200 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 

 Dear Sir, — 



The following note may prove of interest as showing the numbers in 

 which the larvae of Lachnostetna fusca may exist in a lawn without per- 

 ceptible damage to the grass resulting. 



On Sunday last, while walking through the Capitol grounds a few hours 

 after a heavy shower of rain, I observed these larvae in great numbers upon 

 the stone pavement north and east of the Capitol building. I counted 

 up to three hundred and then came to a spot where they were so thick 

 that I had to give it up. I certainly saw thousands, nearly all of which 

 were dead, either from heat or from having been trodden upon. Upon 

 interviewing the Superintendent of the grounds, I learned that at this 

 season of the year the grubs always make their appearance in like num- 

 bers after a hard rain. This gentleman informed me, and his statement 

 was corroborated by several others, that frequently the sweepers of a 

 morning in going over the walks would collect at the bottom of the hill as 

 many as a bushel of the grubs. The pavement is edged on both sides by 

 a two-inch curb, and the larvae falling over this are unable to return ; only 

 those grubs inhabiting the earth near the curb would reach the walk, and 

 the great numbers killed in this way after every shower afford an index to 

 the immense number which the entire lawn must contain. Yet. in spite 

 of this most serious drawback, as one would naturally call it. the grass 

 over the entire plot is so fresh and green as to call for universal admiration. 



The movements of the larvae upon the smooth pavement were very 

 interesting. The characteristic bend of the body unfits them for walking 

 on smooth surfaces, and every live individual that I observed was upon its 

 back, moving forward quite rapidly by the alternate expansion and con- 

 traction of the segments. This mode of locomotion seemed strange at 

 first, but upon reflecting that the probable natural position of the larva in 

 the earth is upon its back with its legs grasping the grass roots, it seemed 

 not so unnatural after all. The strong transverse corrugations and rows 

 of bristles upon the dorsum, taken in connection with the extremely 

 business-like and natural air with which the larvae took this position and 

 the rapid progress which they made while in it, would seem to indicate 

 that the back is used for locomotion with these insects more than has 

 perhaps been suspected. L. O. Howard. 



Washington. 1). C, Sept. 17. 



