LAMELLICORN-BEETLES. 83 



become destructive Ijy eating flowers and leaves of our fruit- 

 producing plants. Scrica iricolor Say is shown in Fig. 90. 



This species, as well as two others, the bluish-black 5". iricolor 

 Say, which has a hairy thorax, and the uniform mahogany-brown 

 S. I'cspcrliua Gyll., are fairly abundant in Minnesota, and can 

 be kept in check by beating them from the plants into inverted 

 umbrellas, where they can be gathered and destroyed. Their 

 larvK are not known, but very likely they live upon roots in 

 the ground like the larvae of related beetles. Other species of 

 this genus are destructive in California. Fig. 87, Plate I, shows 

 S. iricolor Say, and 5^. vespertina Gyll. 



MAY-BEETLES, OR JUNE-BUGS. 



{Lachnosterna spec). 

 Prof. Saunders, in the book already mentioned, gives a con- 

 densed account of the life-history of these beetles in the follow- 

 ing words : "Every one must be familiar with the May-beetle,— 

 or ]Mav-bug, as it is commonly called,— a buzzing beetle, with a 

 slow but wild and erratic flight, which comes thumping against 

 the windows of lighted rooms in the evenings in ]^Iay and early 

 June, and, where the windows are open, dashes in without a 

 moment's consideration, bumping against walls, ceiling, and 

 articles of furniture, occasionally dropping to the floor, then sud- 

 denly rising again. It sometimes lands uninvited on one's face 

 or neck, or, worse still, on one's head, where its sharp claws be- 

 come entangled in the hair in a most unpleasant manner. It is 

 a thick-bodied, chestnut-brown or blackish beetle, (Fig. 91), from 

 eight to nine-tenth of an inch in length. Its head and thorax are 

 punctuated with small indentations; the wing-covers, though 

 glossy and shining, are roughened with shallow, indented points, 

 and upon each there are two or three slightly elevated lines run- 

 ning lengthwise. Its legs are tawny yellowish, and the breast 

 is covered with pale-yellowish hairs; the under surface is paler 

 than the upper. During the day the beetles remain in repose, but 

 are active at night, when they congregate upon cherry, plum, and 

 other trees, devouring the leaves, occasionally, when very 



