Spinach Carrion-beetle 



spread on waste land, about ditches and fields. As the beetles and larvae 

 feed principally at night the poisoned bait to be most effective should 

 be put out late in the day. 



DESCRIPTION 

 The Egg 



The eggs, which are laid in the soil, vary from almost spherical to 

 oval in form. ' The size is also variable. The smaller ones are about c ;\ 

 of an inch long and the larger ones 3 : V of an inch long. The color is a 

 creamy white, and the surface is polished and glistening. Prof. Cooley 

 has observed that the eggs increase in size after being laid. 



The Larva 



The newly hatched larva is about T 3 6 of an inch long and black in 

 color. When fully grown the larva appears as shown in Figure 11, Plate 

 VII, Page 23. The color is a shining black. The head of the insect 

 represented by the figure is bent downward, making it appear as 

 though the first segment of the thorax were the head. The young car- 

 rion-beetles are fiat, and the body, which is composed of plates each^ 

 terminating in an acute angled corner at each side, has the appearance 

 of being notched on the margin. 



The Pupa 



The pupa is white and soft. The legs, antennae and wings are free. 

 At the sides of the body there are several long hairs and at the tip are 

 two fleshy prongs also terminated by long hairs. 



The Adult 



The adult beetles (Fig. 10, Plate VII, Page 23) are uniformly dull 

 black. The wing covers are ribbed lengthwise. The Latin name of the 

 beetle, "bituberosa," meaning "with two tubercles," was suggested by 

 the tubercles at the end of the two outside ridges. 



LIFE HISTORY 



Egg laying begins about the middle of May and continues until 

 nearly the middle of July. The females seem to prefer moist soil as a 

 place to deposit their eggs, which are laid from one to two inches below 

 the surface. Prof. Cooley reports as high as 75 eggs from one female, 

 the average of several being 39. The eggs hatch in from three to six 

 days. 



The larval stage lasts about 24 days, at the end of which time the full 

 grown larva enters the ground, forms an oval cell and pupates. The 

 pupal stage lasts 23 to 26 days, the insect completing its development 

 from the egg to the adult in about 55 days. 



After emerging from the pupae the adults spend the remainder of the 

 season in the soil, coming out occasionally to feed. They spend the winter 

 in hibernation about the margins of fields, on ditch banks and roadsides, 

 coming forth as soon as the frost leaves the ground in the spring. There 

 is no evidence of more than one brood each season. 



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