1838. HOUSE—No. 72. 73 
be most successful, and which, as before said, consist in making a 
general pursuit and destruction of the insects in their perfect state. 
Those within reach of the hand may be gathered into suitable ves- 
sels, others may be shaken from small trees into cloths spread be- 
neath them. It may even be worth the trouble to mow down rapid- 
ly the white weed in arid pastures, and consume it, with the sluggish 
rose-bugs upon it, on the spot. 
Belonging to the great family of Scarabezide, and included in De 
Geer’s division of flower-beetles, is one insect which has become in- 
juvious to fruit trees. It is the Trichius scaber, of Palissot de Beau- 
vois. In Trichius the body is thick, short, flattened above. The 
plate (clypeus) above the mouth oblong square; the antennz, like 
those of Melolontha, are terminated by a three-leaved club; the thorax 
is nearly orbicular, buckler-shaped, or hexagonal, usually longer than 
broad, and narrower than the abdomen; the elytra, taken together, are 
perfectly quadrate, with the posterior margin straight; the posterior ex- 
tremity of the body is more exposed than in Melolontha; the nails are 
neither toothed or bifid. The larvelive in the trunks of trees, and most 
of the perfect insects are clothed with hairs, whence their name T'ri- 
chius, signifying hairy. The species under consideration, with two 
or three others, are entirely destitute of hairs, and offer other minate 
characters distinct from the hairy Trichit, whence they have been 
denominated Gymnodi, or naked. 
The larva of Trichius (or more properly Gymnodus) scaber close- 
ly resembles that of Melolontha. It lives in the trunks of old cher- 
ry trees, whose decay it accelerates. In the autumn it forms a cell 
or cocoon of the debris or woody fibres of the tree, which is strong- 
ly cemented within ; the perfect insect is developed in July. It 
flies abroad only in the night, and conceals itself during the day in 
the crevices of trees. It betrays its retreat by the powerful odor 
which it exhales, and which is perceptible at the distance of several 
feet. 
The habits of the insects which belong to the genus Lucanus are 
similar to those of the insect just described. ‘The larve have a 
general resemblance to those of the Scarabei, and live in the trunks 
of old trees. The perfect insect is readily distinguished by the ob- 
long form of its body which is rounded behind, and slightly: flattened 
10 
