cies is almost identical with that of the true white grub, and the beetle feeds, like the June beetle, upon the leaves of a variety of fruit and forest trees. It also appears at about the same time of the year, namely, in May and June. For practical purposes, consequently, these two insects may be treated as one.

The following comparative description of the larva of the goldsmith beetle is quoted from Prof. Packard:

"Larva.-The larvæ are whitish grubs, about one inch and three-quarters long and over half an inch thick, with a yellowish brown scale on the part corresponding to the thorax. It so nearly resembles the young of the May beetle that it requires a close examination to tell them apart. The proportions of the two are much the same; if anything, the Cotalpa is slightly shorter and thicker, and its body is covered with short stiff hair, especially at the end, while in the May beetle the hairs are much finer, sparse, and the skin is consequently shiny. They also differ in the head, it being fuller, more rounded in Cotalpa, the clypeus shorter and very convex, while in the May beetle it is flattened. The upper lip (labium) is in Cotalpa longer, more rounded in front and narrower at the base, and full convex on the surface, while in the young May beetle it is flat. The antennæ are larger and longer in the goldsmith beetle, the second joint a

5-HORT.

little over half as long as the third, while in the May beetle grub it is nearly three-quarters as long; the third joint is much longer than in the latter grub, while the fourth and fifth are of the same relative length as in the May beetle, but much thicker. The jaws (mandibles) are much alike in both, but not quite so acute in the Cotalpa as in the other, nor are the inner teeth so prominent. The maxilla is much longer and with stouter spines, and the palpi are longer and slenderer in the grub of Cotalpa than in the other, though the joints have the same relative proportion in each; the basal joint is nearly twice as long as in the May beetle. The under lip (labium) is throughout much longer, and the palpi, though two-jointed in each, are much longer and slenderer in the grub of Cotalpa than in that of the May beetle. The feet are much larger and more hairy in the Cotalpa. Both larvæ are about an inch and a half long, and a third (.35) of an inch thick at the widest part."

This grub has been reported extremely destructive to strawberry roots in New Jersey by Dr. S. Lockwood, and doubtless occurs in strawberry fields in other parts of the country wherever the beetle is known, probably having been generally confounded with the larva of Lachnosterna. Certain fields, according to Dr. Lockwood, in Monmouth county, New Jersey, were badly thinned out by it, the plants being dead on the surface and easily pulled up, the roots having been eaten off below.

The remarks made respecting remedies for the previous species will apply equally, as far as we know, to this.

THE STRAWBERRY ROOT-WORMS.

Colaspis brunnea, Fab., Paria aterrima, Oliv., Scelodonta pubescens, Mels.

Order Coleoptera, Family Chrysomelida.

The so-called root-worm of the strawberry proves, on careful study, to represent not merely one, but three species of closely allied beetles, all belonging to the great family of plant feeders (Chrysomelida), to the same tribe of that family (Eumolpini), but to different genera and species.

COMMON CHARACTERS.

Larvae. These root-worms may be known from the crownborer, to which they bear a strong superficial resemblance by the absence of jointed legs in the latter; and from small white grubs, with which they are often associated in the ground, both feeding alike upon the roots of the strawberry, by their relatively shorter and thicker bodies, by the greatly inferior development of the abdomen, and by the fact that they are not nearly as much arched from before backwards

as the grubs. In the root-worms the length is only about twice the breadth, while in white grubs of that size, it is four or five times as great. In the former the abdomen is but little longer than the head and thorax taken together, while in small white grubs it is at least twice as long. The latter insects have also the posterior half of the abdomen somewhat swollen, round and smooth, while in the root-worms the terminal segments are smaller than the preceding ones, and are at least equally wrinkled and tuberculate.

The root-worms here treated are all of nearly the same size, .12 to 16 of an inch long by half as wide, and all are white except the head and first segment, which are pale,

yellowish brown. The segments are twelve in number behind the head, with a rudimentary thirteenth one in which the vent is situated. The first segment, the one bearing the first pair of legs, is of a firmer consistence than the others, leathery and smooth above, and as long as the two following together, and each of the remaining eleven is marked on the back by about three transverse dorsal folds, and by a single

Fig. 26. Larva of smo, magnified 16 diameters. H. Garman.

fold beneath. There is little peculiarity in the external structure of the segments, and it differs but slightly from that of a great number of soft-bodied subterranean larvæ. The legs are about as long as their corresponding segments, and are white, with the exception of their claws, which are dark brown at the tips. They are provided with a few slender white hairs, which become shorter and more spinelike towards the end of the leg. The head is smooth, somewhat flattened in front, with a few slender scattered hairs. The clypeus is trapezoidal, narrowing forward, and the labrum is rounded in front. The mandibles are dark brown, with black tips.

Pupa. The pupa are .14 inch long, by .1 inch wide. They are white, except the eyes and the mandibles, which, when the pupæ are mature, show through the outer envelope, red or black. The head is bent against the breast, and the legs folded against the body beneath, the posterior pair being applied against the sides of the abdomen, and the thighs of the anterior pair projecting at right angles. The front of the head is set with a few long spines with inflated bases, and three transverse rows of similar spines appear upon the thorax, one near the anterior border, one near the

posterior, and the third intermediate. Six similar hairs occur upon the scutellum, and a row of about six or eight borders each one of the abdominal segments above. The last three segments are variously armed with spines, differing in shape and direction according to the genus, and the knees of the last pair of legs are furnished with hooks and long slender hairs with inflated bases. The sheaths of the antennæ are set externally with conical tubercles.

- Adults. The group to which these beetles belong is thus defined by Leconte & Horn:—

"Body oblong, convex, rarely rounded or oval, usually metallic, sometimes testaceous or spotted. Head moderate, deflexed, front wide, eyes more or less emarginate; antennæ filiform, or slightly thicker externally, usually long; widely separated at the base. Prothorax with distinct lateral margin, which is, however, rarely effaced. Pygidium covered by the elytra, which are rounded at tip. Front coxæ separated by the prosternum, globose, cavities closed behind. Legs moderate, the front ones sometimes elongated; tarsi broad, the third joint deeply bilobed, claws appendiculate or bifid in our genera."