264 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9 



down into the soil where they again prepare an earthen cell to pass the 

 second winter. Reappearing to near the surface in the spring of the 

 third year they are actively feeding and may do some damage but 

 usually by June. 1 they are full grown, prepare an earthen cell and 

 change to pupa? in July, having passed the two weeks or so previous to 

 pupation in a semi-dormant stage which we may call the prepupal 

 stage (Plate 14, fig. f). Remaining in the pupal stage three to four 

 weeks, the adults issue and remain in the pupal cell through the fol- 

 lowing winter, appearing above the ground the last of April or first of 

 May. In this brood there is really but one season where injury may 

 be severe but in northern Wisconsin where the life cycle is four years, 

 injury occurs throughout the two seasons following the year the eggs 

 are laid. As stated above, the larvae pupate during the summer or 

 early fall in the case of the species of importance in the latitude of 

 Indiana. However, in southern Indiana and farther south, we have 

 a number of species which pupate in the spring, and appear above 

 ground as beetles the same season, examples of such species being L. 

 hurmeisteri, L. n. sp. (ephilida group), L. quercus, L. antennata and 

 L. gracilis. These species, like beetles of the genus Cyclocephala, do 

 not make their appearance until the latter part of June or July. No 

 doubt we will find that all of the Lachnosterna which appear com- 

 paratively late in the season in southern states, likewise pupate in the 

 spring. 



Comparison with Related Genera 



It will be interesting here to briefly note the life-history of species 

 belonging to related genera. Ligyrus gibhosus and L. relictus have a 

 one-year life cycle, the beetles pupating and appearing above ground 

 in fall and reentering the ground to pass the winter, not laying eggs 

 until the following spring. The beetles are present at lights almost 

 the season through, due to the excessive overlapping of broods. The 

 grubs feed on manure and other decaying matter but the beetle of L. 

 gibbosus feeds on the roots of various weeds such as Amaranthus and 

 Helianthus and not infrequently noticeably damages crops of sun- 

 flowers. An interesting habit of the Ligyrus beetles is that they 

 copulate under ground. Cyclocephala immaculata is frequently found 

 in compost heaps and in cultivated fields, and may obtain its full 

 growth on decaying matter alone or may become a serious field pest, 

 damaging crops similar to those attacked by Lachnosterna grubs. It 

 has a one-year cycle but, like certain of the Lachnosterna, pupates in 

 the spring and appears above the ground the latter part of June and 

 during July. The beetle seems to feed only on decaying matter and 

 does not feed on foliage as do the Lachnosternas. Cotinis {^Allor- 

 hina) nitida and the Euphorias likewise have a one-year cycle, the 



