REPORT OF THE ENTOMOLOGIST. 247 



the spring, while late in April and early in May ur.mbcrs of the beetles 

 could be seen upon the roads and about the iiouses, being especially 

 active at night. 



Correspondents were requested to search for the earlier stages of the 

 insect about the roots of the cane, and it was not long before Messrs. 

 Daniel Thompson, (Jr. W. Thomas, and F. Dumartraifc sent us pupae 

 which they had found low down among the roots of the plant, ui)on 

 which the larvae may have fed ; the pupae proved, however, to belong 

 to another beetle {Phyllopliaga glabrii)emm^ Le C). Round white eggs 

 were also found in the soil about the cane, but that they were the eggs 

 of Ligyrus is uncertain. Mr. W. J. Thompson, of Bayou Teche, has 

 also forwarded some immature lamellicorn larvae found in similar posi- 

 tions, but it will be necessary to rear them to the x>erfect state before 

 we can pronounce upon them.* 



From our limited study of the habits of this insect we do not feel war- 

 ranted as yet in suggesting any remedial measures, our object in pub- 

 lishing the present notice being merely to call attention to the insect; 

 though from the statement of Mr. E. D. Martin, of Baldwin Station, 

 Saint Mary's Parish, that the beetles are readily attracted by lights, it 

 appears as if lantern-traps might be used advantageously. These traps 

 are treated of at some length in the article on the cotton- worm. I am 

 also informed by Mr. J. Y. Gilmore that lime around the roots of the 

 canes is proving successful in keeping away the beetles. 



The distended May beetle {Laclmostema faicta, Le Conte). — Mr. 

 David Donaldson, of Locke Hill, Bexar County, Texas, early in Febru- 

 ary last, reported great injury to his beans by a brown beetle, which 

 upon receipt of specimens proved to be the above-named species. It 

 seems that many of the garden crops are injured by this insect, but 

 more especially beans. Two years ago his first planting was entirely 

 destroyed by them. During the day they remained hidden underground 

 or under stones and other rubbish, coming out at night and feeding upon 

 the leaves and stems. Neighboring farmers advised Mr. Donaldson to 

 try attracting the beetles at night with a light, but experiments were 

 not satisfactory. An ordinary lantern in the field attracted none what- 

 ever, while an examination showed them to be working on nearly every 

 hill, sometimes several upon one. Mr. Donaldson then tried hand-pick- 

 ing. He went over the field twice and sometimes three times every 

 night, and kept it up for two weeks. Great numbers were destroyed, 

 but the crop was ruined. 



The distended May beetle differs from the ordinary May beetle of the 

 North {L.fusca, Frohlich) quite obviously in the swelled appearance of 

 the posterior end of the abdomen and in the shape of the thorax, as is 

 shown in fig. 5, Plate V. The remedy customarily in use for L. fnsca, 

 when it has become sufficiently numerous to injure fruit trees, is to jar 

 them from the trees into wide-spread sheets, afterwards scalding them 

 with hot water. The method of attracting to lights has also been suc- 

 cessfully used 5 the light being suspended over a tub of water or over a 

 kerosene pan. It is possible that a more thorough trial of the lights 

 (suggestions upon which will be found under the head of " E'emedies for 

 the cotton-worm," in a later part of this report), will show that they can 



* 'i he same gentleman, by carefully examininfif tlie earth about a single cane bunch, 

 fouuit several adults oi' Harpalus pmnsylvanicus, Say, which were feeding upon the larvae 

 just nieniioned. He also found the larvae of a click-beotle (Dra^fej-ius f), which were 

 probably engaged in the same work ; the cocoons of an ichneumon fly, supposed to be 

 parasitic on the lamellicorn larvae ; and, finally, a beetle {Aiwmala hiiiolata) belonging 

 to the siiiiue family with the Ligyrus. 



