STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
4,45 
POTATO-BEETLE. ITS NAME. BEETLE DESCRIBED. 
end of July and early in August. But they are certainly present in the 
potatb fields throughout the season, as are also their larvae, at all the dif¬ 
ferent stages of their growth. * It is evident, therefore, that they are not 
periodical, but are continuously coming forth, one after another, and 
depositing their eggs, from the commencement of their operations in June 
until the chilly nights of autumn suspend their work. 
This insect is closely related to the AsparagusJbeetle, the history of 
which was given in my Eighth Report. And I have deemed it unnecessary 
to present figures of this beetle and its larva, as they would be little else 
than repetitions of the illustrations heretofore given of that insect. 
This Potato-beetle received its scientific name, Grioceris trilineata, up¬ 
wards of sixty years since, from M. Olivier, Who described it, first in the 
Encyclopedic Methodique, vol. v, p. 203, and subsequently in his Entomo- 
logie, vol. vi, p. 139. This celebrated author appears to have been over¬ 
looked by Mr. Say, who has redescribed this species under the name 
trivittata ( Jour. Acad. Nat. Sci., vol. iii, p. 429). And M. Chevrolat has 
still later described one of its varieties as a distinct species, under the 
name imviaculicollis. 
This Beetle measures a quarter of an inch in length, the female being 
usually a trifle larger than the male. It is oblong, being rather more than 
twice as long as wide. It is convex above and beneath, with its opposite 
sides parallel and the thorax 'a third narrower than the abdomen and wing 
covers. It is glossy and shining, of a bright, tawny, yellowish red color, 
varied in places with black. The head across the eyes is almost as wide 
as the thorax. It has a transverse groove immediately back of the eyes, 
and another between the eyes above the base of the antennae, and the 
front between these grooves is marked by three impressed longitudinal 
lines. The face between and below the antennae is often paler yellow and 
is finely punctured and bearded with short hairs inclining downward. The 
eyes are protuberant and black, and have a conspicuous notch on their fore 
sides. The antennae are about half as long as the body, thicker towards 
their tips, eleven-jointed, the joints very distinct, longer than thick, widen¬ 
ing towards their tips, where they are furnished with a crown of short 
minute hairs. They are opake brownish black, with the three basal joints 
shining, the first joint being thicker than the following ones, globular 
and orange red. The second joint is smallest and shaped like a top. 
The apical joints are nearly cylindrical, the last one being at its tip ab¬ 
ruptly tapered to a blunt point. The thorax is as wide as long. Its sides 
have a strong notch or constriction in the middle, forward of which they 
are regularly rounded, and back of which they are widened to the base. On 
the back are some scattered punctures, and towards the base is a shallow 
transverse groove, having in its middle a large impressed puncture. On 
each side of the back slightly forward of the middle is a black dot, usually 
of a large size but sometimes small. The scutel is quite small and black. 
The wing covers are lomon yellow and ornamented with three parallel black 
stripes. The middle stripe is placed upon the suture'and gradually nar¬ 
rows backward to a slender line, which ends before it quite reaches the 
tip. The lateral stripes are broader, are placed slightly inside of the outer 
