306 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 15 



one and two inches below the crown. The larvae do not confine their 

 attacks to grasses and legumes, since records have now been obtained 

 of their feeding on the roots of such plants as iris, peony, gladiolus, 

 arbor vitae, small conifers, as well as other ornamental plants and 

 shrubs, and also on the roots of com, beans and tomatoes. 



The first injuries to grass sod which were noted occurred in a pasture 

 in which the abundance of the larvae was between 150 and 200 to the 

 square yard. Areas were injured to such an extent that the sod could 

 be easily rolled up with the fingers. Many of the plants which did 

 not have the roots entirely eaten off by the grubs were killed by the 

 hot, dry weather which ocurred later in the season. Many weeds 

 and coarse rooted grasses do not show any appreciable effects from 

 the feeding of the larvae, whereas the finer rooted species such as blue 

 grass and red top are killed. For this reason it is probable that the 

 most important injury by the grubs will not usually result in the de- 

 struction of the sod, but rather in the killing out of the more desirable 

 species of grasses for pasture or hay purposes, and their being replaced 

 by less desirable species. 



Golf courses offer particularly favorable situations for the develop- 

 ment of Popillia japonica larvae. The Country Club course at River- 

 ton, New Jersey was found to be generally infested with the grubs 

 early in the Autumn of 1921. On the fairways and in the rough the 

 infestation was variable, on an average of a nimiber of diggings less 

 than fifty larvae were found to each square yard. On several of the 

 putting greens the larvae were very numerous, as high as one grub to 

 the square inch being found. The grass was killed in limited areas 

 on someof the greens. That the greens were not more seriously injured 

 was probably due to the fact that they were regularly watered and 

 rolled. Aside from the direct injury to the grass roots, the playing 

 surface was rendered soft and spongy by the burrowing of the insects 

 in the soil. It was noticeable that the most severe injury to the grass 

 occurred on the higher portions of the greens and especially about the 

 margins. These would probably be the places which would receive 

 the least water when the greens were sprinkled. Much of the feeding 

 on the greens was done close to the surface of the ground, the larvae 

 in most cases occurred between ^ inch and ^^ inch deep. 



Feeding Habits 



The feeding habits of the larvae have been observed many times 

 both in the laboratory and in the field, and have been found to differ 

 somewhat from those of certain of our native species. The larva 



