396 
JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLQGY 
[Vol. 16 
tinuously during a mild winter, and the increase during such years is remarkably 
rapid unless properly controlled by sprays. 
Oliver I. Snapp and C. H. Alden, 
U. S. Bureau of Entomology, Fort Valley, Georgia 
The Green June Beetle ( Cotinis nitida L.) as a Tobacco Pest. In spite of the fact 
that we have had two excellent bulletins devoted to this common southern pest 
within the last two years, I have been unable to find any mention of this insect as a 
tobacco pest. Yet I believe that it is not only a very common, but a very serious 
pest of tobacco beds in North Carolina, and undoubtedly in many other sections of 
the South. I have had reports for a number of years of serious injury to tobacco 
beds by “earthworms,” but all such reports were made in the winter so that they 
could not be investigated. This past year, however, I was fortunate enough to 
trace these “earthworms” to their lair and found that they were the larvae of the 
common Green June Beetle ( Cotinis nitida L.). 
Tobacco beds offer ideal breeding grounds for the Green June Beetle, as the beds 
are invariably placed in new ground or other rich soil and heavily fertilized with 
stable manure. Perhaps the chief reason that this insect is not more injurious is 
that it is a common practice to move tobacco beds to a new location each year. 
The injury to the tobacco plants by the larvae of the Green June Beetle consists 
not only of the disturbance to the root system by their tunnelling, but the actual 
destruction of the roots and stems as has been reported by other workers for common 
vegetables. 
The best remedy for this pest on tobacco beds would seem to be the method of 
changing the location of the bed each year. If the bed must be placed in the same 
location, year after year, the best remedy is to spade the bed thoroughly, early in 
September and sterilize the soil with steam or spray it with kerosene emulsion. 
Z. P. Metcalf, 
North Carolina State College and Experiment Station 
