FAMILY MELOLONTHIDJE. 79 



The roscbug, or chcrrybug. as it is called, is very destructive. Its gciicrie name Macro- 

 dactylus, is derived from the length of the feet ; and its specific or trivial name subspincsvt) 

 from an incipient spine 01 swelling upon the sides of the prothorax. It is of a dull yellow 

 color, about three eighths of an inch long, and appears iu great abundance in the spring, 

 destroying roses and the blossoms of various plants, as well as the foliage of fruit trees, 

 including the apple, cherry, plum, and that of the grape. 



Dr. Harris has the credit of being the first to give a satisfactory historj of this insect, 

 as published in hi- Report. 



I have been in the habit of destroying this insect, as well as the Erioscma muli, or the 

 appletree blight, by hand-crushing. When there is little or no grass beneath the trees, they 

 may be beaten down and crushed with the foot ; the best time being the morning, when 

 they are somewhat torpid. They may be collected upon sheets, or in vessels with a little 

 water to prevent their escape ; to be subsequently burned or scalded. Plants infested should 

 be visited once or twice a day, and every effort made, by destruction of the present brood, 

 to diminish that of the next season. 



Genus CETONIA (Fab.). 



Antenna short, the basal joint largest and robust, glabrous ; the head three-leaved, elon- 

 gated : palpi short, last joint cylindric tapering ; mandibles short ; clypeus quadrate, 

 entiie in front ; thorax subtrigonal ; elytra sinuate at the outer margin near the base ; 

 scutellum elongate and acute ; sternum produced and rounded anteriorly. 



Cetonia ixda. Scarab&us ?«dws ( Lin.). ( Plate xii, fig. 6.) 



Body ovate and rather depressed, pilose above and beneath. Clypeus detlexed and trun- 

 cate : thorax subtriangular, sinuate before, centre of the sinus subdentate, broadly 

 sinuate behind for the reception of the scutel ; scute! an isosceles triangle ; elytra 

 light brown with black spots scattered over their disks and sides, margins sinuate, 

 behind truncate, exposing the abdomen; legs hairy and brown; abdomen brown, 

 glessy. 

 The thorax is more densely clothed with hairs than the elytra ; the latter are sprinkled 



with spots and dots which are nearly black, some angular, and others sinuate. Color of the 



abdomen and legs nearly uniform -.the thorax is also spotted beneath the hairs; the 



sinuated base is naked and fuscous. Length six tenths of an inch. 



i insect appears twice in the season ; first in March or April, and last in September : 



the latter, as Dr. Haeris supposes, is a newly hatched brood, as at no time during the 



summer is an individual to be found. 

 These insects appear upon various autumnal flowers, as the goldenrod, in search of 



pollen and honey, and are fond of the sap and sweet juices of trees and plants. They are 



