100 



vioiisly (I;uii:i^(m1 siirfuccs, ;i, l.-icl. wliicli lias cuiisod tlieiii to he cliarj^cd 

 wil.li iiijiiri(« of vvliidi t.licy arc inca|)al>lc. Tlicy soinotimes hiirrow into 

 tli(! l/i|).s of loos(!ly closed ours of corn in tlic milk, and also cat into soft 

 ripe fruit. Tlicy arc thus sonuivvlial Iroublcsonie at times, although as 

 a. rule tlu^y do comparatively little harm. 



The conurion species in central and norilicrn Illinois is the brown 

 frnit-chafcr, f'J. irula, distril)ntc(l thrcjugh the northern part of the; 

 coinitry from th(! Atlantic to tli(' Rocky Mountains. This beetle (Fig. 

 SO, a) is aboiil- \\\i\ eighths of an inch in length and a littU; more than half 

 as wide as long, with the upper surface flattened and slightly ridged, 

 clay-brown, with small black spots and transverse dashes on the wing- 

 covers. The thorax is black. Beq- 

 ueath is a conspicuous coating of 

 short yellow-brown hair, which gives 

 a bi'ownish color to the entire sur- 

 face. 



'i'lu; two other species charg(>(l 

 with injuiT to corn are similar to 

 the ])r(H'(Hling but smaller, a half 

 inch long or less, moderately shining 

 and not noticeably hairy, blackish 

 brown above, with a few chalky yel- 

 lowish cross-dashes on the wing- 

 covers. 



E. t^rpulrlmilis (Fig. 81) is com- 

 mon in southern Illinois and through- 

 out the South, extending into New Mexico. It has frequently been coii- 

 fus(>d with the third s|)ecies, E. mdancholica, which is found in the 

 S()ul.hw(>st. from K'ansas to Mexico. The latter may, howeVt^r, be 

 known by the nnich smoother sculptun^ of the wing-covers and the 

 sid(>s of the thorax, and by the entire absence of hairs on the thorax above, 

 bint tier sp(>aks of E.inda as a pernicious corn jiest in New York, 

 devoiu-ing the kei-nels from the tip of the ears to the butt, and (piotes 

 from a corn^spondent a stat(>ment that twenty of these beetles were 

 picked from two ears of corn. Osborn experimented in Iowa, however, 

 with beetles of this sp(M'i(>s by conlining them on coi'ii (\u-s, and found 

 that they had great dilliculty in penetrating the husks unless these were 

 (piile loose or had previously be(>n opened up for their entrance. The 

 burrows of th(> corn ear-worm are often uscnl by tlu>se beetles as a means 

 of access to the soft grains and exuding iluiils. The ])o11(mi from the 

 tassel and exudations from the stalks also fm-nish them food. 



E. scpitlchralis was occasionall\' found by one of my assistants early 

 in IS');-? on ears of corn near C'arbontlale, 111., gnawing the husks or ker- 

 nels or drinking the sap in an ear-w'orm burrow, in Mississippi it is 



SI. I''uphiiria ticiiiiltlirttiig. 

 i.'iliiial Hi/.o. 



Tliree 



