238 FIRST ANNUAL REPORT OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 



rence of thousands of the lai'vaa of the Maj-beetle, Lachnosterna fusca 

 Frohl., observed by him, ou one occasion, on the stone pavements ad- 

 jacent to the Capitol Building at Washington; and of the statement made 

 to him by the Superintendent of the grounds, that the sweepers of the 

 walks would frequently collect as many as a bushel basket full of the 

 larvffi. Professor Riley has informed me that it has been subsequently 

 ascertained that the above species was not the May-bug, but the 

 Allorhina nitida'^ ; and, he suggests, that while their larvae must have 

 been feeding upon the roots of the grass within the grounds where 

 they were found in such excessive numbers, still, as there are always 

 many decaying rootlets among all grasses, it is possible that their food 

 may, in part, have consisted of these. 



The E. Inda is of serious harm at times in its resort to flowers to 

 feed upon the pollen, by its destroying the anthers aud thus rendering 

 the blossom abortive. 



Preventives and Remedies 



Gnarding corn from attack hy birds. — It is but seldom that this 

 species occurs so abundantly as to become a serious corn-pest. In 

 seasons of unusual abundance, its depredations upon corn could un- 

 doubtedly be prevented by guarding against the opening of the corn- 

 husks to admit of their entrance. As the first attack upon the corn 

 appears, in most cases, to be made by small birds, if these can be kept 

 away, the resultant attack of the beetles will be prevented. When they 

 have discovered the exposed kernels of corn, and commenced to feed 

 upon them, it will then be necessary to collect the beetles by hand and 

 destroy them. 



Catching the beetles in nets. — When they are attracted to ripe fruits, 

 they may easily be discovered in their circling flight around the trees, 

 by the loud humming which they produce, when they may be captured 

 in nets attached to long handles. 



Hand-inching from jioioers. — When tliey frequent flowers and blos- 

 soms to feed upon the pollen, they should always be picked off and 

 killed. 



Collecting the larvcB after heavy rains, — If there is reason to believe 

 that the larvse are depredating upon theroots of grasses, search should 

 be made for them on the surface of the ground after heavy rains, when> 

 in the proper season, large numbers may perhaps be collected. This 

 method of prevention is educed from Mr. Howard's observations {loc. 

 cit.), from which it appears to be the habit of A. nitida (and by infer- 

 ence, of E. Inda, also) to appear above ground at such times, when 



*JIr. Howard also makes the correction in the Canadian Entomologist, xiv, 1882, p. 240, 

 aud states that the error was shown by rearing the larra; to the perfect state. 



