336 OBSEBTATIONS ON INSECTS AND TEEMES. 



The scwrdbcBus sohtitialis first appears about June 26tli 

 they are very punctual in their coming out every year. Thej 

 are a small species, about half the size of a May-chaifer, anc 

 are known in some parts by the name of the fern-chaffer. 



"White. 



A singular circumstance relative to the cockcliaffer, or, ai 

 it is called here, the May-tug {scarabasus melolonthd), hap' 

 pened this year (1800) : — My gardener, in digging some 

 ground, found, about six inches undeV the surface, two o: 

 these insects aUve and perfectly formed, so early as the 24tl 

 of March. Wlien he brought them to me, they appeared t( 

 be as perfect and as much alive as in the midst of summer 

 crawling about as briskly as ever : yet I saw no more of thii 

 insect tdl the 22nd of May, when it began to make its 

 appearance. How comes it, that though it was perfectlj 

 formed so early as the 24th of March,* it did not sho-w 

 itself above ground tUl nearly two months afterwards ? 



Maekwick. 



Ptintjs Pectinicoenis. — Those maggots that make worm- 

 holes in tables, chairs, bed-posts, &c., and destroy wooder 

 furniture, especially where there is any sap, are the larva 

 of the ptinus peotinicornis. This insect, it is probable, 

 deposits- its eggs on the surface, and the worms eat theii 

 way in. 



In their holes, they turn into their pupcB state, and sc 

 come forth winged in July : eating their way through tht 



state, but when tliey have arrived at maturity, for I have frequently observec 

 them in searcll'of them on trees and hedges. Mr. White recommends that J 

 rook should he shot weekly the year through, and its crop examined in oixleT 

 to discover whether upon the whole they do more harm or good, from the con- 

 tents at various periods. Though his experiment might show that these birds 

 occ.isionally injure corn and turnips, yet their continual consumption of grubs 

 and wire-worms, and other noxious insects would greatly preponderate in thei] 

 favour. In fact, I believe rooks to be great friends to the farmer, and it is tc 

 be regretted that they are often so wantonly destroyed. — Ed. 



* I have often observed this fact, and also ascertained that the perfectly 

 formed chaffer never comes forth till the leaves are on the trees, which thej 

 are not so early as the 24th of March. This is an interesting fact, and showt 

 how kindly Providence has instilled even into insects the means of self 

 preservation.-^Eo. 



