472 THE COCK-CHAFER. 



All these insects are subject to be infested by a species of acarus, 

 >r tick, and sometimes in such numbers that they are scarcely able 

 to walk in consequence of these crowding closely round the joints of 

 the legs and thighs. A German writer states, that the females of that 

 country used formerly to employ the thighs of some of the most 

 brilliant of these Beetles, in the ornamental parts of their head-dresa 



THE COCK-CHAFER. 



The eggs of the Cock-chafer are deposited in the ground by the 



arent insect, whose fore-legs are very short, an'd are well calculated 



or burrowing. From each of these eggs proceeds, after a short time, 



a whitish worm with six legs, a red head, and strong claws, and 



about an inch and a half long, which is destined to live in the earth 



under that form for four years, and there to undergo various changes 



of its skiri, until it assumes its chrysalid form. It subsists, during its 



subterraneous abode, on the roots of trees and plants, committing 



ravages often of the most deplorable nature. 



The larva?, continue four years in the ground ; and when, at the 

 end of this period, they are about to undergo their change, they dig 

 deep into the earth, sometimes five or six-feet, and there spin a smooth 

 case, in which they change into a pupa or chrysalis. They remain 

 under this form all the winter, until the month of February, when 

 they become perfect Beetles, but with their bodies quite soft and 

 white. In May the parts are hardened, and they then come forth out 

 of the earth. This accounts for our often finding the perfect insects 

 in the ground. 



Cock-chafers fly in the evening towards sunset, and particularly 

 about places where there are trees. They eat the leaves of the 

 sycamore, the lime, the beech, the willow, and those of all kinds of 

 fruit-trees. In its winged state this insect exhibits not less voracity 

 on the leaves of trees, than it before did in its grub state in the earth; 

 for, such is the avidity with which it devours its food, and so immense 

 are sometimes the numbers, that, in particular districts, they have 

 become an oppressive scourge, which has produced .much calamity 

 among the people. 



In the year 1688, the Cock-chafers appeared on the hedges and trees 

 of the south-west coast of the county of Galway, Ireland, in clusters 

 of thousands, clinging to each other's backs, in the manner of bees 

 when they swarm. During the day they continued quiet, but towards 

 sunset the whole were in motion; and the humming noise of their 

 wings sounded like distant drums. Their numbers were so great, 

 that, for the space of two or three square miles, they entirely darkened 

 jhe air. Persons travelling on the roads, or who were abroad in the 

 fields, found it difficult to make their way home, as the insects were 

 continually beating against their faces, and occasioned great pain. In 

 A very short time, the leaves of all the trees, for several miles round, 

 were destroyed, leaving the whole country, though it was near mid- 

 summer as naked and desolate as it would have been m the middle 



