476 
Observations on the various Insects 
and the inner one is bifid, but obscurely so in the two hinder- 
most: length about 6 lines, breadth 3: fig. 12, magnified. 
These beetles are abundant on the Continent, and are found 
sitting singly or in little groups on the ears, nibbling the soft 
grains of rye, and of wheat, which is still more to their taste. 
Kollar says he has found ears which had been robbed of a third 
part of their seeds by these insects, but he had not ascertained 
whether the larvae attack the roots of the corn, or subsist only on 
manure, and no means can be resorted to for destroying them, as 
they live in concealment: he adds, "Crows, moles, and field- 
mice are their greatest enemies, and should therefore be spared, 
when their numbers are not so great as to make them injurious."* 
Although common in France, Germany, and Italy, Anisoplia 
Agricola is very rare in England, and my principal object in in- 
troducing it is to call attention to the May-bug, which is nearly 
related to it, and exceedingly abundant in hedges and corn-fields, 
but whether it be prejudicial to our crops of corn I am not able to 
learn at present. It seems to be a general feeder, for in May, 
1833, it destroyed the roses, devouring both the flowers and leaves, 
so that in some gardens scarcely a plant was left untouched, and 
they hung upon the flowers like swarms of bees:f the previous 
year the apple and nectarine trees fell a sacrifice to their ravages. 
In the Lake districts of Cumberland these beetles are called 
Bracken-clocks by anglers, from their frequenting the fern, and 
are employed as a bait for trout. Stewart asserts that they destroy 
every sort of fruit-tree, excepting the common pear ; and Mr. 
Dillwyn says, near Swansea they are " extremely common every 
summer, particularly on roses, and appeared in immense numbers 
in 1814, when on their first appearance the sparrows on my lawn 
were so gorged with them, that several were imable to fly."+ 
They were also in such multitudes on the acacias near Peters- 
field, that the foliage was cons\imed, and when the trees were 
shaken they fell down like a shower of hail.§ I have also ob- 
served them in June and July feeding on bramble-leaves, which 
they perforated like a sieve, and likewise on the eglantine. 
This beetle, which belongs to the same Order and Family as 
the foregoing species, was named Scarabmis Horticola (the 
Garden-chaffer), by Linnaeus, and is now called 
5. Anisoplia Horticola : it is very glossy and sparingly clothed 
with longish hairs, dark on the upper side and yellowish beneath : 
the head, thorax, and scutellum are bright green, sometimes with 
* Kollar's Natur. der Schiild. Insecten., p. 104. 
t Curtis's Brit. Ent., fol. 526. 
% Memoranda relating to Coleopterous Insects, p. 31. 
} Gardener's Chronicle, vol. 4, p. 700. 
