466 



My GARDEN. 



the grub state it eats the roots, and in the winged or perfect state it 

 devours the leaves of plants, so that, when plentiful, what the grub 

 leaves the cockchafer devours. This creature sometimes appears in 

 such numbers as to ' constitute a plague, destroying all vegetation before 

 it. I have myself seen the roots of grass so destroyed by the grub 

 that the turf could have been rolled up ; and Kirby and Spence have 

 recorded extraordinary instances of its voracity. It is supposed to be 

 five years in the ground before it assumes the perfect form. 



Like the common cockchafer, the small June Bug {JPhyllopertha 

 horticula) is common in my garden, and often very destructive. 



The Rose "Chafer {Cetonia aurata, fig. 1032) is of so brilliant a 

 colour that really I do not think the garden perfect without a display 



of its lovely colours shining 

 in the rose-bushes. Neverthe- 

 less they are bad gardeners ; 

 and although I tolerate them, 

 in small quantities, yet they 

 are similar to cockchafers in 

 their destructive propensities. 

 No. I shows the perfect in- 

 sect ; No. 2 the grub, which 

 resembles that of the cock- 

 chafer ; No. 3 the cocoon ; and No. 4 the pupa. 



We have also the Dung Beetle {Geotrapes stercorarius), but, as I 

 have observed elsewhere, not in large quantities. These beetles are of 

 limited use as scavengers in burying the dung. They are constantly 

 infected with a species of acarus. 



" To hear the drowsy dorr come brushing by 

 With buzzing wing." — White. 



I have never noticed the Glow-worm {Lampyris noctiluca) in my 

 garden, though in some years we frequently see it on Mitcham Common 

 as we return in the evening to London. The light of this interesting 

 creature is emitted from the two last segments of the tail. Glow-worms 

 may be kept in a tumbler with a root of grass, for observation, and 



Fig. 1032.— Rose Chafer. 



