June 1896.] 



INJURIOUS INSECTS AND FUNGI. 



39 



corn, and other crops, as well as to various garden crops. The 

 cockchafers themselves also, in some instances, have seriously 

 injured the foliage of certain trees and shrubs, particularly of 

 the oak, beech, and chestnut trees, and fruit trees have been 

 attacked by them. They also eat grass, all kinds of corn and 

 pulse, and most vegetables. In Great Britain, these insects are, 

 fortunately, not nearly so plentiful as in Germany, France, and 

 other countries, where they cause serious injuries to trees, and 

 to farm and garden crops ; but they have decidedly increased in 

 late years, and action should be taken to check them, or they 

 may prove as troublesome as in some parts of the Continent. 



In some of the Departments of France, it is necessary for the 

 Prefects to issue decrees compelling owners and cultivators of 

 land to take measures for the destruction of these insects, from 

 the time of their first appearance in the spring until the 

 15th of June. 



The grubs of the cockchafer are very destructive in seed 

 beds of all kinds, and particularly in those of young trees. 

 These, as well as all trees newly planted out, should be carefully 

 watched by foresters, as the beds, or nurseries, of young trees 

 have generally fine soil at the surface in which the cockchafers 

 like to lay their eggs. 



The grubs are most destructive to young trees, biting their 

 roots, thereby checking the growth of the trees, and frequently 

 killing them outright. They are most injurious to fir trees 

 in this country, and cause incredible mischief in German and 

 French fir plantations. 



Grass-land is often infested by the cockchafer grubs which 

 eat the roots, and kill or weaken the plants. In infested grass- 

 land, many plants of grasses may be seen lying withered, or 

 withering, from the attacks of the grubs. Rooks, which con- 

 gregate in such circumstances, attracted by the grubs, are often 

 unjustly accused of injuring the grass plants. 



Life History. 



The Cockchafer, or May Bug, is. a brown insect about an inch 

 long, having the body covered with short greyish down. There 

 is a long curved projection at the end of the body. Its antenna 

 are remarkable, their extremities having laminae, or leaves, 

 folding together like a fan. In the male there are seven of these ; 

 in the female only six. The jaws are strong. It has large hooks 

 upon its claws enabling it to cling to leaves and branches, and 

 its legs are well adapted for burrowing in the ground. 



Egg-laying takes place at the beginning of summer. The 

 female chooses loose, dry soil, and buries the eggs, which are white 

 and of the size and shape of a hemp seed, from 6 to 8 inches 

 deep. Each female lays from 40 to 60 eggs, and places them in 

 groups of 10 to 25. In six weeks the grubs appear — thick, fleshy, 

 and dirty white in colour. These are more than 1\ inches long 

 when full grown, with shiny ferruginous heads, and three pairs 



