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4 
WILLOW. 
Willow Beetle. W Phratora Vitellince, Linn. 
Phratora Vitelline. 
Willow Beetle, caterpillars, and eggs, magnified ; lines showing nat. length. 
The Willow Beetle, Phratora Vitellince , Linn., is a small oblong- 
oval, shiny beetle about the sixth of an inch long, of a bronze or green 
or bluish tint above, more brassy below. These beetles come out in 
the spring from their sheltering places, and feed on the leaves of 
various kinds of Willows, also of Poplars. Later on the caterpillars 
or grubs hatched from the eggs of these beetles continue the mischief. 
These whitish spindle-shaped eggs are laid in small patches on the 
surface of the leaves,—whether invariably on the under surface, as in 
the case of those sketched above, I do not know. The eggs are 
protected by a loose transparent membranous film. The caterpillars 
which were forwarded were about half an inch long when full-grown, 
pale yellowish or whitish, with black head; the segment next the 
head nearly all black above, and a squarish black mark above the two 
last segments of the grub ; the intermediate segments variably marked 
with black, amongst which a more or less interrupted series of black 
marks down the back and black spots on the sides, largest on the three 
segments next the head, were the most noticeable. 
These grubs feed on the under side of the skin of the leaf, working 
right through until the upper surface is only a film, which dries and 
cracks away. When full-fed the caterpillars turn to chrysalids in the 
ground , and from these a second attack of beetles comes up in 
autumn. 
The beetles sent were of various tints, and I incline to think the 
