PACKAUD] THE COLORADO POTATO-BEETLE. 725 



look quite well. Grasshoppers have taken all the grain about here, aud they are very- 

 thick now. The caterpillars took all the leaves from the orchards, consequently there 

 are no apples to speak of; aud uow the Colorado potato-bug is here, or what we call 

 the same as has been making such havoc iu the West for several years past. I 

 send oue to you to-day iu a box. I hope you will be able to inform us if this is the 

 genuiue potato-beetle. [It is the genuine Colorado beetle. — Ed.] They first made 

 their appearance in this town on a small piece of potatoes belonging to Herbert E. 

 Hale, near where II. C. Hall & Co. have vmloadcd considerable corn that came direct 

 from the West, and it is supposed that they might have been brought here in that way. 

 They have also made their appearauce on Ed. Farnham's potatoes on the old Whiting 

 farm at Lai'one. The one I send you I took from the potato-vines in John W. Bates's 

 garden in this town. They have not done much damage here as yet, for they have 

 been pretty thoroughly picked. 



Early iu October specimens were found ou potato-tops in North Dix- 

 mout, Me. — (Maine Farmer.) 



Noue have yet beeu reported from New Brunswick or Nova Scotia. 



The Colorado beetle has unfortunately got a foot-hold iu California. 

 Mr. Henry Edwards, of San Francisco, Cal., writes me under date of 

 September 10, 1S70, that the ^'•Boryphora 10-Uneata is extremely rare. It 

 has found its way into the State by way of San Diego and of course 

 will soon spread. I have some specimens from there, but from no other 

 locality." 



According to Riley, its eastern progress has averaged 88 miles a year. 



The accompanying map is taken from Professor Riley's Ninth Report 

 on the Injurious Insects of Missouri, and explains itself. 



Habits. — The habits of the Colorado potato-beetle are apparently the 

 same in New England as iu Illinois or Missouri, where it has been 

 watched and studied for more than a dozen years. The following ac- 

 count is based on the observations of Walsh, Shimer, Riley, Le Bauer, 

 aud others, aud myself. The beetle having wintered a few inches under 

 the surface of the ground, appears above the surface before the potato- 

 plants come up (in New England early in May), and feeds on the young 

 shoots, and by the time the leaves are expanded lays its eggson theunder 

 side of the leaf in clusters of from thirty to forty, side by side, the eggs 

 standing on end. The eggs are oval-cylindrical, aud orange-red in 

 color. Regarding the number of eggs laid. Dr. Shimer writes as follows in 

 the Practical Entomologist for 1806: "From an equal number of males 

 and females, well-fed aud made as comfortable as possible in confine- 

 ment, I obtained an average of 719 eggs to each female ; but in the fresh 

 pure air, sunlight and freedom of nature, under propitious circumstances, 

 I have no doubt of its exceeding a thousand. They laid some eggs 

 every day for forty days, commencing July 15 aud ending on the 1st of 

 September. The smallest average was iu the first part of this time, being 

 7 J eggs per day to each female; the greatest average was about the 

 middle of the time, 75 eggs ; the last day tbey averaged 12 J eggs." The 

 young grub, on hatching out, are deep blood-red, but of nearly the same 

 form as the adult. They usually first appear on the leaves in New En- 

 gland early in June. The following summary of its habits is taken from 

 Riley's first report, and applies to Missouri, Illinois, and neighboring 

 States: "In the latitude of Saint Louis there are three broods during 

 the year, the last brood wintering over in the beetle state underground. 

 They are usually dug up in the spring of the year in land that had been 

 planted to potatoes the year before. The beetles issue of their own 

 accord from the ground about the 1st of May, and the last brood of 

 beetles enters the ground to hibernate during the month of October. 

 Though iu general terms this beetle may be said to be three-brooded, 

 yet it may be found at almost any time of the year in all its different 

 stages. This is owing to the fact that the female continues to deposit 



