Insects. 2555 



its final summersault. But the newly-disclosed examples were not to be thus sported 

 with ; they would sometimes hardly permit my approach before exhibiting signs of 

 alarm. In falling upon my net, held ready to receive them, they always come down 

 upon their backs and immediately feign death, rolling about with every movement of 

 the net, their legs and antennae'packed close to the body, and apparently as lifeless as a 

 stick. The females were generally more worn than the males, for an obvious reason, 

 and as T rejected dozens because they were not in good condition, I brought away 

 more males than females. The former have a shorter rostsum, with the antennae 

 nearer the tip, than the latter. 



My last excursion was to Arundel, whither I accompanied Mr. Walton for a few 

 days, to brush and fish the marshes for the scarcer species of Bagoi. With much 

 exertion we procured fine specimens of B. binodulus, but none other of the genus. It 

 is very local, and though we brushed and fished the ditches in all directions, it 

 occurred only in two particular spots, and very sparingly. We also secured a good 

 series of Pachyrhinus Comari, and a few stray specimens of the still rarer P. cana- 

 liculars of Schonherr, the former from the Ly thrum Salicaria, the latter by indis- 

 criminate brushing. — J. F. Dawson ; Tunbridge Wells, June 26, 1849. 



Ravages of the Grub of the Cockchafer. — A patch on our lawn has suffered this year 

 from the depredations of the larvae of the Cockchafer (Melolontha vulgaris). The turf 

 for many yards became in a few weeks as dry, brittle, and withered as hay ; but as the 

 sun was very hot during the early part of the month (July), it was generally supposed 

 that the scorched appearances might be readily accounted for, and we concluded that 

 a few hours of rain would soon revive the vegetation. In August the showers came 

 abundantly, but the turf remained as brown and withered as before. A bantam cock, 

 who has the range of the lawn, seemed to give a preference to this parched spot, there 

 he was seen one morning feasting on a large white grub, which he drew out from the 

 roots of the grass. The mystery was at once explained — the cause of the sudden 

 withering of the grass was traceable to this most destructive grub. Burrowing during 

 the three summers of its apterous existence between the turf and the soil, it devours 

 the roots of grass, and any other plant that may come in its way — so that the turf may 

 be easily rolled off, as if cut by a turfing spade, while the soil underneath for an inch 

 or more is turned into soft mould like the bed of a garden. — Peter Inehbald ; Storthes 

 Hall, August 20, 1849. 



Note on the Hop Fig. — The hops in Kent were very much infested by Aphis Humili 

 last month, nearly all the leaves being thickly covered with it in the wingless state. 

 As the Aphis does not spread from leaf to leaf, the injury sustained by each leaf arises 

 from the multiplying of one or more of the winged Aphides that alight there, and it is 

 obvious what great swarms must migrate to the hops from the neighbouring sloes. 

 These numbers might be materially diminished by removing the black thorns from the 

 hop-districts, or lessoned in some degree by clipping the bushes during the winter or 

 before the May migration, and thus destroying the eggs, or the young ones on the 

 twigs.— F. Walker; July, 1849. 



