The winter is spent in the adult stage in bark crevices, in 
sheltered places around the base of the tree, or in the top 1 or 2 
inches of soil. When the adults emerge in the spring, they chew 
oval or circular holes in the leaves. The larvae devour entire 
leaves except the veins. When they reach maturity, they crawl 
down the trunk in search of places to pupate and spend the 
winter. In heavy infestations, they frequently occur by the thou- 
sands on the trunk or under the larger limbs. American elm is 
sometimes heavily defoliated and damaged in the Midwest (186). 
Calligrapha multipunctata bigsbyana (Kby.) sometimes com- 
pletely defoliates willows over large areas in the Northeastern 
States. It is also a common species in the Midwest. The adult is a 
somewhat bronzed, metallic green beetle about 6 to 8 mm. long. 
The antennae and legs are reddish, and the margins of the pro- 
notum and most of the elytra are pale yellow. 
The larger elm leaf beetle, Monocesta corylt (Say, occurs 
throughout most of the eastern United States from Georgia and 
Alabama northward to Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois 
and westward to the Plains States (8). Its hosts are recorded as 
native and Japanese elms, river birch, pecan, hawthorn, and 
hazelnut. Slippery elm is especially favored. The adult is about 
12 mm. long. Its color is dull yellow to dark brown, with large 
greenish patches at the ends of each elytron. Full-grown larvae 
are reddish-brown, metallic lustered, and about 20 mm. long. 
Winter is spent as a full-grown larva in a cell a few inches 
below the surface of the soil. Pupation occurs in early spring, and 
adult emergence begins in late May. The adults fly to the tops of 
their hosts, and feed on the leaves for several days. Eggs are 
deposited in masses on the undersurfaces of leaves; the larvae are 
gregarious and skeletonize the foliage; and there is one genera- 
tion per year. Outbreaks occurred in river bottoms in Piedmont 
sections of the Carolinas and Alabama in 1964. 
The basswood leaf miner, Baliosus ruber (Weber) (=B. ner- 
vosus (Panzer), occurs in Canada and throughout most of the 
eastern United States. Basswood is the favored host, but oak, 
maple, willow, birch, hop hornbeam, apple, and cherry are also 
subject to attack. The adult is broad, flat, wedge-shaped, reddish- 
yellow, and from 4.5 to 7 mm. long. There are indistinct markings 
on its sides and on the apical half of the elytra. Full-grown larvae 
are about 6 mm. long. The head and thorax are brownish-red; the 
rest of the body is white. 
The winter is spent in the adult stage under leaves and trash on 
the ground beneath infested trees (357). In the Lake States, the 
adults emerge in the spring about the time basswood leaves begin 
to unfold. They feed on these leaves, skeletonizing them. Eggs are 
deposited singly at the edges of skeletonized areas on these leaves 
about mid-June, and the larvae feed by mining the leaves (fig. 
41). Trees heavily infested for 2 to 3 years are characterized by 
thin crowns and the presence of dead branches; some trees may 
be killed. There is one generation of miners per year. 
The alder flea beetle, Altica ambiens subspecies alni Harr., oc- 
curs in southern Canada and from Maine to Minnesota and New 
Mexico. It is sometimes a pest of alders growing along roadsides 
and in parks and other recreational areas. The adult is cobalt blue 
141 
