800 REPORT UNITED STATES GEOLOGICAL SURVEY. 



Laving become full-fed, made their way upward to a mean distance of 

 about 13 inches below the surface, where, in less than two months, they 

 all changed to the pupa state, and in October and November the per- 

 fect beetle appeared. The beetles, however, hibernate, remaining below 

 the surface for a period of five or six months and appearing in April 

 and May. The immature larvie, warned by the approaching cold, began 

 to migrate deep down in the soil in October, when the temperature of 

 the earth was ten degrees above zero. As soon as the snow melted they 

 gradually rose toward the surface.' 



"As regards the time and mode of laying the eggs, we quote from Dr. 

 Lockwood as follows: 'On the evening of the 13th June last we 

 caught in the drug-store, Keyport, whither they were attracted by the 

 profusion of light, four Gotalpas, representing both sexes. These were 

 taken home and well cared for. On the 16th a pair coupled. Ajar of 

 earth was at once provided, and the beetles placed on top of the dirt. 

 In the evening the female burrowed and disappeared. Kear midnight 

 she had not returned to the surface ; next morning she had re-appeared. 

 The earth was then very carefully taken from the jar, and, as removed, 

 was inspected with a glass of wide field but low power. Fourteen eggs 

 were found, not laid (as we expected) in one spot or group, but singly 

 and at difl'erent deptlis. I was surprised at their great size. Laid 

 lengthwise, end touching end, two eggs measured very nearly three- 

 sixteenths of an inch. They were like white wax, semi-translucent; in 

 form, long-ovoid and perfectly symmetrical. On the 13th of July one 

 had hatched ; the grub was well formed and very lively. Its dimen- 

 sions were about five-sixteenths of an inch in length and about three- 

 thirtieths of an inch in thickness. It was a dull white, the head-plate 

 precisely that dull yellow seen in the adult grub, the legs the same 

 color, and the extremity of the abdomen lead-color, the skin being 

 transparent. For food, a sod of white clover {TrifoUum repens) was 

 given them, roots downward, knowing that the young larvae would 

 come upward to eat. They were then left undisturbed until August 

 19, when the sod was removed, and it was found that the grubs had 

 eaten into it, thus making little oval chambers, which were enlarged as 

 the eating went on. They were carefully picked out and a fresh sod of 

 grass and clover supplied. They had now grown five-eighths of au 

 inch in length, preserving the same colors. 



" It is quite possible that a few of the eggs escaped me in the search. 

 I am of opinion, however, that from fifteen to twenty is the average 

 number laid by one beetle. In short, the insect lays her eggs in the 

 night, probably not more than twenty. The hatching of these required 

 in the present instance twenty -seven days. It must be remembered that 

 a large portion of this time was remarkably cold and wet. It is almost 

 certain that with favorable thermal conditions this might be lessened 

 fully seven days. 



" Regarding its ravages in strawberry-beds, I cannot do better than 

 quote from Dr. Lockwood's excellent account in the American Naturalist : 

 'When on a visit in September last to the farm of a celebrated straw- 

 berry-grower in Monmouth County, New Jersey, my attention was 

 directed to certain large patches badly thinned out by, as the phrase 

 went, " the m orm." The plants were dead on the surface and easily 

 pulled up, the roots being eaten off below. It was observable that the 

 fields which presented the worst appearance were all of the same kind 

 of plant — that known as Wilson's Albany Seedling. Besides this there 

 were nine other varieties under culture, Barnes' Mammoth, Schenck's 

 Excelsior, the Agriculturist, Triomphe de Gaud, Cutter's Seedling, the 



