2o8 Staten Island Association of Arts and Sciences 



his drowsy hum" of Shakespeare (Macbeth, III, Sc. 4). Eu- 

 phoria inda can also make a lot of noise as it buzzes around, prob- 

 ably mistaken by most gardeners for a bee. But the greatest com- 

 motion results from a flock of AUorhina nitida, big, green and 

 drab beetles, gathering about a flowerbed. Once when I was in- 

 vestigating an unusual buzzing my net covered a real hymenop- 

 terous creature and a rare Gnorimus maculosus together among 

 the flowers; I know not which was the aggressor, for some 

 Cetonian beetles are parasites on hymenoptera and some hymen- 

 optera are murderous. 



The long-horn beetles have always been favorites of mine and 

 it is therefore unkind of Psenoceriis to destroy my currant bushes ; 

 but he does, and Xylotrechus seems willing to attack almost any 

 weakened limb of any kind of a tree or bush. A few other species 

 frequent the privet when it is in bloom, though hopelessly in the 

 minority among the thousands of flies and wasps that come then ; 

 but I have no recollection of any remarkable catch in this family. 

 The old apple tree has been hunted for Sapcrda Candida and the 

 grapevines, for Phymatodes, but unsuccessfully. 



We do not grow potatoes, by reason of lack of room, so Dory- 

 phora does not favor us. The old-fashioned potato bug, Lenta tri- 

 lineata, is however one of our guests and hibernates among the 

 leaves. Diabrotica 12-punctata, which I call the Christmas beetle, 

 because I once found it flying on December 25, and the cucumber 

 flea beetle, Epitrix, are of course present, as well as the clover 

 weevils, Sitona and Phytonomiis ; and once in a while, a Spheno- 

 phorus. Further instances might be tedious, and enough have been 

 given to show that many species of beetles are really common 

 and even conspicuous in a Staten Island garden and that 

 one might make a collection representing most of the fam- 

 ilies without going from home. Indeed a completely iden- 

 tified list would require a wide knowledge of the subject and 

 would add materially to the List of Staten Island Coleoptera that 

 Mr. W. T. Davis and I are preparing. Such is not, however, the 

 purpose of this paper ; but as I look back over the years I am glad, 

 as a student of beetles, to bear witness to the little harm a few 

 have done to the garden, harm that has been more than ofifset by 



