246 



Il^JURIOUS INSECTS 



perhaps the grape-grower is the greatest sufferer, and it 

 is accordingly placed among the insects especially injuri- 

 ous to the Grape: 



^^The prevalence of this insect on the Rose, and its 

 annual appearance coinciding with the blossoming of 

 that flower, have gained for it the popular name by whicli 

 it is here known. For some time after they were first 

 noticed, Rose-bugs appeared to be confined to their fa- 

 vorite, the blossoms of the Rose; but within forty years 

 they have greatly increased in number, have attack- 

 ed at random various kinds of plants in swarms, and 

 have become notorious for their extensive and deplorable 

 ravages. The Grape-vine, in particular, the Cherry, 

 Plum, and Apple trees, have annually suffered by their 

 depredations; many other fruit trees and shrubs, garden 

 vegetables and corn, and even the trees of the forest, 

 and grass of the fields, have been laid under contribu- 

 tion by these indiscriminate feeders, by whom leaves, 

 flowers, and fruits, are alike consumed. The unexpected 

 arrival of these insects in swarms at the first coming, 

 and their sadden disappearance at the close of their 

 career, are remarkable facts in their history. They come 

 forth from the ground during the second week in June, 

 or about the time of the blossoming of the Damask 

 Rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. At the end 

 of this period the males perish, while the females enter 

 the earth, lay their eggs, return to the surface, and, 

 after lingering a few days, die also. 



'^The eggs laid by each female are about thirty in 

 number, and are deposited from one to four inches be- 

 neath the surface of the soil; they are nearly globular, 

 whitish, and are one-thirtieth of an inch in diameter, 

 and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. The 

 young larvae begin to feed on such tender roots as are 

 within their reach. They attain their full size in au- 

 tumn, being then nearly three-quarters of an inch long. 



