The Cockchafer 
87 
females go some six inches below the surface 
of the ground, generally seeking loose soil 
and making use of the hook in the foreleg 
for drawing herself down, and when a 
suitable place has been found deposits her 
eggs, which vary considerably in number, 
some authorities stating that she lays 200, 
while others say thirty. More probably an 
average of from forty to sixty is about 
correct. In about fourteen days these 
eggs hatch out into white grubs, thick 
and fleshy, which have three pairs of legs, 
and are provided with strong mandibles 
or jaw parts. When at rest the larvae 
maintain a curled-up position. 
The cockchafer remains in a larval 
condition for the space of some three years, 
and at the end of this period it assumes its 
pupa or chrysalis form, and after some 
three or four months gradually emerges as 
the perfect cockchafer. 
Voracious Pests. — In the larval state 
they are very busy upon the roots of differ- 
ent plants, and so voracious are they that 
unless checked they are capable of destroy- 
ing alike both cornfields and grass crops. 
Unfortunate it is, too, that the soft flabby 
