110 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 12 



habits of this insect until the appearance of the notable work on the 

 life-histories of Lachnosterna by Davis. This writer (1916, p. 276) suc- 

 cessfully reared one specimen to the adult stage in two years, but the 

 length of the various stages were not noted. He also writes of the 

 grubs as injuring wheat in Kansas. 



During the past few years the grubs of this species have come into 

 prominence every fall soon after wheat planting time in southern 

 Kansas and northern Oklahoma where they annually damage thou- 

 sands of acres of young winter wheat. During the past fall their dam- 

 age has been especially severe in southern Kansas. In the fields they 

 often work in small patches which enlarge the following year. Grubs 

 of various sizes are to be found in the fields and are frequently so abun- 

 dant that a single handful of soil will contain three or four grubs. In 

 other parts of the state the grubs and beetles are found abundantly 

 in the native grasslands and are often a serious pest of pasture grasses. 

 One instance was noted where the beetles were found feeding on grow- 

 ing oats. 



Distribution 



Lachnosterna lanceolata is practically confined to the region bounded 

 on the west by the Rocky Mountains, and on the east by the Missis- 

 sippi River. Specimens have been reported as taken in South Da- 

 kota, Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oklahoma, 

 Arkansas, and Texas. Forbes (1894, p. 139) lists the species as rare 

 in central and southern Illinois. This was the only record found of its 

 occurrence east of the Mississippi River. 



The spread of this species is naturally slow. The females are wing- 

 less and cannot travel far. One specimen was once observed being 

 carried by high water in a small stream. Local distribution in Kansas 

 varies markedly in the northern and southern parts of the state. In 

 the northern part of the state the species is, with rare exceptions, con- 

 fined to the higher upland fields and pastures, while in southern 

 Kansas the adults and grubs are found in the lower wheat lands of 

 that region. 



Life-Cycle 



Egg. — The eggs of this species are laid singly or in small groups of 

 three or four in clumps of soil, preferably undisturbed or covered with 

 vegetation, at depths ranging from 1 to 7 inches. The eggs are white 

 in color and when freshly laid are oval in shape, about 2 mm. long, but 

 in the course of a few days they assume a globular shape and increase 

 slightly in size, becoming about 2.8 mm, in diameter. The length of 

 the egg stage was found to vary from 9 to 29 days with an average of 

 16 days. Table I shows the maximum, minimum and average length 

 of the egg stage obtained in three seasons. 



