INSECTS INJURIOUS TO CORN 



165 



commence to emerge by the middle of August and continue to do 

 so until the middle of September. " Some of them leave the pupal 

 cells, but most of them remain there for hibernation." Those which 

 emerged disappeared and probably hibernated in some dense, 

 coarse grass nearby. Those which hibernated in the pupal cells 



FIG. 139. Diagram representing the seasonal appearance of the maize bill- 

 bug in 1914 in Kansas. (After W. P. Hayes, Technical Bulletin 6, 

 Kansas Agr. Expt. Station.) 



emerged the next spring about the time that young corn was 

 sprouting. The beetles are from two-fifths to three-fifths of an inch 

 long, of a dull shining black color, and sculptured as shown in 

 Fig. 138. " The beetles are rarely observed on account of their 

 quiet habits and because they are covered with mud a condition 

 which is more or less common among several species of this genus 



