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species, dark shining brown in color, and, like others of its kind, famil- 

 iar to nearly everyone from its habit of flying into lighted rooms in late 

 spring and early summer, where it buzzes and bumps about upon the 

 ceilings until it drops sprawling to the floor. The antennae or feelers 

 are jointed and terminate in a club composed of seven leaf -like plates, 

 folded closely together when the beetle is resting and expanding some- 

 what like a fan when the insect is active. The club of the male 

 antennae is usually considerably longer than that of the female. The 

 form figured, Lachnostema arcuata, is a Southern one, and common in 

 a climate like that of the District of Columbia, Here these creatures 

 occur from about the middle of April into June, being most abundant 

 in May; hence the name of May beetles. Farther north they are more 

 abundant in June, and are there called June beetles. They are familiar 

 objects at electric lights in most cities. 



The life history of a white grub of the genus Lachnostema may be 

 given in general terms as follows: The sexes pair soon after their first 



Fig. 20. — Lachnostema arcuata: a, beetle; b, pupa; c, egg; d, newly-hatched larva; e, mature larva; 

 /, anal segment of same from below, a, b, e, enlarged one-fourth; c, d, f, more enlarged (author's 



illustration). 



appearance, whether in April or later in May or June. The females 

 enter the earth and there deposit singly their rather large whitish or 

 gray -colored eggs, one of which is shown in outline at c of the figure, 

 each in a separate cell, and usually at a depth of from 2 to 4 inches. 

 The grubs hatch and feed upon the roots of grasses and similar 

 plants — first upon rootlets, and afterwards on larger roots— living in 

 the earth, and slowly increasing in size for a period of two or three 

 years. Transformation to pupa in a normal outdoor condition usually 

 occurs from about the middle of June to September of the second or 

 third year after hatching, the beetles developing in August or Sep- 

 tember of the same year. These remain in the earthen cells in which 

 the pupal transformation took place until winter has passed, sometimes 

 at a depth of a foot or a foot and a half below the surface, where 

 protection from cold and frost is obtained. 



