. Insect transformations . in each pot; and in this man-ner he fed them through the second and third this period, they cast their skins three or fourtimes, going for this purpose deeper into the earth,and burrowing out a hole where they might elTecttheir change undisturbed; and they do the same inwinter, during which they become torpid and do noteat. When the grub changes into a pupa, in the thirdautumn after it is hatched, it digs a similar burrowabout a yard deep; and when kept in a pot, and pre-vented from going deep enough, it shows great un-easiness and often dies. The perfec
. Insect transformations . in each pot; and in this man-ner he fed them through the second and third this period, they cast their skins three or fourtimes, going for this purpose deeper into the earth,and burrowing out a hole where they might elTecttheir change undisturbed; and they do the same inwinter, during which they become torpid and do noteat. When the grub changes into a pupa, in the thirdautumn after it is hatched, it digs a similar burrowabout a yard deep; and when kept in a pot, and pre-vented from going deep enough, it shows great un-easiness and often dies. The perfect beetle comesforth from the pupa in January or February; but it isthen as soft as it was whilst still a grub, and doesnot acquire its hardness and colour tor ten or twelvedays, nor does it venture above ground before May, RAVAGES OF GRUBS. 227 on the fourth year from the time of its hatching. Atthis time, the beetles may be observed issuing fromtheir holes in the evening, and dashing themselvesabout in the air as if Transformations of the cockchafer fM>loyitf,n -niri^aris). a,newly hatched liirv®. A, larva, one year oUI. c, the same larvaatthesecond jearofits gromh. </, thesniiie Ihiee years old. c,secticn of n bank of earth, containing the chiys^ali:! of the fourthyear. /, the dialer first emerging from the earth, g-, the perfectchaTer in a Mlliiig posture. A, the same living. During the three summers then of their the grub state, these insects do immense injury,burrowing between the turf and the soil, and devour-ing the roots of grass and other plants; so that the 228 INSECT TRANSFORMATIONS, turf may be easily rolled off, as if cut by a turfingspade, while the soil underneath for an inch or moreis turned into soft mould like the bed of a Anderson, of Norwich, mentions having seena whole field of fine flourishing grass so under-mined by these grubs, that in a few weeks it becameas dry, brittle, and withered as hay.* Bingley alsotells us th
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