DECEMBER. 265 



nomus attack nuts and stone-fruits. Among the other 

 orders, it is more particularly the Lepidoptera and Diptera 

 which in the larva state live on fruit ; the plum, apple, and 

 pear are attacked by a small Moth, Tinea Pomona ; another 

 infests the chestnut ; and the larva of the Moth Pyralis 

 fasciata lives in grapes, destroying the largest and most 

 beautiful fruit. Many of the Dipterous maggots distort 

 plants by the excrescences they raise; others attack the 

 ripening ears of corn ; one of these produces the Ply called 

 by Kirby Tipula tritici. The roots of plants furnish a 

 supply of food to other species. The Coleopterous genus 

 Mater attacks the roots of corn; one, whose larva is 

 called the Wire- worm, frequently does much mischief; the 

 thick yellowish larvae of the Melolonthida and Cetonidte, 

 which in the beetle-state feed on leaves, devour in their im- 

 perfect form the roots of plants. The Melolontka vnlgaris 

 is very voracious ; Dr. Burmeister mentions an instance in 

 which the fields belonging to a farmer near Norfolk were 

 entirely destroyed, and eighty bushels of the larvse were col- 

 lected. Radishes, carrots, and onions are all infested with the 

 maggots of various Mies ; as well as the cauliflower and cab- 

 bage. Trees are also much injured by the larvse of Beetles, 

 instances having occurred of whole pine-forests in Germany 



