DESTRUCTIVE INSECTS. 



199 



is jarred. Follow up this treatment in the early part of June 

 by spraying the infested portions of the vines with Paris green 

 (one pound to one hundred and fifty gallons of water) to kill 

 the grubs then feeding on the upper surfaces of the leaves ; 

 every grub killed then means one less beetle to hibernate and 

 attack the buds the next spring ; it is thus very important to 

 kill these grubs in June. 



The Rose-Chafer or " Rose-bug " (Macrodactylus subspinosus). 

 This beetle suddenly appears in great numbers in portions of 

 the country, and in occasional years proves exceedingly de- 

 structive to the flowers and foliage of various plants, more par- 

 ticularly of the rose, apple, and grape. 



It is an awkward, long-legged, light-brown beetle (Fig. 266) 

 about a third of an inch in length. By the end of July the 

 unwelcome hordes often disappear as sud- 

 denly as they came. The insect is par- 

 ticularly destructive in New Jersey, Dela- 

 ware, and in sandy regions in New York 

 and neighboring States. Its early stages 

 are passed in grass or meadow land, usu- 

 ally where the soil is sandy. The grubs 

 feed on the roots of grasses. The beetles 

 lay their eggs in the ground in June and 

 July, and the grubs get their growth by 

 autumn, and transform to pupae, and then 

 to beetles the following spring. 



It is a most difficult pest to control or 

 kill, as they sometimes come in hordes 

 of thousands. Substances applied to the 

 vines to render them obnoxious to the beetles have proved of 

 little value. The arsenicals usually will not kill them quickly 

 enough or in sufficient numbers noticeably to reduce their 

 ranks. When they come in swarms, the only hope is in 

 collecting them in nets or in an inverted umbrella-shaped 

 apparatus provided with a vessel of kerosene and water 

 at the bottom to wet and kill the beetles. A few valu- 

 able vines or trees could be covered with netting to protect 

 them. Their numbers may be considerably reduced, espe- 

 cially where they are a local pest over a limited area, by 

 devoting their breeding grounds, usually a sandy locality 



FIG. 266. The Rose- 

 Chafer, enlarged. 



