DISEASES OF THE ROSE. 199 



This should not be confounded with the cryptogamic miller, or 

 mildew, which it somewhat resembles in appearance. 



31. TINEA (ORNIX) RHODOPHAGELLA. Kollar. The Rose-Moth. "In 



early Spring, as soon as the rose-bush begins to bud, a very dan- 

 gerous enemy to the growth of its leaves and blossoms arrives. 

 It is the more to be dreaded as, from its smallness and peculiarity 

 of form, it is easily overlooked by the gardener or amateur. If 

 the new leafshoots are closely examined, a little brownish scale is 

 found here and there attached to them ; and upon nearer inspec- 

 tion, we shall be convinced that it is a little case, in which a worm, 

 the larvae of a small moth, is concealed, which gnaws the tender 

 shoots. When it has devoured one shoot, it removes with its 

 house, and attacks another ; and thus, in a short time, one of these 

 larvae can strip a whole branch of its shoots. The larva which 

 lives in the little case, is only a few lines long ; yellow, with a 

 black head, and black spotted collar. It undergoes pupation in 

 its case, which enlarges from time to time, as necessity requires. 

 The moth appears at the end of May. It is only three lines long, 

 carries its wings very close to its body, almost wrapped around it. 

 The whole body is silvery shining gray ; the upper wings strewed 

 with minute black dots, deeply fringed at the posterior edge ; the 

 under wings are narrow, pointed, with very long fringes. The 

 moth lays her eggs in May on the buds of the rose-trees, and the 

 caterpillars are hatched at the end of June ; they immediately 

 form for themselves small cases of parts of the leaves, and pass 

 the winter in them at the root of the rose-tree. 



" The only certain way of preserving rose-trees from this enemy, 

 is to look for these small cases in early spring, before any foliage 

 is developed, when aji experienced eye, which has been accustomed 

 to observe insects, will easily discover them. They must, how- 

 ever, be crushed immediately, and not thrown on the ground, as, 

 if they are, they will re-ascend the rose-bush." Kollar. 



32. MELOLONTHA SUBSPINOSA of Fabricius, and MACRODACTYLUS SUP- 



SPINOSA of Latreille. Common Rose-bug. Common as this insect 

 is in the vicinity of Boston, it is or was a few years ago, unknown 

 in the northern and western parts of Massachusetts, in New 

 Hampshire, and in Maine. It may, therefore, be well to give a 

 brief description of it. This beetle measures seven-twentieths 

 of an inch in length. Its body is slender, tapers before and be- 

 hind, and is entirely covered with very short and close ashen- 

 yellow down ; the thorax is long and narrow, angularly widened 



