Page:White - The natural history of Selborne, and the naturalist's calendar, 1879.djvu/433

Rh

Cockchaffers seldom abound oftener than once in three or four years; when they swarm, they deface the trees and hedges. Whole woods of oaks are stripped bare by them.

Chaffers are eaten by the turkey, the rook, and the house-sparrow.

The scarabæus solstitialis first appears about June 26th: they are very punctual in their coming out every year. They are a small species, about half the size of the May-chaffer, and are known in some parts by the name of the fern-chaffer.—. A singular circumstance relative to the cockchaffer, or, as it is called here, the May-bug, scarabæus melolontha, happened this year (1800). My gardener, in digging some ground, found, about six inches under the surface, two of these insects alive and perfectly formed, so early as the 24th March. When he brought them to me, they appeared to be as perfect, and as much alive as in the midst of summer, crawling about as briskly as ever; yet I saw no more of this insect till the 22nd May, when it began to make its appearance. How comes it, that though it was perfectly formed so early as the 24th March, it did not show itself above ground till nearly two months afterwards?—.

PTINUS PECTINICORNIS.

Those maggots that make worm-holes in tables, chairs, bed-posts, etc., and destroy wooden furniture, especially where there is any sap, are the larvæ of the ptinus pectinicornis. This insect, it is probable, deposits its eggs on the surface, and the worms eat their way in.