﻿Dec, iSgs-] Webster. North American Species of Diabrotica. 103 



frequenting the blossoms of Yucca whipplei, while Koebele states that 

 it is destructively abundant on many fruits and vegetables and that he 

 has observed it feeding upon the leaves of young corn, the larvje having 

 been found by him attacking the roots. From all of the foregoing it 

 will be seen that while the members of this genus in our country feed 

 upon both fruit and foliage, it is the bloom to which they pay particu- 

 lar attention as soon as it is accessible to them. Still, it must be ad- 

 mitted that while lon^icornis has a fondness for the bloom of the cotton 

 plant, yet it can hardly be said to occur in the cotton-growing portion 

 of the country, and I can only suggest that it is primarily a grass insect, 

 feeding in the larval stage upon the roots, and, largely at least, in the 

 adult state on the blossoms of various flowers. Both Schwarz and Lug- 

 ger have found pupre oi l2-piiuctata about the roots of Riidbeckia, and 

 Marten found the larvae among the roots of Cypenis strigosiis and 

 Scirpjis fliiviatelliis, while I have taken the supposed larva of this species 

 feeding on young wheat plants below ground. We only know that the 

 larvte oi vittata has been found in the roots of Cucurbs, which does not 

 necessarily imply that it too may not breed among the roots of grass or 

 plants of a kindred nature. The two species, vittata and i2-punctata, 

 appeared to have occupied the country to the east of the Rocky Moun- 

 tains from an early day, as we hear of their depredations from the earli- 

 est settlement of the country, and we may fairly assume that both 

 may have spread over the country from the southwest, supporting 

 themselves in both the larval and adult stages upon the indigenous vege- 

 tation, though we can, of course, not say that the cultivated fields of 

 both the Aztecs of Mexico and our own aborigines have not aided in 

 their diffusion. Much less do we know or shall we be able to learn the 

 influence that might have been offered by that extinct race of men, now 

 only known by their stupendous earthworks that are scattered over the 

 country, but of whose daily lives we know absolutely nothing, and 

 therefore cannot measure their influence on the flora and fauna of their 

 time. All facts now in our possession indicate that longicoruis has 

 spread eastward at a comparatively recent time, and though we only 

 know of one food plant, corn, it is almost certain that there are others. 

 Mr. Reinecke writes me that he collects all of his specimens of the beetle 

 from willows growing near a small stream, not far from Buffalo, while 

 Mr. Harrington calls attention to the lack of corn in the vicinity of 

 where he found these beetles in New Brunswick, and states that the 

 species must breed in the roots of some of the larger grasses. So far as 

 known then, with the possible exception of vittata, the species shows a 

 tendency toward the grasses as food plants for the larvae. 



