that projects forward and almost meets another horn that projects upward from the 
front of the head. Females are somewhat smaller than the males and are without 
horns. The habits of the adults are not well understood; however, they have been 
observed feeding on sap oozing from wounds on ash trees. 
The genus Xy/oryctes 1s represented in eastern forests by three or four species, 
one of which, the rhinoceros beetle, X. jamaicensis (Drury), 1s common in 
hardwood stands in the South. The adults are robust, shiny beetles, about 28 mm 
long. They are dark chestnut to blackish brown above, and paler and thickly clothed 
with reddish hairs below. The male has a single, large curved horn on top of the 
head. In the female, a large tubercle replaces the horn. The larvae are usually found 
in leaf mold on the forest floor. Adults are usually found in the vicinity of ash trees. 
At least four species of the genus Pelidnota occur in eastern forests, one of 
which, P. punctata (L.), 1s fairly well known. The larvae are usually found in 
decayed hardwood stumps but sometimes in decaying roots and logs. The adult is 
about 20 mm long and reddish brown above, with three black spots on each wing 
cover and one on each side of the pronotum. The base of the head, the scutellum, 
and the entire underside of the body are deep bronzed green. The species is not 
injurious. 
The genus Parastasia is represented in eastern forests by several species. The 
most common and widely distributed one is P. brevipes LeConte. The larvae are 
found most commonly in decayed hardwood stumps, roots, and logs. Adults are 
blunt, convex, dark chestnut-brown, and about 16 mm long. The species is not 
considered to be injurious. 
The genus Osmoderma is represented in eastern forests by at least four species, 
two of which, O. eremicola Knoch and O. scabra (Beauvais), are fairly common. 
The larvae feed in decayed cavities of dead or dying trees or logs. The adults are 
broadly oval and depressed dorsally and have heavy leathery elytra; O. eremicola is 
dark chestnut-brown, smooth and shiny, whereas O. scabra is bronzy purple-black 
and rough in texture. They are approximately 25 mm long. When handled, they 
emit a strong leatherlike odor. 
The genus Trichiotinus contains several species, the adults of which are fre- 
quently seen around flowering trees and shrubs, cherry in particular. They are 
variegated, the body is densely pubescent, the elytra are almost as wide as long, the 
legs are long and slender, and they range in length from 9 to 15 mm. The larval 
stage is spent in old logs and stumps. 
Family Elateridae 
Click Beetles, Wireworms 
Click beetles are so-called because of the presence of a spine on the prothorax 
that snaps into a groove on the mesosternum with an audible click. This mechanism 
enables an adult lying on its back to throw itself into the air and land on its feet. The 
larvae are known as wireworms because of their long, narrow, fusiform, tough- 
skinned bodies. Forest-inhabiting species are predominantly phytophagous, but a 
few are predacious on other insects, such as wood borers and sawflies in cocoons in 
the soil. Species that feed on forest vegetation usually confine their attacks to dead 
and often well-decayed wood and are of little economic importance. The wire- 
worms of New York State have been reported (303). 
The eyed click beetle, Alaus oculatus (L.), is a voracious feeder on various 
species of borers in hardwoods and the related species, A. myops (F.), on borers in 
pines. Adults of A. oculatus are grayish black, with two large eyelike spots on the 
prothorax, and are 25 to 50 mm long. Adults of A. myops are more slender and 
darker, and are only about 20 to 40 mm long. They also have eye spots. 
2S 
