FARMERS BULLETIN 875, 



of June, and are depositecl singly or in groups of three or four in 

 the ground wherever the beetles happen to be feeding. The egg 

 hatches in about two weeks into a small white grub or larva (fig. G) 

 which often is knoAvn locall}^ in the South as a " rich-worm." The 



grubs are common in midsum- 

 mer and grow very rapidly, 

 reaching full growth in about 

 two months (fig. 7). When 

 mature the grub changes into 

 the pupa (fig. 8), which does 

 not feed and is unable to move 

 about. In about tw^o weeks 

 the skin of the pupa splits, is 

 cast oif, and the fully devel- 

 oped beetle (fig. 1) emerges 

 therefrom. The beetles of 

 this new generation appear 

 about the middle of Septem- 

 ber and soon go into hiber- 

 nation, there being one gen- 

 eration a year. It is this hi- 

 bernating or wintering-over generation of beetles that injures corn in 

 the spring. 



THE EGG. 



The eoo- (fiff. 5) when first deposited is about the size of the head 



toto \&/ ■■'■ T'l 



of an ordinary pin, resembling a hen's egg m shape, and is pearly 

 white and perfectly smooth. It increases in both 

 weight and bulk and just before hatching it is al- 

 most round and about twice its original size. 



Fig. 5. — Section of eartliern cell contninim? an 

 Cfjg of tlie I'ough-licadod corn stalk-boetle. 

 Consideralily enlarged. 



THE GRUB. 



When newly hatclied (fig. 6) the grub is about 

 three-sixteenths of an inch in length. When full 



grown (fig. T) it is 

 about Ij inches long 

 and about one-fourth 

 of an inch thick. 

 Normally it curls itself up in the form 

 of a crescent, with the head almost 

 touching the tail. The head is brick 

 red and the body dirty white, being 

 distinctly darker near the tail end. 

 The legs are pale brown. 



The grub, so far as known, does nol 

 feed upon any of the cultivated crops 

 but lives upon-decaying \cgotable matter found in or on the ground. 



Fin. 6. — The rough- 

 headed c or n 

 stalk - beetle : 

 Younfi larva, or 

 griih. Enlarged. 



Ek;. T. — The rough-headed corn stalk 

 beetle: EuU-grown larva, or gnib 

 En^ar^ed. 



