402 



THE ROSE CHAFER. 



upon leaves of various trees and bushes, and attacks 

 certain fruits. It has a predilection for the flowers of 

 roses, wild as well as cultivated,''" and, in the experience 

 of man}' observers, prefer white roses to red ones. An- 

 other favorite food is the blossom of the grape vine, 

 with a decided preference for that of the Clinton. This 

 last fact was first pointed out by Walsh in his first re- 

 port on the insects of Illinois (p. 24), and has been 

 confirmed by many other observers and by our own ob- 

 servations. Dr. Lmtner, in his first New York Ento- 



V/\RIOUS St.'^ges. 



Macrodactylus subspinosus: a, full-grown lar\ a from the side ; 

 b, head of larva from the front ; c, left mandible of larva from be- 

 neath : rf, left maxilla of larva from above ; e, last ventral segment 

 of larva; y, pupa from beneath ; g, tip of last dorsal abdominal seg- 

 ment of pupa ; last segment of pupa from the side — all enlarged 

 (original). 



mological Report (p. 229), contradicts this experience, 

 which only goes to show how the habits of the same 

 species will differ in different sections of the country. 

 Flowers of raspberries and blackberries do not escape 

 its ravages. The beetles also devour the blossoms of 

 Pyrethrum cincrariicfoliiiiii, the plant from which pyre- 

 thrum insect powder is made. 



The foliage, of most, if not all, of our cultivated 

 fruit trees and especially apple, pear, peach, cherry and 

 plum, at times suffer greatly, the two last named being 

 apparently more attractive than the others. The foli- 

 age of cultivated grape vines is almost as eagerly 

 devoured as the blossoms, and the leaves of oak, alder 

 and other forest trees also serve as food. Of low-grow- 

 ing plants, the beetles cut the leaves of strawberries, 

 rhubarb and of nearly all garden vegetables, as also of 

 sweet potato, corn, wheat, grass, and many wild plants. 

 Not satisfied with this amount of damage, the beetles 

 attack the fruit of peaches, cherries, apples and grapes 

 when just forming. 



Among ornamental plants, the rose is the greatest suf- 

 ferer. Harris states that the beetle was first noticed on 

 the rose (hence its popular name), and that it afterward 

 acquired the habit of feeding on grape vines and fruit 

 trees. 



Remedies. — It has been assumed by most writers that 



*The Cinnamon Rose, Roia cinnatnoiiica, is said to enjoy im- 

 munity. 



we cannot successfully attack the rose chafer in any of 

 its earlier states. To search for the eggs in the ground 

 would be impracticable. It does not, however, follow 

 because of the poor success that has generally resulted 

 from attempts to destroy similar larvje that they cannot 

 be successfully destroyed. In the case of the common 

 European cock-chafer and of our own white grub, the 

 methods adopted have consisted in plowing and hand- 

 picking. The experiments made, however, on a similar 

 larvae with the kerosene-soap emulsion,* clearly show 

 that we have in this insecticide a means of successfully 

 destroying the bulk of the larvae of the rose bug 

 wherever they are known to be sufficiently abundant to 

 justify such treatment. A thorough investigation should 

 be made in the direction of ascertaining the preferred 

 breeding grounds of the species, and it were rash to say 

 here that we have no effectual mode of preventing the 

 insect, notwithstanding the disfavor in which this mode 

 of warfare has been held in the past. 



It is evident, however, that for the present we should 

 concentrate our efforts on the destruction of the beetles, 

 especially when they first issue from the ground and 

 congregate in the garden on our roses, grapevines, and 

 fruit trees. A brief statement of the various methods 

 that may be employed for this purpose may prove ad- 

 vantageous. Hand-picking and killing the beetles, either 

 by crushing them or throwing them into hot water or wat- 

 er having a scum of kerosene upon it, has proved useful and 

 satisfactory in a limited way, as also the shaking and 

 knocking down of the beetle into pans or upon sheets 

 saturated or smeared with coal oil. These measures 

 are best carried out and most satisfactorily in the early 

 morning hours and towards evening, as the beetles are 

 then more sluggish and not so quick to take wing as they 

 are during the heat of the day. White roses, spiraeas, 

 or deutzias, planted on a place, will attract great num- 

 bers of the beetles, and thus no only facilitate the des- 

 truction of these last, but act as a kind of protection to 

 other plants. 



As to other topical applications intended to destroy 

 the beetles, whether directly or by poison taken with 

 the food, the experience with the arsenites is that they 

 are of little avail, and the experience with other mate- 

 rials, like hellebore and pyrethrum, has been so conflict- 

 ing, that we cannot consider either of them reliable or 

 satisfactory. Pyrethrum would seem to have given on 

 the whole the most satisfactory results, and the experi- 

 ence of Mr. E. S. Carman, editor of the Rural New- 

 Yofkc'r, would certainly show that it may be used ad- 

 vantageously. 



Col. A. W. Pearson, of New Jersey, states that the 

 " eau celeste" (solution of sulphate of copper with 

 ammonia) is not only the best remedy for mildew, but 

 at the same time an effective poison to the rose-bug. 



The trouble with all these remedies is that the beetles 

 during their brief season continue to issue from the 

 ground and to congregate upon their favored plants in 



(*) Insect Life, i. 48. 



