STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
525 
WIREWORMS. CHANGE TO PUPA2. BECOME SNAPPING-BEETLES. 
■worm has arrived at maturity, it descends a considerable dearth 
into the earth, forms an oval cell there, entirely composed of the 
surrounding particles of soil, and not even lined with silk. It 
then casts its skin again, and becomes a pupa or chrysalis, gener¬ 
ally, it seems, at the end of July or beginning of August. It is 
long and narrow in form, like the perfect insect, but of a yel¬ 
lowish white color; there are two minute spines projecting from 
the anterior angles of the thorax; all the organs of the mouth are 
visible, the horns and legs are folded or incumbent upon the breast, 
and the wing-cases as well as the wings arc small, and the least 
developed of any part;- the scutel and abdominal segments are dis¬ 
tinct—the apex being furnished with two moveable spines and two 
lobes terminated by nipples in the middle beneath. 
Of course, at this period of its life the animal is at rest, being 
deprived of the power of locomotion, and is consequently no longer 
injurious. Several were found in their pupa state on the 26th of 
July. In Sweden, Bjerkander states that the wire-worms which 
he reared entered into their pupa state in the month of July, and 
that the beetles came forth in their perfect state about the tenth 
of August. They remain in this state two or three weeks; but 
many no doubt pass the winter, buried and protected from casual¬ 
ties and the rigor of that inclement season. When, however, the 
appointed time comes, they burst from their shrouds and the 
earthly tombs they inhabit, and rising through the soil, arrive at 
the surface, changed to perfect beetles, but of a whitish color, 
soft, and extremely tender. Exposed to the air and light, their 
bodies harden and their color gradually changes, so that in a few 
hours they have attained the horny coat which covers them, and 
assumed the tints which the Author of nature has assigned to the 
species. 
The parts of the animal which were previously indistinctly seen, 
as through a veil, are now distinctly visible, and the legs, wings, 
and all the members are liberated, to give action to its body and 
animation to all its senses. They walk and run like dogs, with 
their heads inclining downwards, and their noses close to the 
ground. When they leap, their legs are applied closely to their 
bodies, and by the same means they drop down when the plants 
are approached upon which they are resting. These snapping- 
beetles have small heads and eyes — the latter minute, hemispheri¬ 
cal, and reticulated, a portion being frequently concealed beneath 
