62 
MANGOLD. 
This attack, if it occurs at all, is apt to be very severe, but it is so 
unusual that it would be well worth while to direct attention to 
investigating what has caused its appearance. 
It has been conjectured that the eggs of the beetle may be brought 
in seed, but in this case it is much more likely to be in foreign than 
in home-grown samples. 
Cockchafers. Melolontha vulgaris , Stephens. 
Melolontha vulgaris. 
Larva and pupa of Cockchafer. 
On May 20th some Cockchafer grubs were forwarded to me from 
Smethwick, near Birmingham, which had been found twelve inches 
below the surface in garden ground, on land which had been part of 
an old pasture broken up the preceding year ; and later in the season 
another specimen was sent from near Chesterfield from the bottom of 
ayir^-incli furrow. This was from a field that was being ploughed 
after having been two years in seeds. 
These notes show the reason of one of the great difficulties in 
getting rid of Cockchafer grubs in field cultivation, namely, that they 
are very likely to be below the level at which they will be turned up 
by the plough. 
The Cockchafer beetles and their injury to the leafage of many 
kinds of trees is well known; but, from the fact of the grubs feeding 
entirely underground, many people are not in the least acquainted 
either with their appearance or habits. These grubs feed voraciously 
on the roots of meadow-grass, of trees of various kinds, not excepting 
Fir, and they are also injurious to root-crops, as Potatoes or Mangolds, 
&c., if these are put into ground infested by these long-lived grubs. 
The eggs are laid some six inches or so below the surface of the 
ground, and the grubs come to within a short distance of the surface 
to feed ; but go very deep down, far below ploughing depth, in winter, 
and it is not until their fifth year that they develop to the perfect 
beetle. 
The above sketch gives a figure of the Cockchafer grub when full- 
grown, showing its large head, with strong horny jaws, and the three 
pairs of jointed legs. The colour is white, with head, jaws, and legs 
