246 
THE FLORIST. 
About eight years ago, my Roses were devoured by the larvae of 
a species of Tenthredo* (an insect at first sight not very unlike the 
gooseberry caterpillar) to such an extent that many buds of choice 
kinds, which had been inserted into stocks the preceding autumn, 
and which had grown with great luxuriance, were completely stripped 
of their foliage by these destructive creatures. Some of them were 
consequently imprisoned and fed with their natural food till they 
had perfected their growth, when they constructed for themselves 
small hard cases (cocoons). In these they remained till the following 
spring, when, to my great satisfaction, beautiful orange-coloured in¬ 
sects (similar to figures 1 and 3 in plate) were produced from them. 
Having discovered the perfect insect by artificial means, my next 
object was to find him out in his natural habitation, and before many 
days I had the good fortune to detect the female in the very act of de¬ 
positing her eggs in the succulent shoot of a Rose-bush. (See fig. 1.) 
The eggs are, indeed, deposited beneath the bark, and the insect seems 
to make use of great exertion in perforating it with its ovipositor. From 
ten to twenty or more eggs are deposited in each shoot, which, in about 
twenty days, give birth to young larvae of a greenish colour. These 
larvae soon find their way to the foliage, upon which they feed till 
they have arrived at their full growth, which is in rather more than 
a month. 
« 
Considerable mischief is done to the young wood of the Rose by 
this insect. For on that side of the shoot in which the eggs are 
deposited the bark dies, and consequently ceases to elongate; on the 
other side, however, elongation continues, which causes a peculiar 
twist in the branch, and renders it very unsightly. (See fig. 6.) 
The perfect insect is by no means shy, but allows itself to be 
taken by the hand, and the larvae are very conspicuous ; so that no 
great trouble will be required in preventing them from becoming too 
numerous. 
Considerable irregularity occurs in the appearance of this insect, 
some coming forth as early as the end of May, others not till the end 
of July; hence the larvae are feeding upon the leaves of the Rose 
during the whole summer. I have seen some of them full grown by 
the beginning of June, others feeding as late as the beginning of 
September. 
TREATMENT OF THE RANUNCULUS. 
The past month being the flowering season of the Ranunculus, many 
a happy meeting of connoisseurs has taken place around the beds of 
enthusiastic cultivators. Discussions, full of warmth and life, have 
been held about the properties of the new-come flowers; priority 
being given to seedlings for the first time bloomed, then to new im¬ 
ports, and lastly to the old standing favourites. Here one is extolled, 
* Hylotoma Rosae; vide Curtis’s British Entomology (fol. and pi. 65), in 
which a description of the genus, and minute dissection of one of its species, will 
be found well worthy of the reader’s inspection. 
