167) 



gates and grows within the body cavity until it fills it com- 

 pletely. This mass within looks not unlike cheese with normal 

 butter color. The insect at that stage looks unusually clean 

 and polished brown. When the mycelia have filled the body 

 cavity they force their way through the thinner portions of 

 the body wall, usually the spaces (membranes) between the 

 segments or rings or joints and appear as a very white cottony 

 substance. The beetle itself is usually dead long before this 

 appearance. In from twenty-four to seventy-two hours the 

 sporangia, or fruiting sacks, are produced. The mass then 

 looks greyish green and is of a somewhat powdery consistency. 

 In course of the past several years many people of these 

 Islands have acquired the habit of reposing considerable confi- 

 dence in the effectiveness of this fungus to check the ravages 

 of the Japanese Beetle. In point of fact, if the necessary con- 

 ditions for its propagation are supplied, either naturally or 

 artificially, some degree of success is inevitable. Fortunately 

 the beetle shows preference for plants about door yards, where 

 favorable conditions for the propagation of the fungus can be 

 created with comparatively little effort. I therefore take 

 pleasure in inserting below the instructions from the most ex- 

 pert authority on the subject on 



HOW TO INOCULATE JAPANESE BEETLES. 

 By B. M. Newell. 



Take a box about six inches deep, and fill about one half 

 with damp soil. Keep this soil moist, not muddy, by occa- 

 sionally sprinkling with water. Dry soil will not work. Col- 

 lect a lot of beetles and place them in this box. Be sure to feed 

 the beetles for they must not starve. The best time to place the 

 food in the box is during the day, because then the beetles 

 are mostly hidden in the ground. If the box be opened in the 

 evening they will try to escape. 



Valuable plants need not be taxed for their food, for any 

 one may have noticed that even certain weeds are eaten by 

 them. The so-called "honohono" grass is found in many 

 places and beetles eat it readily. 



