INSECTS INJURIOUS TO PLANTS. 89 
call the genus Macrodactylus, that is, long toe, or long 
foot. The natural history of the Rose-chafer, one of the 
greatest scourges with which our gardens and nurseries 
have been afflicted, was for a long time involved in mys- 
tery, but is at last fully cleared up. The prevalence of 
this insect on the rose, and its annual appearance coincid- 
ing with the blossoming of that flower, have gained for 
it the popular name by which it is here known. For 
some time after they were first noticed, Rose-bugs ap- 
peared to be confined to their favorite, the blossoms of 
the rose; but within thirty years they have prodigiously 
increased in number, have attacked at random various 
kinds of plants, in swarms, and have become notorious 
for their extensive and deplorable ravages. The grape- 
vine in particular, the cherry, plum, and apple trees, have 
annually suffered by their depredations. Many other 
fruit trees and shrubs, garden vegetables and corn, and 
even the trees of the forest and the grass of the fields, 
have been laid under contribution by these indiscriminate 
feeders, by whom leaves, flowers, and fruits, are alike con- 
sumed. The unexpected arrival of these insects in 
swarms, at their first coming, and their sudden disappear- 
ance, at the close of their career, are remarkable facts in 
their history. They come forth from the ground during 
the second week in June, or about the time of the blos- 
soming of the Damask Rose, and remain from thirty to 
forty days. At the end of this period the males become 
exhausted, fall to the ground, and perish, while the fe- 
males enter the earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, 
and, after lingering a few days, die also. The eggs laid 
by each female are about thirty in number, and are depos- 
ited from one to four inches beneath the surface of the 
soil. They are nearly globular, whitish, and about one- 
thirtieth of an inch in diameter, and are hatched twenty 
days after they are laid. The young larve begin to feed 
