64 PAPERS ON CEREAL AND FORAGE INSECTS. 
one sees on the superior portion an elevation in the form of a cross, feebly marked.’” 
' Elytra uneven, feebly variolate, marked toward the apex with a callous point, nearly 
spinose, blackish, shining. 
Olivier’s illustration is imperfect in that it is very crude, showing neither punctu- 
ation nor sculpture aud the general impression is that of a shining species, which was 
certainly not inteuded. The thorax is a tittle short, otherwise the form coincides 
with the species which is figured herewith. 
The cinereous base of the rostrum is an important character, as it signifies that a 
considerable portion of the base is coated while in cariosus it is not. The cross-like 
elevation of the thoracic disc is aptly described as feebly indicated, in fact it requires 
a little imagination to discern it in many individuals; moreover, it is not shown in 
Olivier’s figure. 
Among coleopterists in general the adults of this species are sup- 
posed to be covered by a coating, consequent upon the beetles com- 
ing in contact with the soil. This supposition is most certainly 
erroneous, as adults secured by Dr. Chittenden from cocoons and 
by others of the bureau from the chambers in the roots of corn before 
they had come in contact with anything excepting the débris with 
which the chambers are more or less filled, are found to possess this 
coating. 
Specimens secured by Dr. Chittenden are of a rich brown color 
with velvety surface. It is only when the beetles become somewhat 
abraded and this coating worn off of the elevations and the shoulders 
and near the tip of the elytra that the callouses are formed, a character 
upon which the specific named is based. Strictly speaking, the per- 
fect insect has not been described, and it does not become ‘‘callosus”’ 
until the insect has moved about and rubbed these points bare. 
The adults evidently hibernate to some extent in corn in the cham- 
ber in which they have developed, but seemingly lower down than 
in the case of Sphenophorus maidis. (See fig. 21, ¢.) They were found 
very sparingly, by Mr. James A. Hyslop of this bureau and by Mr. 
R. I. Smith, of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station, 
occupying this position in the cornfields of Harveys Neck, previously 
mentioned, on November 1, 1911. The numbers found, however, 
were far too limited to indicate that this can be true of even the 
majority, the others probably wintering over either in or near the 
surface of the ground. This was in the same field where Mr. Walton 
had fruitlessly searched for them on September 5 and 6. 
When we come to take into consideration the fact that the natural 
coating with which the adults are covered is almost exactly the color 
of the soil, with which it is, indeed, more or less begrimed, and that 
the insects on being disturbed will draw up their legs and remain as 
quiet as if dead, it will be seen that it is exceedingly difficult to detect 
their presence in or on the surface of the ground, even by an expert 
who knows exactly for what he is searching. Therefore that careful 
search should not happen to reveal their presence is not especially to 
the diseredit of those who are engaged in trying to find them. 
