LEAF-BEETLES. 209 



ing April or May, and emerge from a half - moon hole (^ ) with flat 

 side above during June and July (generation biennial). Plants attacked 

 should be pulled up and burned before the beetles emerge in June. 



F. LEAF- BEETLES (Chrysomelidce). 



The Red Poplar-leaf beetle, Lina populi, feeds both as beetle and 

 larva on Poplar, Aspen, and Willow foliage, and sometimes seriously 

 retards the growth of Osier-beds. The beetle is J in. long, with blackish- 

 blue body, and brick-red elytra tipped with black at upper end ; antennae 

 short, compressed, and thickening towards ends; larvae, 6-footed, dirty- 

 white, with numerous black spots, and two white lateral processes on the 

 second and third segments ; pupa, yellowish-brown, with regular black 

 spots and bands, and is somewhat pear-shaped, hangs head-downwards, 

 and attached to leaves by a sharp-pointed tail-end. The beetles fly in 

 May and June, and the ? lays 100 to 150 eggs in clusters of 10 to 12 on 

 the foliage of young saplings, stool-shoots, and suckers. The larvae hatch 

 out in 4 weeks, feed for 4 weeks, then pupate on leaves, and emerge as 

 beetles about the end of August. In October they libernate under moss 

 or dead leaves, and reappear and pair in the following May (generation 

 simple, annual). Beetles may be shaken down from trees while pairing 

 in May or June, or else from August till October before hibernating. 

 Spraying Osier-shoots and the soil beneath them with insecticides is often 

 effective. The Aspen-leaf beetle, Lina tremulce, is very similar but only 

 ^ in. long, and has no black tips to the elytra. It is somewhat more 

 destructive, as it attacks the shoots while still young and soft. The 

 Willow and Osier beetle, Phratora vitellince, % to i of an in. long, bronze 

 green or coppery, oblongly - oval, and having elytra with rows of fine 

 punctures, appears from late April to June, and lays large oblong eggs in 

 clusters of about 10 or 12 on the lower side of Osier, Willow, and Poplar 

 leaves. The larvae hatch out in 4 weeks, and skeletonise both the spring 

 and the summer flush of leaves before pupating in the ground. The 

 beetles emerge in August, feed for some time, then hibernate in the 

 ground, bark- fissures, or any other hiding-place. The generation is 

 usually single, though sometimes early-comers in August pair and produce 

 a second brood before hibernating. 



G. CLICK-BEETLES or SKIP-JACKS (Elateridce). 



*The Striped Click-beetle, Agriotes lineatus, is the commonest and 

 the most destructive species (Fig. 49). 



Beetle f in. long, with a wing-expanse of fully | in. ; thorax tawny ; 

 elytra brown, with yellowish-brown lines ; antenna) reddish-yellow ; legs 

 brown. The " wire- worm," or larva, is f in. long, very shiny, and yellow 

 (chestnut when dead), with a few hairs on its body, 3 pairs of 4-jointed 

 legs on the first three segments, and a swelling on the lower surface of the 

 terminal segment. It has strong jaws for biting through roots. Beetles, 



