148 



Iniukmks to ot hick Cwors. 



As a larva or root-worm this insect has hitherto been found 

 feedings on the roots of strawberry onl}-, but the field studies of Mr. 

 l'<rnost B. Forbes already mentioned show that it feeds freely and 

 perhaps primarily on the roots of timothy K^Phlciim pratoisc^y in- 

 festing- other crops most frequentl_v when they follow timothy sod. 

 He found it also at work on June g-rass ^l\>a comprcssa') and Mex- 

 ican dropseed yMHhh'itbcr<:;ia ?N(:\/r<n/(i), and occasionally on 

 clover roots. In some timothy meadows it was so abundant that 

 one or more of the larv;r were turned up with every spadeful of the 

 soil, but a similar search in fields of blue-g-rass was without result. 

 So far as we can judg-e from these observations it seems that only 

 somewhat thick and tleshy roots are likely to be eaten by it, but a 

 systematic search would doubtless discover it on the roots of other 

 plants than those here mentioned. These injuries to roots have 

 amounted to little or nothing, so far as known, except in straw- 

 berry patches. 



In the adult or beetle stag-e this insect has been found feeding- 

 upon the leaves and other org-ans of a considerable list of widely 

 unlike plants, including- clover, beans, buckwheat, beets, dock 

 {^/\a//u-.\-), g-rape, pear, strawberry, tick-trefoil {/)i\<mo(///n/i^, and 

 New Jersey tea {^Ccanof/uts^. It has also been reported to eat the 

 leaves of the potato and the silks of corn. One of my field assist- 

 ants, Mr. 10. S. G. Titus, has this year found it feedinij in early 

 July in southern Illinois on the cow-pea, the musk-melon, and the 

 apple, in the last instance seriously injuring- the foliag-e of a sing-le 

 tree. In most cases the damage done by the beetle has been of 

 little importance, but it is occasionally serious to the leaves of 

 strawberries and grapes. Our examples of the injury to apple and 

 grape show that it eats irreg-ular elongate holes quite through the 

 leaf. 



HlSTKnU-TION ANP I, IKE HiSTOKV. 



This insect rang-es from Nebraska to the Atlantic states and 

 Canada. It is evidently single brooded, but its state of hibernation 

 has not been positively ascertained. The eg-gs are laid in summer 

 and fall, and the larv;v have been found by me half g-rown in 

 southern Illinois May l'>. It begins to pupate in June, and 

 lives as a beetle during- the summer months. In this stag-e it 

 ranges in our collections from June 2- to September 14, but is most 

 abundant in July and August. Wo have not found it at all in 

 winter, even in situations where it had been previously present in 

 larg-e numbers. 



