108 THE LAMELLICORNIA. 



Stag Beetles, and the club, instead of being pectinated, 

 is distinctly composed of several leaves closely pressed 

 together by their sides. This foliated structure of 

 the antennae is well shown in an insect which is so 

 abundant that it must be known to every one, namely, 

 the common Cockchafer or May Beetle (Melolontha 

 vulgaris), in which the leaves of the male are at least 

 an eighth of an inch long. It will scarcely be neces- 

 sary to give any description of this insect, which may 

 be constantly seen and heard flying about with a loud 

 humming noise in the warm evenings of May and 

 June, but its habits of life deserve a short notice. 

 In their perfect state the Cockchafers only live about 

 a week, and during this time they frequent trees, and 

 feed upon the leaves. The female, however, when 

 ready to deposit her eggs, burrows down into the 

 earth to a depth of about six inches, where she leaves 

 them, and in the course of about a fortnight the 

 young larvae are hatched, and proceed in search of 

 nourishment. This consists of the delicate roots of 

 various plants, particularly grasses and corn-plants; 

 and such damage do these voracious creatures inflict 

 upon the produce of our fields, that, when they abound 

 excessively, large patches are often completely bared 

 of their green livery in consequence of the injury 

 done to the roots of the plants. The larva, which is 

 an exceedingly fat grub, lives for three years in the 

 ground, and attains a length of an inch and a half, 

 and the thickness of one's little finger. Several other 

 nearly allied species are also very injurious to our 

 crops, but their numbers and powers of destruction 

 are never equal to those of the Cockchafer. 



A vast number of most brilliant exotic species 

 agree with this common Beetle in their habits in the 



