184 MISC. PUBLICATION 657, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 
SUBFAMILY CETONIINAE 
The Cetoniinae, or flower beetles, are flattened, essentially diurnal 
beetles, many species having the mouth parts furnished with a bunch 
of hairs used in gathering pollen. 
The species of the genus Cotinis are fruit and foliage eaters. All 
are most active on bright days, but may often be seen flying late in 
the afternoon and at ‘night. They most frequently occur in open 
woodlands or similar places around flowering shrubs and herbs. ‘This 
genus is represented by three or four species in the area east of the 
Great Plains, the green June beetle (C. nitida (L.)) or figeater, 
being by far the best known. Throughout the Mississippi Valley, 
south of central Illinois, and along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, it 
is common to abundant. Many boys and girls tie strings to this beetle 
and spend delightful hours, entertained by the zooming “and loud buzz- 
ing flight of the captive. The adults are 16 to 25 mm. long, with the 
sides of the thorax and wing covers gold or tan. 
The beetles feed on the foliage and fruit of many drupes and ber- 
ries. Other trees and shrubbery may be attacked. Late June and 
July is the time of greatest abundance over most of its range. The 
1-year life cycle is as follows: Eggs are laid in July and August in 
rich soil and usually near decaying vegetable material or dung in old 
corrals, on which the grubs feed until they go into hibernation. In 
the spring the larvae burrow close to the surface and feed on dead 
vegetation and living roots. After heavy rains they sometimes come 
out of the soil and crawl on their backs on the ground surface, and 
have been taken in forest nurseries at this time. They also exhibit 
the back-crawling trait when collected by digging. The grubs are 
full grown by midspring, when they change in an earthen cell to the 
pupal stage, and emergence soon follows. 
The larvae are known to be destructive to the turf of lawns. The 
1-year cycle would allow them to mature in seed and nursery beds 
before being disturbed by deep cultivation, and under such conditions, 
they may be injurious. They probably cause little damage in planta- 
tions. 
The genus Huphoria Burm., containing at least a half-dozen species 
in the Central and Eastern States, none of which are well known, 
represents one of the “flower-beetle” groups. The adults, which vary 
widely in color, are broad and hairy, with triangular-shaped thoraxes, 
and are 9 to 18 mm. in length. They occur at sap flows, and on roast- 
ing ears, fruits, and flowers of many kinds. ‘They are diur nal, fly with 
a loud, buzzing noise, and are probably most abundant in J uly and 
August. The larvae occur under manure, in decaying vegetation, and 
in rotting straw stacks. The species has a 1- -year life cy cle, and pre- 
sumably ¢ overwinters in the larval stage. Both adults and larvae may 
be regarded as noninjurious. 
The genus Osmoderma Serv. contains four Eastern and Central 
States species, of which QO. eremicola Knoch, the hermit flower beetle, 
and O. scabra (Beauv.), the rough flower beetle, are fairly well known. 
Both are broadly oval and depressed dorsally, and have heavy leathery 
wings. O. eremicola is about 28 mm. long and is dark brown and 
shining. 0. scabrais about 22 mm. long, and “purplish black or bronzed. 
They emit a strong leatherlike odor when captured. Listed as noc- 
