18 



NEW ENGLAND FARxMER. 



August 10, 182'.. 



severe in countries wliere there are no volcanoes 

 to give vent to the elastic force. Tlie eruptions of 

 Vesuvius and Etna are almost always preceded 

 by earthquakes, which cease as soon as an open- 

 ing has been made in the mountain. 



Dr. D. describes the vast extent of the volcanic 

 matter which Etna has poured forth. Some of 

 the beds of lava are 4 or 5 miles in breadth, 15 

 miles in length, and from 50 to 100 in thickness. 



DR HARRIS' ESSAY ON THE MELOLON- 

 THA. — Concluded from page 10. 



The rose-chaffer, or rose-bug, as it is commonly 

 called, is also a diurnal Melolontua. It is, ex- 

 clusively, an American insect, and presents such 

 peculiarities in form as would warrant its separa- 

 tion from the genus Meloluntha,* although it 

 agrees with others of tlie genus Jn habits and 

 (economy. 



This species is described by Fabricius as Mel- j 

 OLONTHA subspinosa, because the tlior.-i.x is arm- 

 ed, on each side, with a blnnt spine, or tubercle ; j 

 it is called M. polyphaga by Melsheimer, probably j 

 because of its voracity ; elovgata, by Herbst, from 

 its elongated form ; and angustaia, by Beauvois, 

 -from the narrowness of its thora.x. A description 

 of this well known insect would be superfluous, i 



As to its habits — among the most remarkable 

 are its voracity and salaciousness. It attacks, | 

 without much discrimination, almost every tree, ' 

 shrub, and plant, such as the oak, elm, cherry, and 

 apple trees, the rose, sumach, and elder shrubs, : 

 and even herbaceous plants, particularly the com- 

 mon white-weed,CHBTSANTHEMUM leucanthemum. 

 Generally, during the day-time, we find these 

 insects paired, tlie male holding the female close- 1 

 ly embraced, even when not in coUu. The male is 

 readily distinguished by the greater length of the 

 legs, and the elongated, pointed extremity of the : 

 body. \ 



The rose-cbaffcr makes iU appearance at the 

 lime of blossoming of the damask rose, wliicli 

 usually happens about the middle of June- It is' 

 remarkable that it does not attack the cinnamon 

 rose, which blooms earlier, and is often found on 

 the elm and oak before it appears on the garden 

 and wild rose. It coutinues about four weeks, 

 and then suddenly disappears, and in three or 

 four days scarcely an individual is to be seen. — 

 The first rose-chaffer that I observed the present 

 year (1830,) was discovered on a small elm shrub, 

 on the sixth of June ; none had as yet appeared 

 on the rose. The general disappearance of these 

 insects took place on the eighth of July, although 

 a few individuals still leraained on the flowers of 

 the elder, as late as the fifteenth of July. A vul- 



*STENOTHonAX would be an appropriate name 

 for the subgenus having the subspinosa for its 

 type. I 



SCABAE.EUS }aitigcniii, LinntEUs Melolontua ' 

 lanigera, Fabr. has been referred to the genus 

 Rctela ; but Schonherr says it is not a Rutela, 

 and arranges it between M.fasluosa, and M. av- 

 ruta, v., belonging to the genus Anojiala ? it 

 may therefore be considered as the type of a ; 

 new subgenus. See Schonherr's Synonymia In- 

 sectorum, HI. p. 501. Scarae.i^us punr.tatus, 

 Lin., MELoLONXnA punctata, Fabr. or Rutela 

 punctata, Latreille, belongs to Mr MacLeay's j 

 genus Pelid.nota. 



Melolontua varians, Fabr. is congeneric with ' 

 tiie Ako.mala vitis of Megerlc and Koppe. 



gar notion prevails that the rose-bug turns into a 

 ig:een horse-fly, because the common Taeanus 

 makes its appearance about the time that the for- 

 mer disappears. This opinion is incorrect, though 

 not more inconceivable than the known metamor- 

 phoses of insects. 



\iicv the sexual union is accomplished, the 

 males perish : you may then see thousands of 

 them dead on the ground beneath your rose-bush- 

 es, and you will seldom find a female among them. 

 The latter at this time enter into the earth to de- 

 posit their eggs. I have found the female more 

 than a foot below the surface, -where she was 

 probably preparing to oviposit. Towards the 

 termination of their ravages the females are fre- 

 quently found solitary, seem considerably defaced, 

 the downy coat which covers their thorax and 

 elytra being rubbed off. From this circumstance 

 we may conjecture that these individuals have al- 

 ready entered the earth and deposited their eggs, 

 and have returned to the surface to linger a few 

 days without further sexual union. 



I have iK^t ascertained the period when the lar- 

 va is hatohed, nor the length of time that expires 

 before it attains its growth. Nor am I positive as 

 to the identity of the larva ; although I have 

 strong reasons for believing that wh\l I have 

 taken to be such is really so ; further observation 

 is however necessary. The supposed larva is a 

 small white grub ; the head covered with a cor- 

 neous shell of a yellowish colour; the mouth ar- 

 med with strong mandibles or teeth ; and the an- 

 terior extremity furnished with six short feet ; a 

 dark line runs down the back, occasioned by the 

 dorsal vessel, containing a blueish fluid, which is 



conspicuous from the transparency of the skin 



The larva moves with considerable celerity when 

 first taken out of the earth: it is about half an 

 inch long, and one line in diameter. That it 

 is the grub of a Melolontua is certain from its 

 close resemblance to that of others of this genus ; 

 that it is, most probably, the larva of the rose-bug 

 is to be inferred from its being found in the same 

 location as the pupa, and in considerable quanti- 

 ties. 



The pupa;, from which I obtained rose-bugs, 

 were found, early in June, (182(5,) three or four i 

 inches beneath the surface of the ground. They I 

 are of a yellowish white colour, which gradually! 

 becomes darker as they approach the perfect 

 state. In the p:ipa the rudiments of the wings, I 

 the antennae and the legs are discoverable, folded j 

 under the body, and enclosed beneath a thin mem- I 

 brane. v/hich v,?raps each separately ; the eyes j 

 appear as two blue spots ; the dorsal segments of 1 

 the body are prominent in ridges ; the tail is acu- 

 minated, and retains upon it, the exuviae or cast- 1 

 skin of the pupa, until a few days before it throws j 

 off its last coverin". and emerges from the earth j 

 a perfect insert. This last and important change i 

 is not efTectprl but bv the ffreatest efforts, durinEr 1 

 which the pupa appears to writhe in ajrony, until,! 

 by its continued exprtinns. it bursts its merobran- [ 

 ous shroud, and cravls to the surface, where its 

 u'intrs are evpanded and dried, and it becomes, 

 from a Tovellinnr worm of the earth, an animated 

 tenant of the air. This interestin;?' metamorphosis 

 I had the pleasure of witnessing throujrh the side 

 of a class vesspl oontnininn- earth in which I had 

 placed severnl of the pupie. 



An insect in its Inrva or '/rub state mav be ssid 

 to be j'n emhri/o; as its orfans ore more .and more 

 developed, the different membranes, or skins, arc 



successively ruptured and cast off, and when it. 

 has finally extricated itself from its last covering, 

 and emerged from its mother earth, it bursts into 

 life a perfect adult, and finds itself endowed with 

 new powers, and teels the influence of new de 

 sires. In this state, only, is it capable of continu 

 ing its species, and furnished with wings to car- 

 ry it through the air in search of companions and 

 food. 



Rose-bugs are eaten greedily by fowls ; bu? 

 young chickens sometimes suffer severely from 

 swallowing them alive. A simple remedy con- 

 sists in pouring sweet-oil down their throats. — 

 When the powers of the rose-bug are exhausted 

 it falls to the ground, and furnishes food for vari- 

 ous insectivorous aoimals, particularly auts. In 

 France, a large insect, called vinaigrier, (Cara- 

 Eus uuratus, Lin.) devours the female Melolon- 

 THA vulgaris at the moment wiien she is about to 

 deposit her eggs. I have taken one specimen of 

 this fine Cakakus in this state, and we have sev- 

 eral other species which are equally predaceous, 

 and which probably contribute to check the in- 

 crease of our native species of JIelqlontha. 



French writers mention several methods which 

 have been proposed for the extermination of these 

 insects. Most of them are ineflectual.* Buchoz. 

 in his Histoirc des Insects nnisabks, I., 132, says, 

 that Chnstain Kieeman, in a memoir sanctioned 

 by the Electoral Palatine Academy, gives the 

 history of that species called by the French Han 

 neton Mjlgaire. His observations were made in 

 17G1 tnd 17(J2, when these insects were very nu- 

 merous and destructive. He recommends making 

 a general pursuit of them ; declaring that he had 

 killed more than one thousand iu one day. This 

 I su^Rct will prove to be the best method. It has 

 been found 'iseful to strexv upon the grape-vine 

 oirs.'acked lime, which cause- the rose-bugs to 

 abandon it. Fires by night do not attract them. 

 I have held a bright light, without in the least 

 exciting them ; and although this light was ex- 

 hibited in the open air, in tlieir immediate vicini- 

 ty, for a long time, not one rose-bug approached 

 it. The Abbe Rosier, in h\s Cours d^ Jigricul- 

 ture, (article Hanneton,) advises to collect and de- 

 stroy the perfect insect for several years in suc- 

 cession. This should be made a general pursuit 

 in order to be eflectual ; and females and children 

 might be employed in it. 



The causes that contribute to the growth and 

 increase of the larvaj are not sufliciently under- 

 stood. The severity of winter, and the coldness 

 and moisture of a succeeding spring, do not al- 

 ways appear to check the numbers of the perfect 

 insect, which are often, according to Olivier,! de- 

 veloped in greater abundance after such seasons. 

 Neither can we predict a great increase from an 

 abundant oviposition ; for the eggs may not be 

 hatched, the larvs may perish, or the pupte re- 

 main too weak to undergo their last metamorpho- 

 sis. On the contrary, a small number of eggs, 

 deposited under circumstances favorable to their 

 being hatched, and the larvE perfected without 

 accident, will cause an increased quantity of the 

 perfect insects. 



Certain localities are thought to be favorable to 

 the increase of the rose-bug ; what these are 1 

 have not ascertained ; but should imagine that a 



*See Nouv. Dictionaire d'Histoire Naturelle; 

 article Hanneton. 

 t Olivier's remarks refer to the M. vulgaris 



