THE MAY BEETLES OR JUNE BUGS. 



Dtjklng the warm evenings of May and June, lighted rooms 

 are frequently invaded by the great clumsy May beetles or 

 June bugs (Fig. 31) which fly through the open doors and 

 windows, being attracted by the light. On such evenings 

 by careful searching out-of-doors 

 one is likely to find these beetles 

 feeding upon the leaves of apple, 

 cherry, oak, elm, hickory, and 

 various other fruit and shade 

 trees. These insects fly and take 

 their food at night, remaining 

 quiet during the day. 



The life-history of these May 

 beetles may be briefly summa- 

 rized in this way : The female 

 beetles deposit their minute whit- 

 ish eggs among the roots of grasses. The eggs soon hatch into 

 small, brown-headed grubs or larvae that feed upon the roots of 

 grass and. other herbage. They increase slowly- in size, bur- 

 rowing about in the earth to get 

 food, and going down deeper when 

 winter approaches. The next 

 spring they come near the surface 

 again and continue to feed through- 

 out the second season. In autumn 

 they become full-grown and form 

 oval cells in the earth in which they change to pupse, again to 

 transform, generally before winter, into beetles that remain in 



;i3 



Fig. 31. — Adult May Beetle. 



Fig. 32. — White Grub. 



