the 30th of July (August 10 at Columbia), after which date their numbers diminish, or at least they become less noticeable to the casual observer. The beetles are usually to be seen until the end of the first week in August at Louisville, or the first of September in the latitude of Columbia, and in our breeding cages at Lafayette the last beetles, which in all cases were females, died August 27. On the other hand, at Columbia the last caged beetle died September 30 in 1913, and October 15 in 1914, in the latter case the last beetle being a male.

During the periods of abundance the beetles appear about daybreak, the females appearing first, or at least they are relatively more abundant than the males early in the morning, from daybreak until after sunrise.1 Shortly after sunrise the females begin to settle in the grass, often first searching for the exit of a burrow or starting a fresh hole, and then resting on the ground amongst the grass preparatory to mating. By this time the male beetles predominate, and they become relatively more abundant as the morning advances and the females gradually become less numerous. By 7 a.m. (later on cloudy days) the males are exceedingly numerous, buzzing here and there in search of females. In heavily infested localities the air near the ground becomes "alive" with the beetles, which rapidly fly back and forth, buzzing incessantly, all of which gives one the impression of a clover field full of bumblebees. They usually fly 6 to 12 or 18 inches above the ground, but often higher. From our observation it appears quite certain that the male is attractd. to the female by the rather strong and sickening odor of a milky fluid secreted by the latter, for he usually drops to the ground within a few inches of a female and, searching through the grass, seems to have no difficulty finding her within a minute or two. Male beetles will alight near a female even when the latter is completely hidden from view.

From 8.30 to 11 a.m. the number of beetles gradually diminishes, and after that comparatively few are to be found flying. By 1 p.m., and throughout the afternoon, only an occasional bettle is observed flying about. On one of the days when observations were made it rained most of the morning until 10.45, after which the sun came out and the beetles appeared in numbers. At Columbia, S. C., the junior author found the beetles most active between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., it being quite difficult to capture them at this time, and even when found feeding they took flight at the least disturbance. Evidently most of the beetles spend the night in the soil or under debris of one kind or another, but we occasionally found male beetles at night resting in shubbery, quite inactive and not. feeding, nor were they attracted to the electric flash light which we carried.

On entering the ground the beetle throws up a little mound of earth. which is not unlike that made by the grub and described later. The mound resembles a small ant hill, differing from the latter in that the

The following field observations were made at Louisville, Ky., except as noted.

particles of earth are coarser. More often the males, after their daily flight or after they have mated, burrow just beneath the grass or loose sod, and in the case of the putting greens of a golf course, which are kept perfectly smooth and the grass closely clipped, small mounds, resembling miniature mole burrows, indicate the presence of a resting beetle beneath. The female beetles, after mating go deeper into the soil, that is, from 2 to 4 or 5 inches, where they lay the eggs for the next brood.

Our observations indicate that the beetles also use their sense of smell in their search for food. For instance, an overripe fig was placed in a breeding cage containing a number of beetles which had not been fed for several days. Immediately one beetle about 6 inches distant from the fig began to move its head about as though scenting the pleasing odor, then to encircle the fruit, and shortly thereafter moved directly toward it and began to feed. In another cage beetles refused to touch ripe figs which were free from bruises or other imperfections, although they immediately attacked and fed on these same fruits after the skin was cut. This does not prove that the beetles will not attack perfect ripe fruit, but tends to show that they are not attracted to figs until the odor is delectable in other words, until the fruit is bruised. Being attracted to fig trees by the odor of bruised fruits, it is possible that the beetles will, when very abundant, attack even uninjured figs, although we have not observed the beetles feeding on fruits which have not been previously bruised or injured.

THE EGG

The eggs are usually laid in the soil from 2 to 5 inches beneath the surface. When first laid they are pearly white, symmetrically elliptical, and measure 1.5 mm. in width to 2.1+ mm. in length. As the embryo within develops they become almost spherical, measuring 2.5 to 2.8+ mm. in width and 2.8 to 3.1+ mm. in length, and 24 to 48 hours before hatching the embryonic grub is plainly visible through the eggshell. The eggs are remarkably elastic, usually rebounding without injury to the embryonic larva within when dropped on a hard surface, and in this respect they differ materially from the eggs of our common brown May beetles (Lachnosterna spp.), which usually burst when dropped or placed on an absorbing surface such as a blotter. Although resembling the eggs of the common brown May beetles, they are larger than those of most May beetles and methods of oviposition in the two are decidedly different, the eggs of the latter being laid in individual balls of earth while those of the green June beetles are in larger earthen balls, a number of the eggs being laid in each ball. The balls of earth vary in size from that of a medium-sized hickory nut to the size of a large walnut. and the number of eggs in each ball varies from 10 to 30, one lump,

In flowerpot cages containing fine sifted soil the eggs are laid as deep as 8 inches and in one instance an egg was found 12 inches below the surface in loose soil out of doors.

which was no larger than a walnut, containing 27 eggs. Evidently all of the eggs in each ball of earth are laid at one continuous period of oviposition and, as in the case of Lachnosterna, a glutinous secretion holds the ball of earth intact. Although the eggs are not laid in individual balls of earth, they are laid in individual cells within the large ball.

A single beetle probably lays as many as from 60 to 75 eggs under normal conditions. In two of our breeding cages, individual females laid 52 and 83 eggs, respectively, in both cases more than four-fifths of the total number being laid prior to July 22, and in the case of the former the female was removed from the cage before she was through egg-laying. In another cage, in which 23 females were confined, 756 eggs were laid, an average of 32.8+ eggs per beetle, and of those 690 were laid between July 14 and 21, and the remaining 66 between July 21 and August 4. In still another cage 33 females laid 768 eggs, or an individual average of 23.3 eggs, and 551 of these were laid between July 14 and 22, and 217 between the latter date and August 2. On the other hand, the 1913 records at Columbia showed a somewhat greater egg capacity. In one cage containing 1 female and 2 males, 90 eggs were laid, all during the first two weeks of August, and in another cage. containing 3 females and 3 males an average of 65 eggs per female was deposited, and in this case the majority were laid during the first half of August, a few, however, as late as September 1. In a 1914 cage, containing 2 females and several males, 198 eggs were laid, an average of 99 per female, and the period of oviposition lasted from August 4 to October 1, and although the majority were laid the first two weeks of August, one-third were deposited during September. Two beetles examined at Louisville, Ky., July 16, contained 54 and 76 fully developed eggs, respectively. Examinations of other specimens collected at Louisville July 14 and 16 gave the following egg counts: 6 beetles collected July 14 contained 54, 68, 55, 65, 61 and 45, respectively, and 5 beetles. collected July 16 contained 46, 52, 59, 45 and 58 eggs, respectively. All eggs were fully developed, not a single undeveloped egg being noticed. The period of oviposition extends through the months of July and August, but our observations show that the female lays the majority of her eggs from July 10 to 25 in the latitude of Lafayette, and from July 25 to August 15 at Columbia, S. C.

The length of the egg period varies, according to our breeding cage. records at Lafayette, from 15 to 18+ days, as will be seen in Table I. The eggs were kept in closed tin boxes in cool, shaded places and in what were considered approximately natural conditions. At Columbia the average length of the egg stage was 18.5 days in 1913 and 23 days in 1914, the difference possibly being due to differences in temperature

(Table II). The egg receptables used in the later experiments were shallow pots, known to the dealers as fern pots, covered with saucers.1 It is noteworthy that although the beetles appear as early in the latitude of South Carolina as in Kentucky, the period of maximum oviposition is later and beetles are active for a much longer time in the former locality than in the latter.

TABLE I. Records of egg period of the green June beetle Lafayette, Ind., 1913

In our work at Lafayette the tin boxes have given the most uniform results, although the opposite is the experience of the junior author in his experiments with Cotinis at Columbia. This difference seems likely due to variation in humidity.

HABITS OF THE GRUBS

When the embryonic larva is ready to hatch it causes the egg to split transversely at a point where the head and anal end of the larva, within the egg, touch. Immediately upon freeing itself from the eggshell it becomes quite active, crawling on its back, as do the older grubs, when placed on the surface of the soil. In one instance a recently hatched grub crawled 61⁄2 inches in 35 seconds, and another one crawled 21% inches in 10 seconds, or at the rate of 15 inches a minute, and nearly mature individuals travel over 2 feet in one minute.1

The grubs grow very rapidly, feeding on animal manure and similar decomposing matter, and their presence becomes more conspicuous daily. They are most noticeable in the late fall, and it is at this time that complaints are more frequent.

The first grubs hatch the first of August, and often by the middle of that month they become noticeable in lawns and gardens. At this time numerous young grubs will be found in the same area, as though they worked in colonies, and this would be expected, since a number of eggs are laid close together. Later the larvæ scatter, and infestation of the lawn or garden becomes more or less uniform.

The grubs have distinct open burrows which average 6 to 12 inches. in depth, although late in the fall they may reach a depth of a foot and a half, and the surface hole is about the size of one's thumb. The burrows usually go almost straight down, although there may be lateral burrows, and during the day the grub is likely to be found at the bottom. At night dirt is thrown out at the exit of their burrows, the little mounds. of earth thus appearing being from 2 to 3 inches in diameter and closely resembling ant hills, although the particles of earth are somewhat coarser, but not as coarse or pasty as is earth excavated by angleworms. Often the grubs come out of their burrows at night and crawl over the surface, and especially is this true on warm, wet evenings. Their mode of locomotion is very peculiar and characteristic, for they crawl on their backs, being unable to do otherwise since their legs are short, apparently somewhat aborted, and unfit for use in walking or crawling. When placed on a smooth surface the grub turns over on its back, legs uppermost, and by alternate contraction and expansion of the body segments

In referring to the "June-bug (Allorhina nitida)," Mr. James Mooney (Myths of the Cherokee, 19th Annual Report Bur. Amer. Ethnology, 1897-98, p. 308) writes that the Cherokee Indians know it by the name "tagu, but [it] is frequently called by the curious name of tu ya di skalaw, sti ski, 'one who keeps fire under the beans.' Its larva is the Grubworm which presided at the meeting held by the insects to compass the destruction of the human race." The story of this supposed meeting is given on pages 250-252 and runs as follows: Owing to the increase in the numbers of the human race, the animals and plants, including the insects, found themselves cramped for room, and they decided to hold a meeting, over which the Grubworm presided. "They began to devise and name so many new diseases, one after another, that had not their invention at last failed them no one of the human race would have been able to survive. The Grubworm grew constantly more pleased as the name of each disease was called off, until at last they reached the end of the list, when someone proposed to make menstruation sometimes fatal to women. On this he rose up in his place and cried Wadan [Thanks] I'm glad some more of them will die for they are getting so thick that they tread on me.' The thought made him fairly shake with joy so that he fell over backward and could not get on his feet again, but had to wiggle off on his back as the Grubworm has done ever since."