268 JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY [Vol. 9 



over 300,000 determined Lachnosterna beetles but there are many 

 localities where scarcely any records are represented in our collections 

 and many more collections, especially from southern states and from 

 various sections of the other states, must be made before we can come 

 to definite and satisfactory conclusions for the country as a whole. 

 Any one who can collect beetles at trees or lights are urged to so notify 

 us that we may offer all assistance possible. Our records, especially 

 where continuous collections have been made, are very interesting, 

 showing some species to occur at certain elevations, others where 

 certain soil conditions exist, while still others are present only where 

 foliage of a particular tree is available. Certain species such as tristis, 

 hirticula, fraterna, etc., feed largely on hickory and oak, while others, 

 usually beetles of the fusca group, prefer ash, and others, such as 

 gihbosa, are general feeders. Lachnosterna vehemens is found at Lafay- 

 ette almost exclusively in the bottom land area along the Wabash 

 river and although supposed to be a comparatively rare species it is 

 the predominant species at Elk Point, South Dakota, as found by Mr. 

 C. N. Ainslie and the writer, in the fertile bottom land between the 

 Missouri and Sioux rivers. Where we have found it behind the plow or 

 in our beetle collections, it has been where the land is low, usually the 

 bottom land along a river. Soil conditions also influence the abund- 

 ance of certain species. While it is a well known fact that most species 

 prefer a "timber soil," usually a clay loam soil, others have a decidedly 

 different preference, for we find L. pruniyia invariably where the soil 

 is sandy. 



The time and length of the period of flight for the different species 

 of Lachnosterna varies considerably. For instance, at Lafayette, 

 gihhosa is one of the first to make its appearance in spring, and the 

 last to disappear, and while such species as arcuata and fusca appear 

 equally early they disappear more rapidly towards the latter half of 

 June. Most of the species appear within a few days after the first 

 flight of beetles but the delayed appearance of some species, such as 

 implicita, crenulata and ilicis, is very pronounced, for instance, im- 

 plicita seldom makes its appearance until the middle of May and 

 disappears considerably earlier than most species. On the other 

 hand, tristis is one of the first species to be found but by the first of 

 June it has become a very rare species at both lights and trees. In the 

 latitude of Lafayette, beetles first appear the latter part of April or 

 first of May, usually the former, and reach a maximum abundance 

 near or a little after the middle of May, gradually diminishing in 

 numbers thereafter until July 1, after which date only straggling 

 individuals are to be found. In southern Indiana and farther south, 

 certain species, such as L. ephilida, burmeisteri, quercus, gracilis, etc., 



