18 BULLETIN 891, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURF. 



Throughout a period of from 4 to 6 weeks the beetles occur 

 abundantly, being most active late in the afternoon, when they fly 

 either close to the ground or soar high among the tree tops. When 

 they alight on trees serious injury sometimes results from the 

 beetles gnawing into the young twigs, causing the latter to break off. 

 The beetles are also attracted to ripe fruit and gather by dozens on 

 ripe melons, tomatoes, and green corn. 



Mating occurs during periods of rest, when the beetles alight on 

 tree tops, shrubbery, fences, or on lawns and grassy places, the fe- 

 males attracting the males — sometimes many males attending one 

 female. Before oviposition the females, buzzing like bees, fly close 

 to the ground and select a place to enter the soil. After alighting 

 they disappear rapidly from the surface and remain in the ground 

 for two days at a time, sometimes coming to the surface to feed 

 and again disappearing. 



EGG LAYING. 



The soil condition that attracts the parent beetles for egg laying 

 is land originally sandy, subsequently richly incorporated with 

 humus or organic matter, either in the form of well-rotted manure 

 or decomposing vegetation. Such are the field conditions of the 

 two principal infested localities in the vicinity of Norfolk, Va., where 

 the green June beetle occurs in abundance. This gives a soft, warm, 

 mellow soil, rich in organic food, retaining moisture, yet never soggy 

 or cold during the egg-laying period, and affords easy access for the 

 beetles to enter and deposit eggs. The conditions are ideal for 

 incubation and the subsequent work of the larvae. Cage experi- 

 ments demonstrated that a pure sandy soil does not attract the 

 beetles to oviposit, but when well-rotted manure is added in about 

 equal portions the beetles readily deposit their eggs. 9 



The reported finding of larvae in dung has often raised the ques- 

 tion as to whether eggs are deposited in manure. There are instances 

 on record where larvae have been so found, and the larvae have received 

 the local name of " dung grubs." Mr. F. Richardson, of Portsmouth, 

 Va"., states that about 1908, when he first began hauling cow manure 

 on his farm, he often noticed that hardened or caked pieces of dung 

 when broken revealed the presence of numerous " grub worms," of 

 what he supposed to be this insect. Several years after the use of 

 this manure his place became noticeably infested with the grubs, so 

 that he finally discontinued the use of this manure and supplanted it 

 with stable manure. During the height of their season the beetles were 

 often observed entering and issuing from the soil in the process of 



9 The beetles were induced to lay in pure sand, although reluctantly, and with much 

 effort on the part of the fema.e to escape confinement and to search through the sand for 

 a suitable spot for deposition. 



