Domestic Encyclopædia (1802)/Chafer

CHAFER, Cock-chafer, May-beetle, Jeffry Cock, or, in Norfolk, Dor, the Scarabæus Melolontha, L. is an insect belonging to a genus, which comprises eighty-seven species. It has, like all the rest, a pair of cases to its wings, of a reddish, brown colour, sprinkled with a whitish dust, which is easily separated. The necks of these insects are, in some years, covered with a red plate; in others, with a black; but they are distinct varieties. Their fore legs are very short, and thus better calculated for burrowing in the ground, to which they instinctively retreat.

Chafers are well known by the buzzing noise they make, in the evening, when rising in the air; but particularly for the irreparable mischief they occasion to the industrious cultivator; having been found, in some seasons, so numerous, as to consume every vegetable production. These pernicious vermin are generated from eggs, which the females usually deposit, about six inches deep in the ground. Three months after, the inclosed insects begin to break the shells, and crawl forth, in the form of small grubs, or maggots, which feed upon the roots of whatever vegetables they meet with. In this worm state, they continue for more than three or four years, devouring the roots of every plant they approach, and burrowing under the ground with the utmost celerity for food. At length, they exceed a walnut in size, being large, white, thick maggots, with red heads, which are most frequently found in newly turned earth, and are much sought after by every species of birds. When largest, they are an inch and a half long, of a whitish, yellow colour, with bodies composed of twelve segments, or joints, on each side of which there are nine breathing holes, and three red feet. The head is larger in proportion to the body; of a reddish colour, with a forceps, or pincer before, and a semi-circular lip, with which they cut the roots of plants, and suck out their moisture. They have no eyes, but are furnished with two feelers, which serve to direct their motions under ground.

At the expiration of four years, these destructive insects prepare to emerge from their subterraneous abode. About the latter end of autumn, the grubs begin to perceive their transformation approaching; when they bury themselves deeper in the earth, sometimes even six feet below the surface, where they form capacious apartments, the walls of which become very smooth and shining, by the excretions of their bodies. Soon after, they begin to shorten themselves, to swell, and burst their last skin, preparatory to their change into a chrysalis. This appears at first to be of a yellowish colour, which gradually heightens, till at length it becomes almost red. Its external figure clearly displays the characters of the future winged insect, all the fore-parts being distinctly seen; while, behind, the animal seems as if wrapped in swaddling clothes.

In this state, the young Cock-chafer, or May-bug, continues for about three months longer; when, towards the beginning of January, the aurelia divests itself of all its impediments, and becomes a complete, winged insect. But it has not attained its natural health, strength, and appetite: unlike all other insects, which arrive at their state of perfection as soon as they become flies, the cock-chafer continues feeble and sickly. Its colour is much brighter than in the perfect animal; all its parts are soft, and its voracious nature appears suspended. In this state, it is frequently found, and is erroneously supposed by those who are ignorant of its real history, to be an old one, of the former season, which has buried itself during the winter, in order to re-visit the sun, the ensuing summer. The fact is, the old one never survives the season, but perishes, in the same manner as every other species of insects, from the severity of the cold, during winter.

Towards the latter end of May, these insects burst from the earth, the first mild evening that invites them abroad; after having lived from four to five years under ground. They are then seen to emerge from their close confinement, no longer to live on roots, and imbibe only the moisture of the earth, but to choose the sweetest vegetables for their food, and to sip the evening dew. An attentive observer will, at that time of the year, see even path-way strewed with them; and, in warm evenings of May, myriads of them are buzzing along, flapping against every thing that impedes their flight. The heat of the mid-day sun, however, seems to be too powerful for their constitution; they, therefore, conceal themselves in clusters, under the foliage of shady trees, but particularly of the willow, which appears to be their most favourite food, and which they seldom quit, till they have consumed all its verdure. In seasons favourable to their propagation, they are seen in an evening, in considerable swarms; their duration, however, is but short, as they never survive the summer. They begin to pair, soon after they have emerged from their subterraneous prison; and the female then carefully bores a hole in the ground, with an instrument for that purpose, with which she is furnished at her tail, and deposits her eggs there, generally to the number of sixty.

Destructive as these insects, in their worm state, are to vegetation, they would be still more so, were they not destroyed by birds, and more especially rooks, which devour them in great numbers. Half a century ago, they were so exceedingly numerous in the county of Norfolk, that they destroyed not only the verdure of the fields, but even the roots of vegetables. One farmer, in particular, was so much injured by them, in the year 1751, that he was unable to pay his rent. Many crops in that county, were then almost ruined by the devastations these insects committed, in their worm state; and, when they took wing the next season, trees and hedges were, in many parishes, completely stripped of their leaves. At first, the people brushed them down with poles, swept them up, and burnt them. James Ebden, a Norfolk farmer, made oath, that he gathered eighty bushels; but their number did not seem much diminished, except in his own fields. Neither the severest frosts in our climate, nor even water, will kill them; as, on being exposed to the sun and air, for a few hours, they will recover, and resume their former lively state. One of the best methods to be adopted for preventing their transformation, is, to plough up the land in thin furrows, to employ children to pack them up in baskets; and then to strew salt and quick-lime on the ground, and harrow it in.

We have but an imperfect knowledge of the nature and history of the insect, called by the French Vinaigrieur, and of other scarabivorous animals, to avail ourselves of their labours. This, however, is clear, that if such insects as devour grubs, should take possession of the soil where cock-chafers abound, they must, in a short time, destroy immense numbers of the latter; and as they have five successive seasons to prey on them, till they attain their perfect state, they may be entirely extirpated, before one fly can be produced.

It is a circumstance well known, that the whole of the corvus, or crow, and pie-tribes, are exceedingly fond of chafers, and particularly at a season when grain is scarce (i. e. from the end of seed-time to the beginning of harvest); they search for them with the utmost avidity. These sagacious birds, having observed that the leaves of such plants as are attacked by the grub, appear withered or drooping, during the day, they fly to them, dig for it with their strong bills, to the very root; and, if they do not find it, pull the plant itself out of the ground. It also frequently happens, that they mistake the drooping leaves of plants newly set, for those injured by grubs, and seize upon these; thus finding no prey, they strike their bills into the ground, at their roots, pull them up one after another, and, if not watched, do great mischief. Strawberries are particularly liable to the depredations of the grub; hence, sometimes, whole fields of strawberry-plants are spoiled by the rooks, immediately after they have been set. To prevent such devastation, it is necessary to guard them, till their leaves assume an upright position.

This damage, however, is but trivial, when compared with the real benefit occasioned by the rooks picking these vermin out of both, grass and corn land. Great care ought, therefore, to be taken not to disturb these birds, especially as in fallowed lands, where grubs generally abound, they are of infinite service. In this case, the land should be stirred with the plough as often as the weather will permit; for, if the rooks once find their way thither, they will not abandon the plough, unless driven away by violence; and each time the land is stirred, they will destroy multitudes of these vermin. Were this the only advantage to be derived from their destruction, it would amply compensate the farmer for the labour and expence bestowed upon it. Independently of the beneficial effect, which this management produces on the fertility of fallow-land, it may frequently be attended with the destruction of a whole race of grubs, in the adjacent fields.

But, as this method is impracticable in gardens, recourse ought to be had to other expedients. Gardeners have observed that cabbages, cauliflowers, strawberries, and especially lettuces, are the favourite food of the grub. In order to destroy that pernicious insect, they plant a row of lettuces between the rows of strawberries, in which case the insect will preferably attack the former. Hence, they carefully examine the plants every day, walking along the rows with a trowel: wherever they observe leaves falling, they know their enemy is on the spot; immediately dig it up, and thus destroy the grub.

The whole race of these insects may probably be extirpated in stiff soils, by long continued rains, during the winter. For at that time, they having descended deep into the ground, the passage must be in some measure left open, so as to allow the water, if in abundance, to soak down to the bottom of their hole; which, in a retentive soil, it will fill, and, if continued a sufficient time, infallibly drown them. Wherever irrigation is employed for other purposes, the extermination of the grub may be effected by this method; and there are many situations, in which water may be commanded in quantities adequate to this important purpose. It is highly probable that, if a stream of water could be spread over the surface of a grass-field, only for a few days, during any of the winter or spring months, all the grubs might be drowned in their holes: and as water is most abundant in that season, a very small stream might be so conducted, in different directions, as to inundate a large tract of ground. The benefit of one irrigation, thus managed, would be felt for five years. We therefore venture, with Dr. Anderson, to recommend this mode of destroying grubs, to those who have grass-lands infested with them; especially when they are intended to be converted into corn-land; for the injury done by grubs to the first crop, is often severely felt. It might even be safely applied to orchards, and wood-lands, provided that the water were not continued longer than is necessary to effect the destruction of the worms.

Having thus given a succinct analysis of the different methods of exterminating the cock-chafer, in its earlier stages of existence, suggested by native writers, we proceed to lay before our readers the latest discoveries made on the Continent, relative to this important subject.

The Hamburgh Society for the Encouragement of the Arts and Useful Trades, has published the following methods of destroying this voracious insect, as communicated by different authors:

1. In order to prevent the worm from changing into a chafer, it is advisable to intersect the fields with ditches: as this insect is continually creeping about, it penetrates through the sides of those trenches, falls into the water which they generally contain, and cannot extricate itself from that situation; but it is necessary to collect the worms every day; for they will serve as an excellent food for swine and poultry.

2. Take two ounces of oil (it is not stated what kind of oil) to every pailful of water, and sprinkle it on such places as are visited by the worm: or bury twenty small pots, at equal distances, from 8 to 10 inches deep, and each containing from 20 to 30 drops of sulphurated oil, or thick balsam of sulphur, the exhalation of which expels the insects.—This expedient, however, can be practised only in gardens.

3. Another correspondent suggests the frequent hoeing of plants, or ploughing of the soil in the months of June and July, in order to bruise the insect, or to expose it for the prey of birds. He also advises to pour boiling water on those less productive, or barren spots of meadows, which may be easily distinguished from others: this remedy, however, appears to us exceptionable; because hot water would at the same time injure the vegetating roots of grasses.

4. Previous to a shower of rain, the following powder strewed on the land has been found of great service: namely, two parts of pulverized quick-lime, two parts of sifted wood-ashes, and one part of pounded sulphur: the hepatic vapour disengaged from this mixture, on being moistened, is affirmed to be effectual in destroying that pernicious grub.

5. The Rev. J. F. Mayer, an aged German clergyman, has, in a separate essay on this subject (1786) published the following method of extirpating the cock-chafer: he found from long experience, that irrigation of the fields towards the latter end of May, or in June; alternate manuring of land with marl, street-dung, acrid and corrosive matters, such as quick-lime, gypsum, nitre, the ley of wood-ashes, and of tanners' waste, &c. are the only practicable means of destroying that insect in a grub-state; besides which, he advises to drive a flock of sheep frequently over such land as has been much perforated by this insect; to water the meadows in spring; to sow red clover early in March, or (in Germany), as soon as the snow is melted on the soil; then to harrow in the seed, to cover it thinly with a mellow dung, and to repeat the sowing in the first three or four years, as occasion may require.

In the Memoirs of the Agricultural Society of Paris (for 1787, vol. iii.) the Marquis de Gouffier has suggested a very simple, but, as he asserts, effectual remedy for preventing the depredations ot this injurious grub, and consequently its progressive transformation into a chafer. He observed, namely, that turf or peat ashes, strewed on the fields, produced that desirable effect.

Uses of the Cock-chafer. Although this numerous and voracious insect is by no means calculated to compensate the hundredth part of the injury it inflicts on vegetables; yet we are inclined to think that, especially in a grub state, it might be more frequently employed for the feeding of poultry, than it is at present. Nor does it appear to us impracticable, to feed and fatten great numbers of swine with these chafers, if they were previously bruised, and mixed with such vegetables chopped, or cut small, as are eagerly eaten by hogs.

We shall farther communicate, to artists, a curious fact lately published by M. Busch, a German writer. He informs us, that an uncommonly beautiful brown colour, of a reddish shade, for painting, may be easily obtained from the cock-chafer: this colour is said to be of superior lustre and delicacy to every other water-paint hitherto discovered. The colouring matter is found in the throat and stomach of the winged insect, and probably consists of its food, when changed into chyle. After separating the posterior part of the body, there appears to be a thin, white canal, or duct, which should be carefully opened, the juice oozing out, collected on a fine painter's pencil, and then deposited on a shell. Each chafer affords at least three drops of this juice, which may be employed without any farther preparation; and is not liable to fade, or spoil, by long keeping. The most proper time for performing this operation, is the evening, and before the chafers begin to swarm; because they will then be replete with nourishment.