THE GOLDSMITH AND GEAPE-VINE BEETLES. 25 



like burnished gold on the top of the head and thorax ; the 

 under-side of the body is copper-colored, and thickly cov- 

 ered with whitish wool ; and the legs are brownish yellow, 

 or brassy, shaded with green. These fine beetles begin to 

 appear in Massachusetts about the middle of May, and con- 

 tinue generally till the twentieth of June. In the morning 

 and evening twilight they come forth from their retreats, 

 and fly about with a humming and rustling sound among 

 the branches of trees, the tender leaves of which they de- 

 vour. Pear-trees are particularly subject to their attacks, 

 but the elm, hickory, poplar, oak, and probably also other 

 kinds of trees, are frequented and injured by them. During 

 the middle of the day they remain at rest upon the trees, 

 clinging to the under-sides of the leaves, and endeavor to 

 conceal themselves by drawing two or three leaves together, 

 and holding them in this position with their long unequal 

 claws. In some seasons they occur in profusion, and then 

 may be obtained in great quantities by shaking the young 

 trees on which they are lodged in the daytime, as they do not 

 attempt to fly when thus disturbed, but fall at once to the 

 ground. The larvae of these insects are not known ; prob- 

 ably they live in the ground upon the roots of plants. The 

 group to which the goldsmith-beetle belongs may be called 

 Rutilians (RuTiLiDiE), from Rutela, or more correctly Rutila, 

 signifying shining, the name of the principal genus included 

 in it. The Rutilians connect the ground-beetles with the tree- 

 beetles of the following group, having the short and robust 

 legs of the former, with the leaf-eating habits of the latter. 



The spotted Pelidnota, Pelidnota punc- Fig< 



tata (Fig. 9), is also arranged among the 

 Rutilians. This Iaro;e beetle is found on 

 the cultivated and wild grape-vine, some- 

 times in great abundance, during the 

 months of July and August. It is of an 

 oblong oval shape, and about an inch 

 lono-. The wing-covers are tile-colored, 



sJIL^ 



m V 



4 



