THE COMMON ROSE-CHAFEE. 37 



are nearly in contact ; they move with difficulty on a level 

 surface, and are continually falling over on one side or the 

 other. They attain their full size in the autumn, being then 

 nearly three quarters of an inch long, and about an eighth 

 of an inch in diameter. They are of a yellowish-white 

 color, with a tinge of blue towards the hinder extremity, 

 which is thick, and obtuse or rounded ; a few short hairs are 

 scattered on the surface of the body ; there are six short legs, 

 namely, a pair to each of the first three rings behind the 

 head, and the latter is covered with a horny shell of a pale 

 rust color. In October they descend below the reach of frost, 

 and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring they 

 approach towards the surface, and each one forms for itself 

 a little cell of an oval shape, by turning round a great many 

 times, so as to compress the earth and render the inside of 

 the cavity hard and smooth. Within this cell the grub is 

 transformed to a pupa, during the month of May, by casting 

 off its skin, which is pushed downwards in folds from the head 

 to the tail. The pupa has somewhat the form of the per- 

 fected beetle ; but it is of a yellowish-white color, and its 

 short stump-like wings, its antennae, and its legs are folded 

 upon the breast ; and its whole body is enclosed in a thin 

 film, that wraps each part separately. During the month of 

 June this filmy skin is rent, the included beetle withdraws 

 from its body and its limbs, bursts open its earthen cell, and 

 digs its way to the surface of the ground. Thus the various 

 changes, from the egg to the full development of the per- 

 fected beetle, are completed within the space of one year. 



Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects. 

 it is evident that we cannot attack them in the egg, the grub, 

 or the pupa state ; the enemy in these stages is beyond our 

 reach, and is subject to the control only of. the natural but 

 unknown means appointed by the Author of Nature to keep 

 the insect tribes in check. When they have issued from 

 their subterranean retreats, and have congregated upon our 

 vines, trees, and other vegetable productions, in the complete 



