SNAPPING-BEETLES. 



47 



ficult to reach with any material that will kill them. In fact, most 

 of the many remedies which at one time or another were claimed 

 as infallible, have proven to be of very little benefit. 



The life-habits of the subterranean species may be stated 

 in general to be as follows : the beetles, which appear very early 

 in spring, and which may be found under loose bark, under stones 

 and boards, or in fields in which the sod has been turned over, fly 

 about late in May or early in June, during the warmer portions of 

 the day. After copulating J^hey deposit their eggs in grass-land, or 

 among weeds, or wherever there is an abundant vegetation of a 



Fig. 54. — Alaus oculatus, Linn., and larva. After Harris 



grassy nature. During midsummer the larvre hatch and feed 

 upon the roots of many plants for two or three years, when they 

 reach their full size. They change to pup<c early in fall, and 

 soon afterwards to adults ; these, however, do not leave the 

 ground until the next spring. From this life-history it will appear 

 that we can not directly apply any poison that will kill the larvae. 

 By attracting adult insects to bait during the spring we may kill 

 a few. The only possible method to get rid of them is good 

 cultivation and proper rotation of crops. Meadows infested 

 should be plowed during the fall, when the full-grown larvae, 



