84 
INSECTS. 
ground during the second week in June, or about the tune of toe 
blossoming of the Damask Rose, and remain from thirty to forty days. 
At the end of this period, the males become exhausted, fall to the 
ground, and perish, while the females enter the earth, lay their eggs, 
return to the surface, and, after lingering a few days, die also. The 
eggs laid by each female are about thirty in number, and are depos¬ 
ited from one to four inches beneath the surface of the soil; they are 
nearly globular, whitish, and about one thirtieth of an inch in diame¬ 
ter, and are hatched twenty days after they are laid. The young 
larvae begin to feed on such tender roots as are within their reach. 
Like other grubs of the Scarabaeians, when not eating, they lie upon 
the side, with the body curved so that the head and tail are nearly in 
contact; they move with difficulty on a level surface, and are contin¬ 
ually falling over on one side or the other. They attain their full size 
in autumn, being then nearly three quarters of an inch long, and 
about an eighth of an inch in diameter. They are of a yellowish-white 
color, with a tinge of blue towards the hinder extremity, which is 
thick and obtuse or rounded; a few short hairs are scattered on the 
surface of the body; there are "six short legs, namely, a pair to each 
of the first three rings behind the head; and the latter is covered with 
a horny shell of a pale rust color. In October, they descend below 
the reach of frost, and pass the winter in a torpid state. In the spring, 
they approach toward the surface, and each one forms for itself a little 
cell of an oval shape, by turning round a great many times, so as to 
compress the earth and render the inside of the cavity hard and 
smooth. Within this cell, the grub is transformed to a pupa, 
during the month of May, by casting off its skin, which is pushed 
downward in folds from the head to the tail. The pupa has some¬ 
what the form of the perfected beetle; but it is of a yellowish-white 
color, and its short stump-like wings, its antennae, and legs are folded 
upon the breast, and its whole body is inclosed i%a thin film, that 
wraps each part separately. During the month of June,, this filmy 
skin is rent, the included beetle withdraws from its body and its 
limbs, bursts .open its earthen cell, and digs its way to the surface of 
the ground. Thus the various changes, from the egg to the full devel¬ 
opment of the perfected beetle, are completed within the space of one 
year. 
Such being the metamorphoses and habits of these insects, it 
