The Melolontha of Aristotle and the Greek authors, which served as a toy for children, is the Cetonia fastuosa.
The Scarabæus viridis of Pliny, which the engravers upon gems loved to contemplate, is also the Cetonia fastuosa.
The Scarabæus Fullo albis guttis of Pliny is the Cetonia aurata, the Scarabæus auratus of Linnæus, which has white spots upon the elytra.
As it is proved that the Spondyle of Aristotle and Pliny is the Chafer, we have been right in directing our attention to this word, for the Chafer destroys the leaves of the vine, as well as of all other plants. This genus includes a species, smaller than the common one, which entomologists have named the Chafer of the vine, Melolontha Vitis, because it is frequently found upon that plant with the Chafer of Frisch, Melolontha Frischii, which is perhaps only one of its varieties[1]; but this insect is found almost as frequently upon the leaves of the willow and the rose-tree as upon those of the vine; and it is not one of those of which our vine-dressers and cultivators particularly complain, nor did it attract the attention of agriculturists among the ancients.
Before concluding my observations upon the word Spondyle, I must not forget to remark that Fabricius has employed it to designate a genus of Coleoptera which he has formed in the family of the Prioni, and named Spondylis buprestoïdes, the Attelabus buprestoïdes of Linnæus; but this insect, the larva of which lives in the wood of green trees, has no relation to the Spondyle of the ancients, the larva of which attacked the roots of young or annual plants. It was not M. Fabricius's intention, in selecting this name, to assume that any relation existed between them: but what I have said in my preliminary reflections may be applied to this case, and relieves me from the necessity of extending my observations upon this subject.
III. Joulos, or Julus.—The Juli.—There is still less reason for the appearance of the name of Joulos among those given to insects injurious to the vine than for that of Spondyle, although Suidas has said that the Joulos was a worm of the vine; but this lexicographer is the only one who has so ill defined the insect of which the ancients have spoken under the name of Joulos. From a comparison of their texts, it appears that the Joulos is an apterous or wingless insect, possessing a great number of feet; that it has the lengthened form of a worm; moves in a serpentine manner; coils itself up when touched; and is found in moist places. Modern naturalists cannot have been mistaken with regard to this insect, for which they have retained the ancient name. The name
- ↑ Walckenaer, Faune Parisienne, vol. i. p. 185. Olivier, Entomologie, genus Hanneton, No. 39. pl. 2. fig. 12. a, b, c. p. 34. vol. i. Schœnherr, Synonymia Insect., vol. i. part iii. p. 193.
