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JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 
[Vol. 11 
field have been taken in such situations. A few larvae and adults 
have been found in wheat and corn fields, but the data thus far col¬ 
lected indicate that this species is a pest of our native prairie grasses. 
In the laboratory, however, the adults and larvae feed readily on ger¬ 
minating wheat and corn and there seems to be no reason why this 
should not occur in nature. The adults also feed freely on young 
wheat plants growing in the cages. 
Distribution 
E. tricostata is one of the more widely distributed species of this 
genus. Blaisdell (1909, pp. 38 and 107-108) records it from Texas, 
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Idaho, 
Montana, Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, and British America. 
Say (1823, p. 262) gives the type locality as Missouri and Arkansas. 
Wickham (1899, p. 60) says it extends as far east as Independence, 
Iowa, where he found it in September on a broad, dry sand-flat along 
the Wapsipinicon bottom. Stoner (1913, p. 81) records taking 
E. tricostata at Fergus Falls, Minnesota, in 1911. This is the first 
known record of a species of Eleodes being taken in that state. In 
Kansas, this species is distributed over most of the state. Popenoe 
(1877, p. 36) says that it is common throughout the state and the 
collection of the Department of Entomology contains specimens from 
all regions of Kansas except the southeastern part. 
Methods of Rearing 
In carrying out the life-history study, the writer found the following 
methods successful in rearing each of the different stages. Eggs were 
placed in small vials closed with cotton plugs and kept in the field 
insectary under outdoor conditions. The larvae on hatching were 
placed in one-ounce tin boxes containing slightly moistened soil and a 
small amount of bran for food. As the larvae became larger, they were 
supplied with germinating wheat instead of bran for food. During 
the summer, it was necessary to change the soil in these boxes about 
every ten days, but in winter when the larvae were rather inactive, it 
was changed about every three weeks. The pupae were kept in the 
same boxes in which the transformation took place. The adult beetles 
were confined in pint fruit jars, containing about an inch of dry soil 
and a little bran. 
With the exception of the eggs, all stages were kept in the cement 
cave previously described by the writer (1917) where the temperature 
more nearly approximated subterranean conditions. During the 
summer months, the temperature of the cave varied from 70° to 80° F. 
With the approach of cold weather, the temperature gradually fell 
