22 
chief both interesting and important. The adult insect also 
feeds on corn, as reported by Glover* on the authority of a 
correspondent, according to whom these beetles nearly destroyed 
a field of corn at Chambersburgh, Pa., eating the leaves and 
leaving the bare stalks standing. The edges of the leaves may 
be gnawed away, sometimes nothing but the midrib being left, 
or the leaf may be riddled with small holes. 
The agricultural injuries of the beetle are not confined to the 
corn plant, however, but it has been found by various ento¬ 
mologists to feed on beans, potatoes, beets, clover, strawberry 
and blackberry leaves, and the musk melon, among useful 
plants; and also on purslane, cockle-bur, plantain, ragweed (Am¬ 
brosia), pigweed (Amarantus) and lamb's-quarters (Cheno- 
podium). 
Adults of this species have been taken bv us at frequent inter¬ 
vals from April 8 to September 2, much ~the most abundantly 
in June and July. Our substantial knowledge of its life history 
depends, however, on the single breeding experiment already 
mentioned. ^ Four larvae were collected May 17, 1886, and placed 
at once in breeding cages with sprouting corn. May 26 a pupa 
was found lying on the earth in the cage. June 7 another pupa 
was noticed yet in the earth, and on the 17th of June three 
adults had emerged, and one pupa about mature was taken 
from the cage. 
Description. Larva. (Plate IV., Fig. 1 and 2.)—Length 5 
mm., greatest width aJ>out .6 mm. Slender, widening gradu¬ 
ally to the llthsegment, thence tapering quite rapidly. Gen¬ 
eral color pale yellow or brownish yellow, paler towards the 
posterior end. Head yellowish brown, with numerous stiff 
hairs; jaws darker brown. Antennae three-jointed, pale, short, 
and thick. The thorax and abdomen are darkest on the dor¬ 
sum, fading to paler on the margins and ventral surface, and 
the latter very pale yellowish at the end. The first thoracic 
segment has two longitudinal curved impressed lines on the 
dorsum; segments two and three have longitudinal impressed 
lines on each side near the border, between which is a trans¬ 
verse curved line crossing each segment near its anterior margin, 
from which two oblique straight lines extend to the posterior 
margins of* the segments. The legs have stout, blunt, spine-like 
processes on their anterior surfaces, and stiff hairs on the pos¬ 
terior. The abdominal segments are transversely wrinkled on 
both anterior and posterior margins. The skin is shagreened, 
and the whole body is supplied with stiff, spine-like hairs of 
various lengths. The anal segment has a single fleshy proleg. 
When seen from above this segment rapidly narrows to midway 
its length, the posterior half forming a rounded, lobe-like pro¬ 
jection of about one half the width of the anterior portion of 
the segment. On the projection are four long, stiff, spine-like 
