- 2 - 
(Rev. App. Ent . , vol. 21, p. 303, 1933), where it was "attacking the roots 
of lucerne." 
The research upon which this paper is based was started at Florala, 
Ala., on June 23, 1937. This work has been under way for too short a period 
to cover all phases of the life history, but a brief summary of the data 
secured prior to January 1, 1939, is presented herein. 
Present Known Distribution in the United States 
The area known to be infested by the white-fringed beetle was greatly 
enlarged by intensive scouting during 1938. At present this insect has 
been found in 23 counties in 4 States. The infested counties and States are 
as follows: Covington, Geneva, Conecuh, Monroe, Wilcox, and Mobile Counties 
in Alabama; Escambia, Okaloosa, and Walton Counties in Florida; Jackson, 
Harrison, Pearl River, Jones, Smith, Covington, and Hinds Counties in 
Mississippi; and Orleans, Saint Bernard, Jefferson, Saint Tammany, Plaque- 
mines, East Baton Rouge, and Jefferson Davis Parishes in Louisiana. 
The larger infested areas are around Florala, Ala., and New Orleans, 
La. In the Florala area parts of four counties lying in two States are 
infested and the beetle is known to occur on approximately 16,000 acres. 
At New Orleans parts of four parishes are infested and the infested acreage 
is approximately 21,000 acres. The infested area in the other counties is 
less extensive, comprising slightly more than 6,000 acres in the 15 counties. 
The infestation at Glendale, Walton County, Fla., about 16 miles southeast 
of Florala, is the farthest east of any known infestation; the northernmost 
known infestation occurs at Bolton, in Hinds County, Miss.; and the western- 
most known infestation occurs at Lake Arthur, in Jefferson Davis Parish, La. 
Another very similar species, which has been identified as Naupactus 
sp. and tentatively as a new species, was found in southern Mississippi 
during 1937. Infestations of this species have been found at Gulfport, 
Landon, and Saucier in Harrison County, and at McHenry in Stone County. 
The area now known to be infested by this species is approximately 6,600 
acres. Both species have been found occurring simultaneously in a limited 
area at Gulfport, Miss. A study of this new species has been under way 
at Gulfport, Miss., since April 21, 1938, and its biology and habits are 
very similar in many respects to those of the white-fringed beetle. 
Stages of the White-Fringed Beetle 
The adult 
Description . — The adult beetle (fig. 1, A and B) is seven-sixteenths 
of an inch in length and about five thirty-seconds of an inch across the 
abdomen. The color is dark gray, with a lighter band along the margins of 
the elytra, and two paler longitudinal lines on each side of the thorax and 
head (one above and one below the eye, fig. 1, A). The body is densely 
covered with pale hairs, which are especially long on the elytra. The 
