THE NEW ZEALAND BEETLE.

Globe, Volume IX, Issue 1203, 11 January 1878, Page 3

THE NEW ZEALAND BEETLE.

Mr A. Simpson, Oamaru, addresses to the "Waitangi Tribune" the following letter, provoked by a report which appeared in the columns of that paper that the Colorado beetle had made its appearance in South Canterbury and North Otago : Having resided in South Canterbury and North Otago principally for the past twenty years, and paid considerable attention to insect life, and from observations I have made of native beetles, I havo not the slightest doubt that those gentlemen are mistaken in their identity, and that they are not paying us a visit, but permanent ly residing with us —the insects in question differing as much In their habits and modes of life from a Colorado beetle as a Negro from an Esquimaux. From descriptions I have read of the last-named, and personal observations of the former, its ravages are to be more dreaded than even the American insect. It is my belief that this beetle is indigenous to New Zealand; ithas been in the country to my knowledge for the last nineteen years. The first time they came under my notice wa- in September, 1859, when prep ring ground lor an orchard for Mv Herbert Meyer, at Station Peak; the 'season was very forward, ami numbers of the insects were developing from the grnb to the beetle state of existence. From the hind legs their bodies seemed as paralysed, and when disturbed, they drew, or dragged it along with difficulty. In 1861, they were in myriads on the Otago side of the Waitaki, the runholders accounting for the scarcity of grass to the weather, never dreaming that the beetles were consuming the under (.he surface quicker than their llocka. the herbage above ground. Kleven or twelve years sinpo they attacked the ijrass paddocks of Mr McMaster, Waikoura. Oamaru, and completely rooted out the fine lawn in front of his residence. Seven or eight vears ago, the country adjoining Oamaru w«h overrun with them, especially so on th< Totara and Ardgowan estates ; at the first mentioned place, the paddocks of English were entirely destroyed by their r s and many of the sheep died in consequence. Having had occasion to pass through these paddocks at the time, they presented a miacrible spectacle, the ground destitute of grass and etrewed with dead sheep in every dlrec-

fcion. By sending the foot into the ground and turning it over, numbers of those insects in the grub state were brought to view, plainly shewing the cause of the devastation. Again, the past and present, years, they h lve been and are again in multitudes. A fortnight ago, while walking in company with two gentlemen (when getting dusk in the evening) from my house towards Severon street Bridge, the whole of the garden reserve appeared one moving mass of those insects, and passing down Thames street the same evening, they struck against us in their flight, That these pests are not the so-called Colorado beetle is evident from their aversion to the potato in any stage of growth if anything more suitable to their palates is within re:ich, and never in a single instance have I found any of their eggs on the leaves of that plant. I have watched their habits for years, and have never seen any eggs deposited on tuber, stem, or leaf.

They are no doubt very epicurean in their diet (and this, 1 think, will be the means in a great measure in eradicating them). In the erub state, they prefer artificially sown grass, especially after the second year, to the roots of native pasture ; in the garden the cherry, plum, and rose trees are selected and eaten with avidity, and here the eggs are deposited —under ground—and the larva? hatched, where they remain and feed on the roots in their grub state of existence, till they assume the beetle form, when the vegetation above ground is restored to in turn. In the beetle state they seldom ever appear above ground till dusk, when all at once a passing sound is heard, resembling the noise produced by beeß when swarming. This will continue from ten to fifteen minutes, and cease instantaneously. They settle on the leaves united together, male and female, in pairs, where they remain, propagating their species and feeding up to morning, when they separate quietly, drop to the ground, burrow several inches into the soil, and remain to the following evening, and so on ad libitum. Before concluding this letter I may mention a circumstance in connection with these insects and the general ignorance regarding them. A reaper and binder machine had arrived from America on a station, and when unpacking it a, beetle was discovered, a real Colorado, and sent to a chemist in town and exhibited as a curiosity, while the garden and fields on the farm were teeming with those insects. P.S. —I by no means infer from the foregoing that this is the only destructive beetle indigenous to New Zealand ; there are other two varieties equally rapacious, but as yet their numbers are few compared to this particular one, and the damage done by them in comparison trilling. This insect can easily be recognised from other varieties, both in the grub and beetle state ; the head of the grub is brown, from the neck to the hind-legs a greyish white, the remaindor of the body of a slate color, and underneath alternate rays of grey and white. The heetle has a brown head, shining greenish brown on the back and yellow underneath, and about half the size of the brown leopard beetle.