Iks 



In 1922, Paillot (192*0 Isolated this bacterium from 

 diseased Neurotoma nemoralis larvae, "but he did not find 

 it of any great help in checking the insect in nature. 

 He (1933) mentions the pathogenicity of the organism to 

 Agrotis segetum and Agrotis pronubana . 



If the organism is gram- negative, as Paillot suggests, 

 it should "be placed in the genus Neisseria . 



* Paillot, A. 192^ Sur deux bacteries parasites des 

 larvae de Neurotoma nemoralis . Compt. rend, hebdom. 

 acad. sci. , 178 , 2 1 +6-2 i +9. 



Paillot, A. 1933 L' infection chez les insects. 535 pp. 

 Imprimerie De Trevoux, Paris. (See p. 310). 



M 1 CROCOCCus nigrofaciens Northrup 



Insects concerned: Phvllophaga ( La chno sterna ) spp. ; 

 Allorrhina spp. ; American cockroach, Periplaneta americana ; 

 green June "beetle, Allorrhina ( Cotini's ) nitida ; Malacosoma 

 americana ; cockchafer, Melolontha melolontha ; the rhino- 

 ceros "beetle, Strategus utanus ; May -"beetle, Phyllophaga 

 ( La chno sterna ) vandinei . 



In 191^, Northrup (l91^a) described a "bacterial disease 

 of June "beetle larvae, La chno sterna spp., caused "by Micro - 

 coccus nigrofaciens . She found that this micrococcus was 

 always accompanied "by a putrefactive organism, which she 

 regarded as probably "being Bacillus septicus insectorum 

 Krassilstschik. Northrup concluded from her observations 

 that the organisms exist in the soil and that the diseased 

 larvae "become infected through surface injury since ex- 

 periments on the infection of soils showed that excessive 

 moisture in the soil greatly favored the spread of the 

 micrococcus. The common cockroach, Periplaneta americana , 

 was also found to "be attacked "by the micrococcus, "but the 

 infection apparently limited itself to the legs. She gave 

 morphological and cultural characteristics of the organism 

 (191^, b). 



Smyth (1917, 1920) reported a high mortality among the 

 grubs of May-beetles and of the rhinoceros "beetles in 

 experimental "boxes due to Micrococcus nigrofaciens . Du 

 Porte (1915) reported it pathogenic for Malacosoma ameri - 

 cana , and Davis and Luginbill (1921), for the green June 

 beetle. 



Davis, J. J. and Luginbill, P. 192I The green June "beetle 

 or Fig-eater. North Carolina Agr. Expt. St. Bull. 2^2, 

 35 PP. 



