species, dark shining brown in color, and. like others of its kind, famil- 

 iar to nearly everyone from its habit of iiying- into lighted rooms in late 

 spring and early svuiimer, where it buzzes and bumps about upon the 

 ceilings until it drops sprawling to the floor. The antenna? or feelers 

 are jointed and terminate in a club composed of seven leaf -like plates, 

 folded closely together when the beetle is resting and expanding some- 

 what like a fan when the insect is active. The club of the male 

 antenna? is usually considerably longer than that of the female. The 

 form figured, Lachnosterna arcuata., is a Southern one, and common in 

 a climate liivc that of the District of Columbia, Here these creatures 

 occur from about the middle of April into June, being most abundant 

 in Ma}^; hence the name of May l)eetles. Farther north they are more 

 abundant in June, and are there called June beetles. They are familiar 

 objects at electric lights in most cities. 



The life histor}^ of a Avhite grub of the genus Lachnosterna may be 

 given in general terms as follows: The sexes pair soon after their first 



Fig. 20.— Lachnosterna arcuata: a, beetle; b, jjupa; c, egg; d, newly-hatched larva; c, mature larva; 

 /, anal scgmenToTsameTrom below, a, !>, c, enlarged one- fourth ; c,rf, /.more enlarged (author's 

 illustration). 



appearance, whether in April or later in May or June. The females 

 ent(>r the earth and there deposit singly their rather large whitish or 

 gray -colored eggs, one of which is shown in outline at c of the figure, 

 each in a separate cell, and usuallv at a depth of from 2 to 4 inches. 

 The grubs hatch and feed upon the roots of grasses and similar 

 plants — first upon rootlets, and afterwards on larger roots — living in 

 th(> earth, and slowly increasing in size for a period of two or three 

 years. Transformation to pupa in a normal outdoor condition usually 

 occurs from about the middle of June to September of tlie second or 

 third year after hatching, tlie l>eetles developing in August or Sep- 

 tem])er of the same year. These remain in the earthen cells in which 

 the pupal transformation took place until winter has passed, sometimes 

 at a d(»pth of a foot or a foot and a half l)elow the surface, where 

 protection from cold and frost is o])tained. 



