NATIVE North American insect, there is every reason to believe that this rose chafer, or rose bug, as it is more generally called, has increased in number with the progress of horticulture, for the perfect beetle evidently shows a preference for the blossoms and sweeter and more tender fruit of our cultivated plants as compared with those of wild plants. Another reason may be found in the increased area of pasture and meadow lands which form the natural breeding grounds of the species. The first published account of this insect seems to be that given by Dr. Harris in his "minutes toward a history of some American species of Melolon thae particularly injurious to vegetation" in 1827. In this account Dr. Harris says that at the time the bugs were first noticed, they were confined to the roses, but within forty years they had prodigiously increased in number, and had become very injurious to various plants. From this it would appear that as far back as the last century the insect was known as injurious.

The Rose Chafer.

The Rose Chafer.

Macrodactylus subspinoius: a, female; b, anterior part of male to show the prosternal metacoxal process; c, pygidium of male; d, abdomen of male; e, tip of hind tibia of female; /, ditto of male; g, front tibia of male - all enlarged (original).

According to Harris, the female beetle lays her eggs to the number of about 30, about the middle of July, at a depth of from one to two inches beneath the surface of the ground. He does not state the favorite place for oviposition, but in our experience the larvae are especially abundant in low, open meadow land or in cultivated fields, particularly where the soil is light and sandy. Harris states that the eggs hatch in about twenty days, and, while the period will vary with the temperature the larva is found fully grown during the autumn months. With the approach of cold weather it works deeper into the ground, but in the spring will frequently be found near the surface or under stones and other similar objects, where it forms a sort of cell in which to pupate. In confinement the pupa state has lasted from two to four weeks. The perfect beetle issues in the New England states about the second week of June, while in the latitude of Washington it is seen about two weeks earlier. It appears suddenly in great numbers, as has often been observed and commented upon, but this is in conformity with the habits of other Lamelli-corn beetles, e. g., our common May beetles (Laihnos-terna). It remains active a little over a month, and then soon disappears.

The species produces, therefore, but one annual generation, the time of the appearing of the beetle in greatest abundance being coincident with the flowering of the grape vine.