STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
797 
POTATO-BEETLE. ACCOUNTS OF ITS DESTBUCTIVENESS. 
breast prolonged into a horn-like point, wherefore the name; Doryphorus 
being a Greek word meaning a spear-bearer, and particularly memorable 
as the name of one of the most celebrated statues of the sculptor Polycle- 
tus. But our insect and a few other species of this genus are destitute of 
the sharp, thorny point alluded to. Chevrolet, in Dejean’s Catalogue, pro¬ 
posed to form these into a distinct genus, named Polygramma —i. e., many- 
lined. But this step lias not been approved of by subsequent authors. 
The year after Say described this insect, the distinguished German ento¬ 
mologist Gerrnar also published it, under the name Dorypliora juncta, 
which, of course, will be merely a synonym of the anterior name. 
The first notice of this as being an injurious insect, appears in the Prairie 
Farmer of August 29th, 1861 (vol. viii, p. 116), in a letter from J. Edger- 
ton, of Gravity, Iowa, saying that “ they made their appearance upon the 
vines as soon as the potatoes were out of the ground, and there being a 
cold, wet spell of weather about that time, they devoured them as fast as 
they were up.” They appeared most fond of the Prince Albert variety, 
doing but little injury to several other kinds. Several generations appeared 
to grow up in the course of the summer. The specimens were sent to 
C. Thomas, Esq., of Marion, Williamson county, Ill., who in reply announces 
them to be the species above named, and says that this same insect “ is 
found in abundance in Southern Illinois; but so far I have only discovered 
it on worthless weeds and low shrubs; and here it has not proved injurious 
to useful vegetation,” wherefore he thinks it is only accidental that it has 
fallen upon the patotocs in Mr. Edgerton’s vicinity, and that some pecu¬ 
liarity of the plants, state of the atmosphere, or other influence may next 
year cause it to forsake the potato and take up its residence upon some 
other plant. 
The next year, Thomas Murphy, of Atchison, Kansas, sent a number of 
the beetles to the Valley Farmer, with an accompanying letter, published 
in that periodical July, 1862 (vol. xiv, p. 209), saying that in August, 18C1, 
“ soon after a heavy shower of rain, these bugs suddenly made their appear¬ 
ance in large numbers on the potato vines. They were so numerous that 
in many instances they would almost cover the whole vine. It is no exag¬ 
geration when I tell you that we have often, in a very short time, gathered 
as many as two bushels of them. When the cold weather set in they dis¬ 
appeared. Early this spring I was setting out some apple trees, and away 
down in the hard yellow clay, I found these bugs apparently dead, but put 
them in the sun and they immediately came to life. They have again (May 
22d) made their appearance in large numbers in my garden. Last year 
they first ate up everything green on the potato vines, then commenced on 
the tomatoes, and so on, on everything green. Strange to say, they trouble 
no one else.” Some of the beetles had been forwarded to Benj. I). Walsh, 
Esq., of ltock Island, Illinois, who communicates their name and a good 
figure, but is singularly unfortunate, not to say erroneous, in several of 
his statements made in connection with this subject; for instance, that the 
New York weevil is “ an exclusively western species,” “ Mr. Murphy’s 
account is the first on record of this beetle occurring in gardens in such 
