THE GREEN JUNE BEETLE. 27 



more abundant as the morning advances, and the number of females 

 gradually diminishes. By 7 a. m. (later on cloudy days) the males 

 are exceedingly numerous, buzzing here and there in search of 

 females. In heavily infested localities the air near the ground be- 

 comes " alive " with the beetles, which fly rapidly back and forth, 

 buzzing incessantly, giving the impression of a clover field humming 

 with bumblebees. They usually fly 6 to 12 or 18 inches above the 

 ground, but often higher. 



From observation it appears quite certain that the male is at- 

 tracted to the female by the rather strong and sickening odor of 

 a milky fluid secreted by the latter, for he usually drops to the ground 

 within a few inches of a female and, searching through the grass, 

 seems to have no difficulty in finding her within a minute or two. 

 Male beetles will alight near a female even when the latter is com- 

 pletely hidden from view. In one case a male was seen attempting to 

 mate with a dead female, and as she was lying on her back it is 

 hardly probable that form or color was the attractive force. Often 

 one finds a " nest " of beetles in the grass, there being a number of 

 males and only one female, more often a male and female in copula 

 and the other males vainly endeavoring to copulate with her. In 

 such a " nest " as many as eight males have been observed attempting 

 to mate with one female. From these facts, and since the female in- 

 variably secretes this odoriferous fluid, it is believed that the females 

 are detected through the sense of smell. 



Mating lasts only a few minutes, for, as a rule, after this space 

 of time the female forcibly frees herself frorn. the male by entering 

 her burrow or crawling under matted grass. In one instance a pair 

 was found in copula about 5 inches below the surface in the soil of a 

 breeding cage, and even after their removal from the cage they did 

 not separate for some time. 



From 8.30 to 11 a, m. the number of beetles gradually diminishes 

 and after that comparatively few are seen in flight. By 1 p. m. and 

 throughout the afternoon only an occasional beetle is observed flying 

 about. On one of the days when observations were made it rained 

 most of the morning until 10.45, after which the sun came out and the 

 beetles appeared in numbers. At Columbia, S. C, the beetles were 

 most active between 11 a. m. and 3 p. m., being quite difficult to 

 capture at this time, since even when feeding they took flight at the 

 least disturbance. Evidently most of the beetles spend the night in 

 the soil or under debris of one kind or another, but males were oc- 

 casionally found at night resting in shrubbery, quite inactive and 

 not feeding, nor were they attracted to the electric light carried by 

 the observer. 



On entering the ground the beetle throws up a little mound of earth 

 not unlike that made by the grub (see p. 21). The mound resembles 



