354 



UTILITARIAN ZOOLOGY 



Injtirious Beetles {Coleopterd). — Many notorious malefactors 

 belong- to this order. Among the most injurious are " wire- 

 worms ", which do great damage to the underground parts of 

 cereals, grasses, and root-crops, and are no other than the larvae 

 of the litde Click- Beedes {Elaterida;). The still smaller Turnip 

 Flea-Beedes {Haltica nemortim, fig. 1252, and H. jmdu/ahi,, 

 popularly known as Turnip-" Flies", are very injurious to turnips 

 and related plants, for the adults attack the leaves from the 

 outside, while their larvae burrow within them. Some of the 

 " Chafers " are very injurious to trees, crops, and pastures. The 

 Common Cockchafer [Mclolontha vulgaris), when adult, ravages 



the foliage of trees, while its 

 grubs live underground, and 

 attack the roots of grasses, 

 various crop - plants, and 

 many trees. A form which 

 created a " scare " in this 

 country some years ago is 

 the Colorado Beetle {Cliry- 

 somela dec em line at a), a par- 

 ticularly prolific insect which, 

 both in the larval state and 

 when adult, devours potato 

 leaves. 



The larva; of Beetles 

 belonging to one family {Britchid(F) burrow in seeds, and some 

 of them infest plants of economic value, e.g. Pea-Beetles [Bniclms 

 pisi) and Bean- Beetle {B. fabce). 



The little long-snouted Weevils [Curcjilionida), of which some- 

 thing like 20,000 species have already been described, include a 

 large number of pests, of which both adults and larvae feed on 

 vegetable matter. The Pea- Weevil [Sitones li/ieatus), for example, 

 devours the leaves of pea, bean, clover, &c., while its larvae prey 

 upon their roots. The Apple-blossom Weevil (Antlionomus po- 

 morum) is very destructive in orchards to both apple and pear. 

 The female insect deposits her eggs in the young flower-buds, 

 one in each, and may carry on this injurious operation for two 

 or three weeks. The Corn-Weevil {Calandria granaria, fig. 1253) 

 bores holes in young grains of corn, and each of the some 1 50 eggs 

 of a single female are deposited within separate grains. Some of 



Fig. 1252. — Stages of Turnip Fl(ja- Beetle ' Hatiica ncmoruni^. 

 I, Adult (enlargedl, showing wing-covers and wings spread 

 out; 2, 3, natural size of same; 4, 5, eggs (5 enlarged); 6, 7, bur- 

 rows of larvae (7 enlarged^; 8, 9, larva (natural size and en- 

 larged;; 10, II, pupa (natural size and enlarged). 



