THE GREEN JUNE BEETLE. 29 



roots of plants and sometimes become quite injurious to the straw- 

 berry. It is rather strange that this species should have first at- 

 tracted attention in Illinois in the most northern boundary of its 

 present habitat, when we take into account that it is normally a 

 habitant of the South. It was reported again from Illinois in 1874 

 by William LeBaron (5, p. 89-90). 



In 1879 Dr. L. O. Howard (6, 7) noted September 15 that the 

 larvae were found crawling on their backs in immense numbers on 

 the grounds around the Capitol at Washington, D. C, and that 

 after heavy rains at that season they were sometimes so numerous 

 that bushels had been swept away together. They were also found 

 crawling about the pavements of the Department of Agriculture. 

 September 5, 1881, Mr. B. P. Mann brought in grown larvae which 

 had been found around the roots of a pear tree. 



In 1883 William Saunders (8) gave a brief account of this species 

 with an original figure. 



The first general account of this insect was given by Forbes in 

 1884 (9, p. 149-150). In this article Howard's previous paper is 

 quoted and characters are given for the separation of the beetle and 

 its larva from those of Lachnosterna (Phyllophaga). A similar 

 article was published by the same author in 1884 (10, p. 245). In 

 1884 also C. W. Leng (11) recorded an abundance of this species in 

 the Carolinas and Georgia, including notice of injury by the beetle 

 to walnut trees. 



In 1885 Dr. J. A. Lintner gave a general account (12) of the 

 feeding habits of both larval and adult stages 



In 1887 Dr. W. H. Ashmead (13, p. 16) mentioned the feeding of 

 the adult on corn in the ear. 



In 1888 W. B. Alwood (14) reported the successful use of kerosene 

 emulsion against the grubs on the Capitol grounds at Washing- 

 ton, D. C. The same year Messrs. Riley and Howard (15) mentioned 

 the feeding of the adult on the fungus Roestilia aurantiaca, and the 

 following year (17) reported an abundance of beetles and their injury 

 to peaches in the District of Columbia. 



Reports from Kentucky in 1890 (18) by Prof. H. Garman and 

 C. W. Mathews indicate that the grubs were injurious to strawberry 

 and the beetles to fruits, particularly grapes. In 1891 W. B. Alwood 

 (19, p. 26) stated that he had bred a dipterous parasite from the 

 adult. In 1895 Garman (23) further reported that the grub " feeds 

 on living roots of grasses, strawberries, and other plants, and never, 

 as far as I can learn, eats dead vegetable matter." The beetles were 

 also observed feeding in the husks of corn when the grain is in the 

 dough stage, boring in the latter often well down to the base of the 

 ears, and they sometimes proved annoying to the honeybee by per- 

 sistently trying to enter beehives. 



