities. 



Tbe female cockchafer lays her eggs early in the summer, about six or 

 fight inches below the surface of the ground; in from Jour to six weeks 

 these hatch, and the insects continue in the larval state for three y-ars; 

 during the first year they attain a lengthof from 16 to 18 mm., and when full 

 grown they are about one and a half inches long; in early spring they come 

 up near tbe surface and feed on the roots of corn, grasses, and other plants, 

 descending again deeper towards winter ; at tbe end of the tbird summer 

 they are full fed, and go down into the earth for a depth of two or more 

 feet, where they form oval cells, and change into large flet-hy puj-jp, 

 which have the abdomen terminated by two small pointed cerci; tbe 

 insect continues in tbe pupa state about four weeks; the perfect beetles 

 emerge about October, but do not leave the ground until the In-ginning 

 of tbe following summer, when they come out in May and the beginning of 

 June, and begin to feed on the foliage of oaks, chestnuts and other been; 

 they remain torpid under the leaves during the day, but fly towards 

 <lu-k. As both in the perfect and the larval state these beetles do a 

 gnat amount of damage, it is obvious that it is most important to tind 

 some means of preventing or checking their ravages; Miss Oimerod 

 recommends that on ground where the insect is known to be present 

 goi.d drenching! of some fluid such as tobacco water or gas water .should 

 be used to drive the insect from the roots; it is however questionable 

 wbethcr this would do much good, as the larva can endure much more 



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