. Annual report of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture. Missouri. State Board of Agriculture; Agriculture -- Missouri. 264 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. While we have a good many species of these May beetles or June beetles here in Missouri, nearly all of them belong to the genus Lachnos- tcriia. Our most common species is fitsca, but gibbosa is a close sec- ond ; hirtucla, fraterna and rugosa are perhaps next in order. It will not be necessary to discuss a sin- gle species, but we will confine our remarks so as to include the life history and habits of the majority of these May beetles. T
. Annual report of the Missouri State Board of Agriculture. Missouri. State Board of Agriculture; Agriculture -- Missouri. 264 MISSOURI AGRICULTURAL REPORT. While we have a good many species of these May beetles or June beetles here in Missouri, nearly all of them belong to the genus Lachnos- tcriia. Our most common species is fitsca, but gibbosa is a close sec- ond ; hirtucla, fraterna and rugosa are perhaps next in order. It will not be necessary to discuss a sin- gle species, but we will confine our remarks so as to include the life history and habits of the majority of these May beetles. The beetles, as you know, ap- pear in the spring during May and June, sometimes coming forth in great numbers and flying about just at dusk, and continuing this. Fig. of the White Grubs. Lach- (lu^ing the night. At the approach nosterna rugosa, Adult Beetle; enlarged two r '6 dav and one-fifth diameters. ui uay they Seek shelter Under grass, clods of earth, or even enter the earth itself and remain there until sundown, when they come forth again to fly about and pair and feed upon the leaves of a great variety of forest, shade, ornamental and some fruit trees and bushes. The males seem to be in much greater abundance than the females, our collection last spring showing about five males to one female. This seems to be the case with all species of May beetles. The male beetles die soon after pairing, and the female beetles deposit their eggs within a month and then die. Hence it is that we find very few May beetles after June. These beetles lay their eggs, in the ground about the roots of all kinds of grass. The eggs are deposited singly, usually to the depth of a couple of inches, each female depositing between two hundred and two hundred and fifty eggs. The eggs hatch into larvae, which are known as white grub. These larvae feed upon the roots of grass of all species. They are of a light, dirty-white color, quite transparent, and of the form shown in figure 27, which rep
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