120 TIMBERS AND THEIR USES 



partial to Northern Pines, particularly young 

 ones. 



Of the leaf beetles {ChrysomelidcB) there are 

 many very destructive species. The Poplar leaf 

 beetle is one of the best known in this country, 

 and, as its name implies, is partial to young 

 Poplars; it also attacks Aspens and Goat Willows. 

 In May the female lays clusters of cream-coloured 

 eggs, in batches of a dozen or so, on the under- 

 sides of the leaves of the food plant. In about 

 a month the larvae emerge and feed voraciously 

 on the leaves. Later they pupate on the leaves, 

 from which they hang suspended. Towards the 

 end of summer the adult beetles appear and 

 spend the winter hibernating beneath dead leaves, 

 etc., ready to carry on their work of destruction 

 in the following spring. Like the Cockchafer 

 and the June Bug these beetles are injurious in 

 the larval and adult stages. 



Another leaf beetle with a very similar Hfe 

 history is the WiUow beetle, Phyllodecta vitellince, 

 which is particularly destructive to Osiers. 

 The adults destroy the growing points of the 

 young roots, a pernicious habit which results in 

 the tree sending out a number of small branches 

 instead of continuing to produce a single long 

 rod. 



The Weevils {CurcuUonidce) are, in the main, 

 a destructive order of beetles, and not the least 



