160 
consequently, that if a hill of corn is killed by them before they 
have reached maturity, they will be entirely able to search out 
another. 
When full grown they leave the root preliminary to pupation,, 
shortening up and changing to the pupa stage in the dirt close 
by. At this time they may often be found in considerable num¬ 
bers by pulling up infested corn and shaking out the dirt from 
the roots. The beetles emerge from the pupa under ground, 
and, coming to the surface, most commonly crawl up the stalk 
of corn adjacent. When recently transformed they are of a pale 
yellowish color, with scarcely a tinge of green. Their first food 
consists, as already mentioned, of the softer tissues of the corn 
plant itself, especially of the silk at the tip of the ear, or the 
pollen from the tassel, or sometimes of the soft kernels, espe¬ 
cially if these have been exposed by any injury to the husks. 
They also spread to various blossoming weeds in the field, and 
after a time begin to desert the corn field, scattering elsewhere 
for food. It is commonly towards the last of August that they 
are first noticeably frequent on thistle blossoms, heads of clover, 
and other outside blooming plants. They do not, however, 
leave the corn fields generally for some time thereafter, but 
may be found there in greatly diminished numbers at least as 
late as the middle of October.* 
How soon after pairing their eggs are laid we do not now 
know; neither has the process of oviposition ever been directly 
witnessed. The frequent occurrence of dead female beetles (in 
October and November) in the earth in corn fields in the midst 
of the eggs, and the distribution of the eggs themselves is, how¬ 
ever, sufficient evidence that the beetle enters the earth to lay 
her eggs, and that she may perish there after her ovaries are 
spent. Although the eggs of this beetle have never been found 
outside of corn fields, notwithstanding extensive search in many 
other situations, it is certain that the eggs are not necessarily 
all laid before the female leaves the field in which she emerged. 
I have, on the contrary, frequently proven by dissection of 
beetles taken from flowers by roadsides, in meadows, and the 
like, that females thus dispersed may still contain eggs in large 
numbers. A considerable part of the beetles, and apparently 
the greater part, do, however, lay their eggs under ordinary 
circumstances before they leave the field of corn; and it is also 
highly probable on general grounds that those which go else¬ 
where in search of food return to corn fields for oviposition. 
Since the larva is not known to infest any other plant than 
corn, or, indeed, to be capable of living upon any other, it is 
altogether likely that the female instinctively searches out the 
corn plant when seeking a place of deposit for her eggs. 
* The following is a list of dates, precisely recorded in my office collection records, for 
the occurrence of this beetle: 
In corn fields. July 19 (pairing), 21, 27, 28; August 1, 3, 5,6, 7,12,13.17 (pairing), 18,19, 21, 
22. 25 (pairing), 27; September 4,7, 9,11,12,16,17, 25 (pairing); October 1, 7,13.14,18; Novem¬ 
ber 1,7. 
Outside corn fields. March 14, (1883); August 19, 20, 21, 22, 25, 26, 27, 29; September 4, 7,13, 
15,16, 22; October 1, 3,10,13,16, 18; November 2, 24; December 1,16. 
