MAY 97 



he nibbles the leaves of trees, rarely, how- 

 ever, enough to do serious damage. 



The sudden appearance of these mysteri- 

 ous visitors is their most striking character- 

 istic. One day there are none to be seen. 

 That evening thousands of them will collect 

 about open lamps until they can be swept 

 with a broom into heaps. The truth of the 

 matter is they have not been far away, but 

 they have been beneath the ground. 



One day, about three years ago, the visit- 

 ing beetles of that year had laid eggs by the 

 dozens in little hollows in the ground 

 amongst fallen leaves. These soon hatched 

 into the soft, fat, white, curled larvae, which 

 the fisherman knows under the name of 

 white worms and uses for bait. For about 

 two years these things had lived under the 

 ground, often chewing the roots of the grass 

 so badly that, in one case I knew, we could 

 roll back the sod and it was as loose from 

 the ground beneath as if it were a rug. Of 

 course such sod is very apt to burn out when 

 warm weather comes. After lying in a 

 quiescent stage for a few weeks the May 



