Frerepay.—On the Injuries to Vegetation by Insects. 291 
principally upon the roots of grasses, coiling themselves up when disturbed. 
The transformation to the pupa state takes place under ground, and the pup 
are of a chestnut colour and glossy. 
Cloantha composita not only flies at night, but also may be frequently 
seen on the wing in the daytime, flying briskly from flower to flower, and 
feeding upon the nectar, which it extracts with its long proboscis. The larve 
are more slender than those of Pielus, of a variety of colours, and striped 
longitudinally with numerous thread-like lines. They have sixteen feet, and 
feed principally on grasses and standing corn—especially rye-grass and oats— 
eating off the heads and stems of the grass, and the ears and leaves of the 
corn, sometimes resting on the stems during the day, but generally hiding in 
the grass, and coming out at night to feed. They commit immense damage, 
and when they have consumed the grass of one field they may be seen in 
prodigious numbers marching over the ground to another. The pupa is found 
under ground, and is of a dark glossy chestnut colour. 
Heliothis armigera makes its appearance on the wing by day, as well as at 
night, and particularly delights in the brightest sunshine, when it may be 
seen, like Cloantha composita, flying about the flowers in search of nectar. 
The caterpillars are of various colours, have sixteen legs, and feed on low 
plants and vegetables, particularly peas, the pods of which they perforate and 
devour the contents. The colour of the pupa is glossy chestnut or brown. 
Sesia tipuliformis has undoubtedly been brought into this country with 
the currant tree, upon which it feeds, and it shows how careful we ought to be 
when introducing anything useful that we bring not with it a grievous pest. 
The ravages of this insect have so increased that I question if we shall be able 
much longer to grow the red currant unless some check is imposed. The 
larve (whitish fleshy grubs) perforate the stems and branches of the trees, 
and eat away the pith. The perfect insect would be mistaken by the 
uninstructed for a species of fly or hymenopterous insect, so little does it 
resemble the ordinary appearance of a moth. 
The Odontria beetles may be seen in the dusk of evening, flying in swarms 
over the grass, and humming like a hive of bees. The larve are subterranean, 
and are particularly destructive to clover and grasses, devouring the roots and 
leaving the upper part of the plant loose upon the ground as if ent off with 
a knife. They are soft fleshy grubs of a whitish colour, with brown horny 
heads. They have six legs, one pair on each of the three first segments, but 
none on the hinder. When disturbed they lie motionless, in a recurved 
position, having the hinder part bent inwards towards the head in the form of 
ahook. They seem, though not half their size, to be almost as destructive as 
the larve of the cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris) which does such immense 
damage to pastures in England. Most, if not all, of the several species of this 
