south of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and in California. Many species of forest and 
shade trees are subject to defoliation, especially Japanese and Norway maples, 
buckeye, sycamore, gray birch, walnut, Lombardy poplar, basswood, mountain- 
ash, and American, English, and Siberian elms. Feeding is usually confined to 
young, tender leaves. Damaged leaves may be skeletonized or they may also have 
large, irrregular holes chewed out. In heavily infested areas, the trees may be 
almost entirely defoliated. The larvae may also seriously damage the roots of 
ornamental nursery stock. 
The winter is spent in the larval stage in the soil. Pupation occurs in early spring, 
and the adults emerge from late May to early July. They are gregarious and are often 
found feeding in masses on certain plants, while nearby plants are uninfested. 
Female beetles enter the soil to depths of 3 to 10 cm to deposit their eggs. Moist, 
loamy soil covered with closely cropped grass is a favorite site. There may be two 
generations per year in the southern parts of the species’ range. Farther north, the 
life cycle may require 2 years. 
Disease pathogens, especially the bacterium, Bacillus popilliae Dutky, often 
destroy large numbers of the larvae. Several introduced parasites, Tiphia vernalis 
Rohwer and 7. popilliavora Rohwer in particular, also exert a considerable degree 
of control (427). 
Cotalpa lanigera L., the goldsmith beetle, occurs throughout the Eastern United 
States and feeds on the foliage of various hardwoods, such as aspen, oak, and 
willow. The adult is broadly oval, convex, and from 20 to 26 mm long. It is a 
brightly colored beetle; the elytron is lemon yellow, and the head and thorax 
burnished golden. The venter is greenish to copper and covered with whitish wool. 
The legs are reddish yellow. Full-grown larvae are about 43 mm long. The head is 
tan and the underside of the last abdominal segment is thickly covered with hooked 
spines. Adults emerge in late spring and the females deposit their eggs in the soil. 
The larvae feed on the roots of various plants, probably including young conifers. 
Adults have been observed fairly commonly in nurseries in the Lake States. The life 
cycle requires from 2 to 3 years for completion. 
The green June beetle, Cotinis nitida (L.), one of the most widely recognized 
members of the family, occurs throughout much of the Eastern United States, most 
commonly in the Atlantic and Gulf Coast States and in the Mississippi River Valley. 
The adult is usually velvety green above, with the margins orange-yellow, and is 
about 10 to 25 mm long. The undersurface is shining green and orange-yellow, and 
the head is armed with a hornlike process. Full-grown larvae are up to 50 mm long 
and have the interesting habit of crawling on their backs. 
Adults are most numerous during June and July, and the females deposit their 
eggs in soil rich with organic matter. The larvae feed on the organic matter during 
the remainder of the season and then hibernate. In the spring, they move close to the 
surface and feed on both dead vegetation and the roots of living plants. Lawns and 
golf courses are often damaged severely. Seedlings in forest nurseries are some- 
times injured. 
The genus Dynastes, which contains the largest known beetles, is represented in 
the Eastern United States by only one species, the eastern Hercules beetle, D. 
tityus (L.). It has been recorded from New York, Indiana, and Arkansas south to the 
Gulf of Mexico. D. tityus breeds in decayed hardwood stumps and logs, and is also 
found occasionally in cavities in the bases of living trees (488). The adult is very 
large, from 40 to 60 mm long, and is usually greenish gray or tan except for 
mottlings or blotchlike areas of black. The male is armed with a large pronotal horn 
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