Green Rose Chafer. 



521 



mainly devour the anthers and thus destroy the crop. They are 

 very frequently found in peonies and on the elder ; they also 

 destroy this blossom at times very severely. These brilliant 

 beetles fly readily in bright sunshine, but become very sluggish 

 during dull, damp, and cold weather. 



The beetles appear from the middle of May and on through 

 June. They lay their eggs in the ground, seeking out some crack 

 or crevice into which they crawl. Heaps of rich earth, such as 

 cucumber beds, vine borders, are favourite places for them to 

 lay their eggs. These soon give rise to white grubs, very like 

 those of the cockchafer, from which they differ by having a 

 deep reddish-brown spot on each side of the first thoracic 

 segment ; the legs are also longer than in the cockchafer grub, 

 and the whole surface is clothed with transverse rows of 

 reddish-brown hairs. 



The larvae also may be found amongst rotten and rotting 

 wood, but mainly in rich soil. Their food consists chiefly of 

 the roots of various plants, and probably of decaying vegetable 

 matter as well. When mature they attain the length of an inch 

 and a half, taking from two to three years to reach maturity. 

 The pupal stage takes place in an earthen cell, over an inch in 

 length, deep in the ground, the outer part of the cell being 

 rough, the inner smooth. The pupa is of an ochre colour. 

 The grubs apparently pupate in the summer, and the beetles 

 appear from these in the following May and June. Canon 

 Fowler notes that the larvae and perfect insects are often found 

 in ants' nests. 



By far the most successful way to cope with these large 

 sluggish beetles is by " hand-picking." This should be done 

 during dull weather, when they are very quiet ; on warm days 

 they become more active and fly about. 



Heaps of leaf mould, cucumber beds, and heaps of decaying 

 wood should be examined when turned over or moved, and the 

 grubs hand-picked. Old tree stumps frequently harbour them, 

 and should thus be grubbed up in the winter and burnt. In 

 garden and field cultivation, poultry do much good if turned on 

 when the land is being broken, greedily devouring these larvae 

 as well as the chafers. 



" Turf-traps " — i.e., heaps of rotting turf, may be left here and 



