228 



AN ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY. 



this stage it remains until the proper conditions occur, and then 

 joins its companions in a seemingly concerted movement to arise 

 and assume the beetle stage. This uniformity of development 

 explains the sudden appearance of the insects in large numbers, 

 and their power to cause mischief is derived from it, since the 

 farmer does not often realize the nature of the invasion until con- 

 siderable injury has been done. In the larval stage they are 

 beneficial, in so far as they feed upon the eggs of grasshoppers, 

 but it is questionable whether this benefit overbalances the dam- 

 age they do as adults, and I never hesitate to advise prompt 

 measures for their destruction. The best of these is a thorough 

 application of one of the arsenites as soon as the insects appear, 

 adding milk of lime to make the poison stick better and to dis- 

 courage feeding. In small patches the beetles can be gathered 

 in pans early in the day, or they may be driven to a layer of 

 straw, the latter to be set on fire when the insects become en- 

 tangled among it. The last is the least desirable of the measures, 

 though under some circumstances very effective. In all cases, 

 promptness is essential. 



The Rhynchophora, or "snout-beetles," are separated into a 

 number of families which need not be particularly described here, 

 but all agree in having a more or less evidently produced beak 

 or snout, at the end of which the small mouth parts are situated. 

 The terms " curcuHos" and "weevils," in addition to that above 

 given, are rather indiscriminately applied to species of this series. 

 All the snout-beetles are vegetable feeders in both larval and 

 adult stages, and, therefore, more or less injurious. Many of the 

 larvae are internal feeders, and, therefore, white or yellowish, 

 usually with short, bristly hair, a brown head, and no feet. As 

 a rule, they are somewhat curved and terminate rather bluntly, a 

 little like "white grubs," but without the peculiar, large, ter- 

 minal segment. It will be necessary to restrict our mention to 

 the most troublesome forms, and the first of these, in systematic 

 order, is " Fuller's rose-beetle," Aramigus fulleri. 



This beetle, which has a short, obtuse snout, and is of a dark, 

 smoky- brown color, lays its eggs in little masses under any sort 

 of shelter on rose-bushes, and the resulting white, grub-like 

 larvae feed on the tender roots of the plants. The insect is, 

 essentially, a green-house pest, and often weakens the plants, so 



