388 AMERICAN G-RAPE CULTURE. 



leaves in the beetle state, and prey upon the 

 young and tender roots of all kinds of plants 

 when in the larva form ; they are especially 

 destructive to the roots when the larvae get to 

 be three or four years old, when they are about 

 three eighths of an inch in di^neter, and quite 

 an inch and a half long ; the head is brown, the 

 body yellowish white, and the tail a dull blue. 

 Multitudes of the larvae are turned up in plow- 

 ing and spading. Poultry eat the larvae as well 

 as the beetle greedily, and they should be al- 

 lowed to run at large when these operations 

 are performed. 



Late at night and about daylight in the morn- 

 ing are the best times for destroying the beetles. 

 If the plant is jarred at this time, they will 

 generally drop, and may be caught on a sheet or 

 in a basket. At midnight and later we have 

 stripped them from the vine, guelder rose, etc., 

 by handfuls, the plants seeming to be black with 

 them. In the evening they are on the wing. 

 It is only between midnight and daylight that 

 they can be found congregated together in this 

 way. Birds are very fond of them, but the 

 beetles conceal themselves during the day, and 

 are not easily found. 



We have no remedy for the larvae, except ex- 



