
THE GOLDSMITH BEETLE, AND ITS HABITS. 189 
market, bought a young one, and resolved that he would 
see; I filled a deep glass jar with earth, and placed six 
large grubs on the top. It was interesting to observe how 
quickly these soft creatures burrowed out of sight. They 
seemed in distress and haste to get out of the light and heat. 
Five months after, —it was late in October, —I removed 
à portion of the earth in the jar. Judge of my delight and 
astonishment to find a beautiful and perfect Goldsmith 
beetle in the earthen chamber, which had contained it in 
its pupa state. I now searched the jar carefully, and found 
two more seemingly perfect ones, and another  ill-formed 
one. So my conjectures were right. Those white grubs 
were, indeed, the larvæ of the Cotalpa lanigera. Without 
farther disturbance, except to replace the earth, the jar was 
set away in the cellar for the winter. 
Next May it was again examined. During the month two 
very pretty ones came to the surface of their own accord. I 
was delighted to find it was a pair, male and female. Farther 
examination showed that of the six larvee, five became ima- 
$s, and one died in the pupa state. They were all Gold- 
smiths, Being particularly anxious about the pair, from 
which I had hoped to learn something respecting the time 
and mode of oviposition, extra attention was paid them, and 
young leaves of the different deciduous trees were supplied ; 
but in vain. They lived but a few days, and died without 
furnishing one fact. 
` Now comes a curious question. These insects had lived 
in the perfect form from October until May, a little more 
than seven months, that is, the larger fraction of a year. Is 
this their habit? Do they thus spend, after the last meta- 
Morphosis, so much time in a subterranean life? Probably 
there are two reasons why I have never found the Goldsmith 
m the fall; the little need of working the ground then, 
and ' the probability that the spade or plough does not go 
“ep enough; as in May, the insect is slowly travelling to 
the surface, and is met by the implement. 


