CHAPTER XVI 

 FIELD CROP INSECTS 



137. White Grubs.* The large grubs (15) with brown 

 heads and enlarged curled-up abdomens, which are thrown 

 out in plowing sod land, are commonly known as white 

 grubs. Although there are numerous species, they are all 

 very similar in general color and form and are the larva 4 

 of different species of the large brown May-beetles or June- 



FIG. 164. A May-beetle (Lachnosterna arcuata). (After Chittenden, 

 U. S. Dept. Agr.) 



o, beetle; b, pupa; e, mature larva enlarged one-fourth. 



bugs, which frequently fly to lights in late spring. White 

 grubs are most abundant in sod land and often seriously 

 injure old meadows, but their injury is most commonly 

 noticed on corn, strawberries and garden crops. 



The eggs are laid one to five inches below the surface of 



the soil in grass lands, though sometimes in corn land or 



gardens, and hatch by midsummer. The young grubs feed 



* Lachnosterna spp. Family Scarabceidce, See page 118 



236 



