444 THE INSECT WORLD. 
cockchafer, Hanneton, according to M. Mulsant, comes from the 
Latin, Alitonus (which has sonorous wings), which first became 
fTalleton. Linneeus gave them first the name of Melolontha, which 
they probably had among the Greeks, and which seems to be 
the case from this passage in Aristophanes, in his comedy of 
“The Clouds.” ‘Let your spirit soar,” says the Greek author, 
“let it fly whither it lists, like the Melolontha tied- with a 

iy yi 1D \ 
(ae NN hi 
tP, Wi) /4 y 
Ui 
Fig. 480.—Inea clathrata. 
thread by the leg.” We see that the habit of martyrizing cock- 
chafers is of very early date. The Common Cockchafer (Fig. 431) 
is one of the greatest pests to agriculture. In its perfect state it 
devours the leaves of many trees, principally those of the elm ; 
and so children call the fruit of the elm-tree by the name of 
“ Pains d’Hanneton.”” But the destruction which they occasion 
in their perfect state is little when compared with that which is 
caused by their larvae—those white grubs so dreaded by agricul- 
turists. 
Cockchafers make their appearance from the month of April, 
if the season is warm. But it is in the month of May that they 
show themselves in great quantities. And so they are called in 
