264 



MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. 



While we have a good many species of these May beetles or June 

 beetles here in Missouri, nearly all of them belong to the genus Lachnos- 



tcriia. Our most common species 

 is fitsca, but gibbosa is a close sec- 

 ond ; hirtucla, fraterna and rugosa 

 are perhaps next in order. It will 

 not be necessary to discuss a sin- 

 gle species, but we will confine our 

 remarks so as to include the life 

 history and habits of the majority 

 of these May beetles. 



The beetles, as you know, ap- 

 pear in the spring during May and 

 June, sometimes coming forth in 

 great numbers and flying about 

 just at dusk, and continuing this 



Fig. 26.-one of the White Grubs. Lach- (lu^ing the night. At the approach 



nosterna rugosa, Adult Beetle; enlarged two r 



'6 



dav 



and one-fifth diameters. ui uay they Seek shelter Under 



grass, clods of earth, or even enter the earth itself and remain there until 

 sundown, when they come forth again to fly about and pair and feed upon 

 the leaves of a great variety of forest, shade, ornamental and some fruit 

 trees and bushes. The males seem to be in much greater abundance than 

 the females, our collection last spring showing about five males to one 

 female. This seems to be the case with all species of May beetles. The 

 male beetles die soon after pairing, and the female beetles deposit their 

 eggs within a month and then die. Hence it is that we find very few 

 May beetles after June. 



These beetles lay their eggs, in the ground about the roots of all 

 kinds of grass. The eggs are deposited singly, usually to the depth of a 

 couple of inches, each female depositing between two hundred and two 

 hundred and fifty eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae, which are known 

 as white grub. These larvae feed upon the roots of grass of all species. 

 They are of a light, dirty-white color, quite transparent, and of the form 

 shown in figure 27, which represents one enlarged two and one-half di- 

 ameters. Everybody is familiar with these white grub, as they are to be 

 dug up in our home gardens as well as throughout the general farm. 

 Besides feeding on the roots of grasses these insects also feed upon the 

 roots of a great variety of other plants, including practically all of our 

 staple farm products, as well as garden vegetables, and are among our 

 most destructive insects in strawberry patches. They also feed upon the 

 roots of young trees. 



