14 BULLETIN 891, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



December 17. 1914. Mr. A. Patterson. Ensley. Ala., wrote that 

 these i; grub worms " keep the soil in the garden very loose, especially 

 around the roots of collards and turnips. They were unevenly dis- 

 tributed in the garden, in 5 or 6 foot areas in holes 4 or 5 inches 

 apart. The surface of parsnips was eaten off in places, some eroded 

 areas extending completely around the root and stopping its growth. 



Mr, Thomas H. Jones. Bureau of Entomology, has contributed the 

 following notes, based on specimens : 



November 22, 1915, Mr. J. O. Bethes, Franklinton. La., wrote in substance : 

 This grub was taken from a garden here where the species is doing a great 

 deal of damage. In the daytime the worm penetrates the earth to a depth of 

 about a foot and at night comes to the surface and works up the ground in the 

 manner of a mole. It is doing damage to turnips, cabbage, and other plants 

 growing in the gardens this season of the year. 



December 28, 1916, Mr. Jones observed the larvae in water in a 

 ditch at the Louisiana State University, Baton Eouge, La. Although 

 they were motionless when removed they soon became active when 

 brought into the office. They had evidently bred on the parade 

 grounds on the other side of a walk separating the grounds from the 

 campus, since the beetles had been observed in large numbers in 

 late summer. Numerous trails were found in the wet dirt, and there 

 were holes and piles of freshly worked-over dirt in the grassland. 

 The heavy rains caused the grubs to come to the surface. Prof. 

 O. W. Rosewall had previously seen the grubs above the surface at 

 night after heavy rains. 



March 16, 1917. Mr. TT. J. Sutcliff. Monroe, La., wrote: 



A while back these grubs were in the garden by the millions, and yesterday 

 a number were found dead. They, or some other insect, literally plowed the 

 very top of the ground up. and by doing so they killed the little plants coming 

 up. Digging down below the surface of the ground for three or four inches, the 

 ground is perforated with holes resembling on a small scale those made by 

 crayfish. 



October 28, 1918, Mrs. A. M. Kistler. Morganton. X. C, sent speci- 

 mens of larvae with the statement that she could furnish them by the 

 bushel, and that they were infesting her garden and hotbed. They 

 were described as destroying everything in the garden — cabbage, 

 turnips, salsify, lettuce, radishes, peppers, tomatoes, and celery. 

 Paris green was tried without effect, and kerosene emulsion was 

 advised. 



Xovember 13. 1919, Mr. C. S. Stewart, Baton Kouge. La., reported 

 the grubs of this species in his garden. He wrote : 



For the past six years my fall garden has been ruined almost entirely from 

 this cause. It is a grub that grows about 1 inch long, comes to the surface 

 during the night, runs on its back, eats almost everything green, and to give 

 you an idea of their numbers I will say that I have picked up as many as 

 1.000 in a single night. Where they work and crawl the surface of the ground 



