. Annual report of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. ooted vege-tables such as beets, turnips, etc. In fact most garden crops are in-jured at times by white grubs, which are more or less common in alllocalities. It is evident that these insects formerly subsisted on grassroots in the wild prairie lands, being native to this country, andturned their attacks to cultivated crops when deprived of their naturalfood by the cultivation of lands in which they lived. There are alarge number of species of white grubs, some being feeders on decay-ing vegetable matter, manure, etc., and
. Annual report of the North Carolina Agricultural Experiment Station. ooted vege-tables such as beets, turnips, etc. In fact most garden crops are in-jured at times by white grubs, which are more or less common in alllocalities. It is evident that these insects formerly subsisted on grassroots in the wild prairie lands, being native to this country, andturned their attacks to cultivated crops when deprived of their naturalfood by the cultivation of lands in which they lived. There are alarge number of species of white grubs, some being feeders on decay-ing vegetable matter, manure, etc., and hence not injurious, whileothers subsist on the roots of growing plants. GENERAL DESCRIPTION. White grubs, in general, may be described as having thick bodies,and hard, horny heads, behind which are three pairs of true legs end- SOME INSECT ENEMIES OF GARDEN CROPS. 53 ing in claws, while their abdomens are usually distinctly enlargednear the caudal ends (Fig. 33, e). They lie in a curved position, asshown in the figure. Some species get to be nearly two inches long,. -White Grub, Lachnosterna arcuata: a, beetle; b, pupa, e, larva—all enlargedone-fourth. (Chittenden, Bui. 19, Bur. of Ent, U. S. Dept. of Agr.) while many are smaller. Practically all the most injurious formsbelong to the genus Lachnosterna. Parent Beetles.—The parents are called May or June beetles,mostly shining brown in color and quite large, being known by theirhabits of flying into houses attracted by the lights at night. Thebeetles occasionally cause much injury to pecan trees and fruit treesby eating the developing buds. LIFE HISTORY AND HABITS. The eggs are deposited in sod lands, weedy places, strawberry beds,especially if the latter are weedy, and young grubs feed on the rootsof almost any available plants. The eggs are laid from May to July,and the grubs require from two to three years to mature, this depend-ing on the species. It will be seen that land once infested may remain so continuously,and wh
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