1881. ] Entomology. | 243 
woolen remnants. He stated that they had appeared in great 
numbers the previous summer on the large elm shade tree near 
the house, and that the tree, at the end of the summer, looked as if 
its leaves were nearly gone, but he did not examine the leaves ; 
_ “and now,” said he, “the pests have taken possession of the 
house.” I pointed out to him that though to the popular eye they 
did look like squash beetles ( Diabrotica vittata Fabr.), they were a 
different affair; but that they would do no injury to the house 
other than by being an annoyance, as next spring they would 
doubtless, if allowed to, get out of their dwelling and into the 
the trees again. | 
I have followed up the career of this Galeruca as well as I 
could. Upon this particular farm, which had three elms on it, the 
history is briefly this: They appeared about the first of May, 
1877, suddenly and in great numbers. They hibernated in the 
garret three winters, getting out of the house in May following 
each winter. In trying to get out of the house in May, 1880, 
they swarmed on the inside of the windows, and large numbers , 
were destroyed by brushing them into a pan of scalding water. 
Their depredations on the three trees were through four sum- 
mers. The leaves would be eaten off, and a new sickly crop 
follow early in the fall. My friend is afraid that the trees cannot 
recover. He did not observe the “worms.”’ The beetles have © 
not been found in the house this last fall or present winter, and 
they were not so numerous on the trees last summer. 
In May, 1879, one of our students at New Brunswick, N. J., 
brought me several specimens of G. xanthomelena, which he 
caught on the curtains of the parlor windows. They were trying 
to get out of the house, having hibernated there. The house is 
in the city and has elm shade trees. The same youth directed 
my attention to the fact that these insects were in quantities in 
the gymnasium loft of Rutgers’ College Grammar School, and 
there they had hibernated two winters. The shade trees are elms. 
hey have been three years in New Brunswick. The first time 
they appeared suddenly and in quantity, and their depredations 
set'the citizens to work scraping and cleaning the bark. The 
second year they came in less numbers, and still less the third 
year, 
These observations simply cover the following points: 1. Their 
first appearance is sudden and in numbers. 2. Either the imago 
or larve or both are voracious leaf eaters of the elm. 3. The 
imago hibernates; and 4, it has a penchant for the protection of — 
buildings. 5. Judging from the freshness of all the specimens | 
have seen, I should think the beetles were but just evolved from 
their pupae when they seek their winter quarters. If this be so, 
their life cycle is a rapid one, the egg in May and the imago in 
early autumn. But this must be determined by actual experi- 
ment. 
