STATE AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY. 371 



CnEKKr. LEAVES. 



shining are rough from being covered with shallow indented points the edges of 

 which are wrinkled, and running lengthwise upon each wing cover is three or 

 four raised straight lines. The ;:reast is covered with glossy fine yellowish 

 gray hairs. 



This species presents several varieties. Commonly the thorax is a little nar- 

 rower than the wing covers, whereby the general shape approaches to that of 

 an egg with its small end forward. But sometimes the thorax is broader 

 equaling the width of the wing covers and giving the individual a form nearly 

 cylindrical. The sides of the thorax are regularly rounded, but sometimes a 

 specimen may be found having the lateral margin slightly angular in the middle. 

 Sometimes the punctures upon the thorax or those upon the wing covers are 

 larger and more distinct than usual. By different authors several distinct 

 species have heretofore been made out of these varieties of this insect. 



In its larva state it is a thick soft white grub with a brownish 

 head and with the hind part of its body curved downwards and 

 more or less forward under its breast. It is several years in attain- 

 ing its growth, so that grubs of different sizes will be found in the 

 ground at the same time. When full grown it is almost as thick 

 as the little finger. These grubs feed upon the roots of grass and 

 other plants, which they cut off a short distance beneath the sur- 

 face; and when tliey are numerous they advance under ground 

 like an army, severing the turf as smoothly as though it were cut 

 with a spade, so that it can be raised up in large sheets and folded 

 over or rolled together like a carpet. Often from a dozen to 

 twenty grubs will be exposed in every square foot when the turf 

 is thus raised. Large patches of this kind will occur in the 

 middle of a meadow or pasture, every blade of the grass being 

 br6wn and dead. 



Early in spring, in spading or plowing the ground, these beetles 

 are frequently exhumed, or sometimes in turning over a large 

 stone one of them will be found beneath, lying in a smooth cavity 

 or little round hollow in the dirt, like a chicken in its shell. 

 This cavity or cell is formed by the grub in the preceding autumn. 

 Turning itself around and around, it presses upon and compacts 

 the dirt and moulds it into this cell for its winter residence; and 

 in this cell it chancres first to a pupa, in which the lei^s and wing- 

 cases of the insect are seen in their rudimentary state, and after- 

 wards to a beetle, such as we have above described. This beetle 

 lies dormant in its cell until the warmth of the incoming summer 



