84 INSECTS. 



ground during the second week in June, or about the t.me of tne 

 blossoming of the Damask Rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. . 

 At the end of this period, the males become exhausted, fall to the 

 ground, and perish, while the females enter the earth, lay their eggs, 

 return to the surface, and, after lingering a few days, die also. The 

 eggs laid by each female are about thirty in number, and are depos- 

 ited from one to four inches beneath the surface of the soil; they are 

 nearly globular, whitish, and about one thirtieth of an inch in diame- 

 ter, and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. The young 

 larvae begin to feed on such tender roots as are within their reach. 

 Like other grubs of the Scarabaeians, when not eating, they lie upon 

 the side, with the body curved so that the head and tail are nearly in 

 contact; they move with difficulty on a level surface, and are contin- 

 ually falling over on one side or the other. They attain their full size 

 in autumn, being then nearly three quarters of an inch long, and 

 about an eighth of an inch in diameter. They are of a yellowish- white 

 color, with a tinge of blue towards the hinder extremity, which is 

 thick and obtuse or rounded ; a few short hairs are scattered on the 

 surface of the body ; there are six short legs, namely, a pair to each 

 of the first three rings behind the head; and the latter is covered with 

 a horny shell of a pale rust color. In October, they, descend below 

 the reach of frost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring, 

 they approach toward the surface, and each one forms for itself a little 

 cell of an oval shape, by turning round a great many times, so as to 

 compress the earth and render the inside of the cavity hard and 

 smooth. Within this cell, the grub is transformed to a pupa, 

 during the month of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed 

 downward in folds from the head to the tail. The pup a has some- 

 what the form of the perfected beetle; but it is of a yello wish- white 

 color, and its short stump-like wings, its antennae, and legs are folded 

 upon the breast, and its whole body is inclosed in a thin film, that 

 wraps each part separately. During the month of June, this filmy 

 skin is rent, the included beetle withdraws from its body and its 

 limbs, bursts open its earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface of 

 the ground. Thus the various changes, from the egg to the full devel- 

 opment of the perfected beetle, are completed within the spac*} of one 

 year. 



Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it 



