252 Forty-fifth Report on the State Museum. 



emerge from their winter quarters, and commence to feed upon 

 the tips of the plants. The sexes pair, and the female deposits 

 her eggs upon any portion of the exposed shoots. The eggs hatch 

 in an average period of eight days. The larvae eat voraciously and 

 grow rapidly, so that they complete their growth in about twelve 

 days. They then leave the plants and enter the earth for a short 

 distance, or merely conceal themselves beneath dead leaves or other 

 material on the surface. Constructing a slight cocoon, they undergo 

 their transformation, and remain in their pupal state for about ten 

 days. Thirty days complete the cycle from the egg to the perfect 

 insect. Almost as soon as the beetles emerge they pair, as the 

 sexual instinct is strongly developed in them, as is shown in the 

 frequency in which they come under our observation mated. The 

 eggs are then deposited, and the beetles continue to feed for sev- 

 eral days upon the plants, eating holes into the bark of the more 

 tender branches; one was found by Dr. Fitch to feed for a fortnight 

 in confinement. A second brood results from these, appearing 

 about the first of July, followed by a third, probably in August. 

 Hence we have the larvae and the beetles with us, in their succes- 

 sive broods, through the spring and summer, into September. 



Remedies. — Among the remedies proposed and employed against 

 this insect are the following : Hand-picking, when not too abund- 

 ant, and beating them from the plants into a broad pan of water 

 and kerosene. 



Employing fowls to hunt them, which are very eager in catching 

 and eating the beetle, and are not injurious to the plants. 



Cutting away all the young seedlings in the spring at the time 

 when the beetles are about to deposit their eggs, thus forcing them 

 to lay their eggs upon the new shoots, which are cut and sent to 

 market before the hatching would occur. 



Benefit has been derived from cutting down the seed stems at the 

 close of the season, as also once or twice during the season, 

 leaving the beds bare and smooth. 



But, undoubtedly, the best method with which to meet this; 

 insect is by the lime application proposed by Mr. A. S. Fuller, 

 of Ridgewood, N. J., as (he resull <>i' his personal and successful 

 experience. The freshly-slacked lime, be states, may be conveni- 



