hay, farm machinery and tools, and 

 even to people. 



DAMAGE 



The larvae, or grubs, live in the soil 

 and feed on the roots of many kinds of 

 plants. They rarely cause uniform 

 damage over a large continuous area; 

 sometimes, they completely destroy 

 plants in one part of a field and leave 

 plants elsewhere in the field practically 

 untouched. Affected plants usually turn 

 yellow, wilt, and die. Those that survive 

 seldom develop normally. Adult beetles 

 feed on foliage of broadleaf plants, but 

 usually cause little damage. 



Larvae prefer root crops and plants 

 with taproots to plants with fibrous 

 roots. They may completely sever the 

 main root. They sometimes feed on 

 roots of young peach, pecan, tung, and 

 willow trees, and on parts of dead 

 plants in the soil. 



These beetles damage plants growing 

 in well-drained, sandy loam more than 

 those in heavy clay soils. 



A very dry summer can slow down 

 development of the beetles. A heavy, 

 week-long rain can kill many small 

 larvae. 



DEVELOPMENT 



One generation of white-fringed 

 beetles develops each year. Larvae 

 spend about 9 months in the soil. 



Soon after hatching, larvae enter the 

 soil and feed on roots. They are leg- 

 less, cream colored, and, when full 

 grown, are about % incn long. Full- 

 grown larvae build cells in the soil 

 where they transform into pupae. In 

 about 2 weeks they develop into adults. 



Adults begin emerging from the 

 ground in early May and continue 



until early fall, depending on the area 

 and the amount of moisture in the soil. 

 Adult beetles are dark gray, are about 

 y i6 inch long, and have a white fringe, 

 or band, around the outer edge of their 

 body. 



All the adults are egg-laying females. 

 They live for 2 to 5 months and lay 

 eggs during most of that time. Eggs 

 are laid in masses of 11 to 14 in the 

 soil near roots or where soil is touch- 

 ing sticks, gravel, stems, or other ob- 

 jects lying on the ground or sticking 

 out of the soil. A sticky substance 

 coats the eggs and makes them adhere 

 to one another and to roots or other 

 objects. Beetles that feed on peanuts, 

 cocklebur, ragweed, soybeans, and 

 strawberries lay a great many eggs; 

 those that feed on cowpeas, lespedeza, 

 blackberries, and tobacco lay few eggs. 



Eggs hatch in about 17 days in 

 warm weather but take longer to hatch 

 in cool weather. A few eggs overwinter 

 and hatch in the spring, but most of 

 the insects overwinter in the soil as 

 larvae. 



CULTURAL CONTROL 



To help control white-fringed beetles, 

 rotate peanuts, soybeans, and velvet- 

 beans — crops that encourage an in- 

 crease in the numbers of beetles — with 

 crops that are not favorable to such an 

 increase: pasture grasses, small grains, 

 and corn. Plant corn in solid stands; 

 do not interplant with a legume. 



Do not grow susceptible crops in the 

 same field more often than once every 

 3 or 4 years. 



Add organic matter to the soil. An 

 economical method is to plow under a 

 winter cover crop. This will help re- 

 duce larval damage. 



