FOREST INSECTS AND FUNGI II 7 



they die. In plantations the loss is less noticeable than in 

 nurseries. No thorough study of the loss has been made so 

 far as is known. Often the slow and stunted growth of certain 

 trees may be traced to root injuries due to this insect. 



Only plantations in open land not recently under forest are 

 hable to the injury, as the June bug is not found commonly 

 in forested soil. 



When once famiUar with its devastations, its presence can be 

 readily detected. In seed-beds of very young plants the grub 

 often eats o& the roots and draws the stem of the plant into 

 the ground leaving the top to rest on the surface. When these 

 tops are taken out the roots are found to have been eaten 

 entirely away. Older seedhngs and transplants show the injury 

 by wilting and turning yellow, when their tops are pulled up 

 easily. An uninjured plant being held by its small roots offers 

 resistance when pulled. 



Life History. — The June bug appears in the beetle form dur- 

 ing the latter part of the spring. In June or July it lays eggs 

 in the ground, one to six inches below the surface. Open land 

 and fields of old sod are its habitat. In the daytime the beetle 

 prefers to remain in trees and at night to fly out into the adjoin- 

 ing fields where it lays its eggs. Fields bordered with shade 

 trees which offer a shelter in the daytime are pretty sure to 

 furnish numerous June-bug grubs. The eggs soon hatch into 

 slender, whitish grubs, which at first are less than one-fourth 

 of an inch in length; sometimes they grow to be over one and a 

 half inches long. It is in this grub or pupa stage that the injury 

 is done. The grubs are sluggish, work slowly, and never appear 

 above ground. They do not remain at one depth, but in sum- 

 mer work from near the surface to ten or twelve inches below; 

 in late fall and winter they bore much deeper and remain there 

 until frost leaves the ground. They work at night and will be 

 found nearer to the surface then than during the daytime. 



In August or September the grubs begin to change into 

 beetles, and as such remain in the ground until spring, when 

 they emerge and are a famiHar sight. Many remain in the grub 



