324 THE PEOPLE'S FARM AND STOCK CYCLOPEDIA. 



to our corn crops in this State: Agrotis nigricans, Linn.; Agrotis 

 devastator, Brace; Agrotis subgothica (see Fig. 2d), Haworth; and 

 Hadena amputatrix, Fitch. 



The May Beetle. Lachnosterna fusca, Frohl. Family, 

 ScarabceidcB. Order, Coleoptera. Few farmers will need a de- 

 scription of that sleek old culprit, the white grub, still less to 

 be assured of its destructive powers, as the damage to our 

 meadows and other products are becoming yearly more alarming. 

 NATURAL HISTORY. I need hardly say that in May and Juno 

 the beetles (3 and 4, Fig. 5), all brown and plump, come forth 

 from the ground, and at early twilight, and on into the night, 

 fly forth in such numbers as to sound like the swarming of bees, 

 often annoying us by thumping at our windows or lumbering 



into our rooms, to be felled 

 by bumping the walls ; 

 hence the name dor-beetle, 

 and the expressions "bee- 

 tle-headed," and "blind as 

 a beetle." These beetles 

 often do no inconsiderable 

 damage by eating the foliage 

 from our fruit trees, though 

 in some localities they have 

 seemed to prefer the oak 

 leaves. Would that they 



FIG. 5.-1, pupa; 2, larva; 3 and 4, Im^as. might regt con t en t With the 



completion of such mischief. After pairing, the females lay 

 their eggs, fifty or more, probably in the ground, near the roots 

 of grass or other plants. 



The grub, white, wrinkled, with a brown head (2, Fig. 5), 

 feeds on the roots of grass, wheat, corn, and other plants for 

 three years, when it becomes full-grown, having attained nearly 

 one and one-half inches in length. In the third autumn it forms 

 a cocoon of earth, in which it pupates (1, Fig. 5). The next 

 May or June the beetles come forth to enjoy a brief riot, and 

 prepare for another round of mischief under ground. 



REMEDIES. As the number of these beetles and grubs are 



