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oy
OF THE
NEW YORK STATE MUSEUM
NATURAL HISTORY.
THE WHITE GRUB OF THE MAY BEETLES
By ue A. SO Pu. D.,
TATE LNTOMOLOGIST.
PRINTED FOR THE MUSHU™M.
ALBANY :
JAMES B. LYON, PRINTER.
1888.
The White Grub of the May Beetle,
Lachnosterna fusca.
‘
It may safely be asserted that the last twenty-five years have
been signalized by greater progress than had been made in the pre-
ceding century, in economic entomology — that science that, through
the study of insect lives and insect habits, tends to promote the
comfort, welfare, happiness, and prosperity of society at large. In
every direction it has shown a marked advance — in a knowledge
of the insects with which it has to deal, the various insecticides
employed for the destruction of injurious species, the mechanical |
devices used in the application of insecticides, and a wide distribu-
tion of the results of the studies, in these several directions, of our
ablest entomologists. So marked has been this progress, that I need
not at this time dwell upon it, for it must be evident to all who have
given the slightest attention to the study. Insect depredations, to
an extent elsewhere unknown, imperatively demanded that means
should be found for their control. In recognition of the need, and
in response to the call, provision, through State aid of the means
essential to the study, was made, and those were found who were
ready to devote themselves enthusiastically to the work. As the
result, we are able to say, that there is to-day, within the reach of our
agricultural community, a literature which offers them means for pro-
tection from their insect foes, superior to that of any other country
of the globe. But, while boasting of this progress, I should fail of
giving honor to whom honor is due, if I neglected to recall the
fact, that at the very basis of this progress lie the labors of Dr. Asa -
Fitch, called to his work thirty years ago by the New York State
Agricultural Society, and sustained therein for nearly a score of
years, by appropriations obtained from the State, through the
instrumentality of the Society. True, the labors and writings of Dr.
_ Harris, of Massachussetts, in his studies of insect habits, and of
preventive and remedial measures against a few species, initiated
economic investigations, and prepared the way for more extended
4 BULLETIN OF THE New York State MUSEvM.
research; yet comparatively little could be accomplished in so vast
a field, until specialists could be summoned to the work, prepared
to devote to it their entire time, and their best abilities.
But the progress of which we boast is only great by comparison
with the ignorance that formerly prevailed, when directions were
given in our agricultural journals “ how to destroy the cut-worm,” *
and “how to prevent caterpillar attack.” When measured, how-
ever, with what remains to be accomplished, the work seems but
barely to have been entered upon—so immense is the number of
species to be studied, so varied are their habits, and so secretly are
many of their depredations conducted. While the last decade has
contributed to our literature the life-history of a large number of
destructive species, and has enabled us to find their most vulnerable
point of attack and the most effectual means of destruction, there
still remain several of our more injurious pests, which, as yet, we
know not how to control, or how to prevent at times their wresting
from us the products of our toil or the objects of our pride.
We need not be ashamed to make this confession. It in no
degree invalidates the importance of entomological investigations.
It is simply a consequence of the partial investigations thus far
made— commenced only by those who have but recently passed
off the stage, and continued by a paltry number of successors ; for,
as IL have elsewhere stated, there are not within the 3,000,000 of
square miles comprising these United States, more than ten persons
who are permitted to devote their entire time to the furtherance of
‘ economic entomology. If, by a wise provision, this number could.
be quintupled, through each one of the several States contributing
its quota, what rapid progress might be made through such an
increased and diffused cooperation. My experience of thirty years
in the study of insects enables me to make the assertion, that there
is not a single insect pest, the depredations of which we can not
materially control, whenever its entire life-history becomes known to us.
The exposed habits of the larve of most of our Lepidoptera
(butterflies and moths), they being external feeders by day upon ~
various plants, shrubs and trees, have made them comparatively
easy subjects for study. It is different when we have to deal with
*In the genera of Agrotis, Mamestra, Hadena, and a few others closely
allied, over four hundred United States species of moths have been
described, the larvee of most of which, if not all, may be classed as cut-
worms. : :
'
THe WaHiTe Grup oF THE May BEgEr.e. 5
Coleoptera (beetles), where the larval or grub stage is generally
concealed. This is why the early stages of so few of our Coleoptera
have as yet been discovered and described.
When, in addition to a hidden, subterranean, larval life, we have
also in the life-history the perplexing element of a greatly prolonged
and unknown larval stage, the problem of how best to deal with
our insect foes becomes a difficult one. In the Coleoptera, among
the Hlateride and the Scarabeide, we have two groups which
unfortunately are in this category. The life-histories of the wire-
worms and of the white grubs are unknown to us, and even the
duration of their larval period has not been definitely ascertained.
They are among the more serious pests of the agriculturist, and we
do not know how effectually to prevent their depredations. Many
experiments lave been tried for their control, some of which have
been partially successful. Notawaiting more positive and perfectly
satisfactory results, it seems proper that there should be furnished
the public from time to time such an epitome of what has been
ascertained as may permit of its beneficial use.
It is therefore proposed, at the present, to present a summary of
our knowledge of the May beetle, Lachnosterna fusca (Frohl.).
The larva of this species has, by common usage, received the
“name of “the white grub.” .
It is not a well-chosen
name, since there are sey-
eral allied forms to which
it might be quite as well
_ applied, but it serves, from
its general adoption, the
purpose of separating it
from other insects when
we would speak of it.
The perfect insect has in
like manner been named :
the May-bug or May-bee-
tle, and the June-bug or
June-beetle. As it is a Fic. 1.—The May-bug, LACHNOSTERNA FUSCA; 1, the
Re t pupa; 2, the white grub in its ground cell; 3and 4,
frequent visitor in our the beetle.
houses, where it is attracted to light, nearly every person, doubt-
less, has made its acquaintance in childhood. It is a thick-bodied
insect of an oval form, and of a dark brown color, and measures
6 BULLETIN oF THE New York State Museum.
about eight-tenths of an inch in length. Its wing-covers are
shining and smooth, with the exception of two or three slightly
elevated lines on each, and numerous minute impressed dots. The
short antenne terminate in three yellow leaflets or plates.
The breast is covered with fine, glossy, yellowish hairs, from which
it (together with the other species of the genus) owes the generic
name of Lachnosterna, signifying woolly-breasted. The legs are
tawny yellow, with blackupon the joints. In the accompanying
figure it is shown in a side and back view in 3 and 4.
THe WuHitEe Grup.
uo larva may be characterized as a large white, soft grub, with
afi some scattered fine hairs, a flattened, brownish or
_ light gurahog any colored head, with six distinct, rather
+ thre ee hie and the hinder aes of the body con-
-j} siderably the thickest, ‘as Shown in the accompanying
figure. When taken from the ground, it usually
ie. 2—The 28Sumes a curved form, its head and terminal end
white grub. nearly meeting. When full-grown it is almost the
size of a man’s little finger. In the preceding figure, at 2; it is
represented as lying within a cavity made by it in the ground,
while feeding upon the roots of its food-plants.
There are several other “ white grubs,” similar to this in general
appearance, but as they have habits in common, to a great extent,
it is not necessary, except where observations are desired for
scientific uses, that they should be readily separable. From a
very similar species, however, which occurs in manure, it is impor-
tant that it may be distinguished, lest proper manuring should be
withheld, through fear that the May-bug would be conveyed with
it. The May-bug grub does not occur in manure, as its food con-
sists of living vegetable matter.* The grub which is frequently
found abundantly in dung-hills, and may be met with under the
droppings of cows in fields, is exclusively a dung feeder. It is
known in some localities as the “muck-worm.” Its scientific desig-
nation is Ligyrus relictus Say. The following features, by which the
two may be separated, have been pointed out by Mr. Walsh. In
* The grub appears not to be exclusively a vegetable feeder, for it has
been observed feeding on the eggs of the Rocky Mountain Locust, Calop-
tenus spretus (Riley, in Rept. Commis. Agricult. for 1883, p. 174).
. Tue Waitt Grus oF THE May BEETLE. G
the latter species, there may be seen on its back through its semi-
transparent skin, along the entire length of the body, a lead-colored
line, denoting its intestinal canal filled with the black dung upon
which it has fed. In the true white grub, the L. fusca larva, it is
only near the terminal end of the body that it shows a lead-colored
appearance, because ‘it is only at this portion of the canal that the
roots upon which it feeds have become digested and converted into
a dark-colored excrement (Practical Entomologist, i, 1866, p. 60).
Tur Kaa.
“The eges are white, translucent, spherical, with an average
diameter of 0.09 inch. They are deposited between the roots of
erass, and are inclosed in a ball of earth before deposition, as the
cavity is sufficiently large for the egg to roll about in.” (Riley,
Fifth Report, 1873, p. 55.)
It would appear that the above is given from the personal obser-
vations of Prof. Riley, or upon reliable information communicated
to him, If this be so, then the following statement communicated
to the Country Gentleman, of August 27, 1874 (p. 547, c. 4), can not be
accepted: “Two years ago, I repeatedly saw in a garden the female
depositing her eges while flying — just at dusk— an inch or so above
the ground: These eggs were polished white, as large as pigeon-
shot, and dropped-singly. This is in contradiction to the ‘ authori-
ties,’ for it is stated that the female digs again into the ground and
deposits about thirty eggs in one hole” (T. J. Burrill, Champaign,
Til, professor of botany in the Illinois Industrial University).
Beyond the above, I have no knowledge of any publication of
observations upon the ege-laying of this species, the construction
of the ball of earth in which the eggs are said to be first inclosed,
or the manner of its burial. How the ball-making and its burial to
a considerable depth, in sod, can be accomplished by the aid of feet
so seemingly unfitted for such operations is incomprehensible to me.
InsJuRIOUS CHARACTER OF THE INSECT.
The May-beetle may with propriety be named among our most
injurious pests. It has attained the unenviable notoriety of being
pronounced “one of the very worst and most insidious of the
farmer’s foes.” If alist of our insect enemies were arranged in
the order of relative importance, this species would, I think, find
_ place among the first twenty. It is a native species, and very early
\
8 BULLETIN OF THE NEw York STATE MUSsEvumM.
notices appear of its serious injuries. It was first described nearly
one hundred years ago —in 1792. Unfortunately, its depredations
are evidently upon the increase, particularly within our own State,
as appears from the following extract, and from the numerous
inquiries received by me, of late, for approved and effectual means
for the arrest of its ravages.
From Washington county, N. Y., in 1881, we have this statement :
“The widespread havoc which this insect has caused this year, and
the fact that its ravages are increasing with alarming rapidity, is
my excuse for referring to the subject. The damages in this
county a to, probably, thousands of dollars annually, and
are increasing.”
The extent that these depredations have slrenthya raat is a
sufficient warrant for this present notice of them. In their con-
sideration, those committed in the early stage of the insect —that
of the grub — will first be referred to.
INJURIES FROM THE GRUB.
Dr. Harris writes: “They subsist on the tender roots of various
plants, committing ravages among these vegetable substances, on
some occasions of the most deplorable kind, so as totally to disap-
point the well-founded hopes of the husbandman.”
To Grass.— Dr. Fitch thus notices it: “These grubs feed upon
the roots of grass and other plants, which they cut off a short
distance beneath the surface; and when they are numerous they
advance under ground like an army, severing the turf as smoothly
as though it were cut with a spade, so that it can be raised up in
large sheets, and folded over or rolled together like a carpet. Often
from a dozen to twenty grubs will be exposed in every square foot
when the turf is thus. raised. Large patches of this kind will
occur in the middle of a meadow or pasture, every blade of the
erass being brown and dead” (3d, 4th and 5th Repts., 1859, p. 53).
In some pasture lands near London, Ontario, throughout entire
fields “the roots of the grass had been so eaten that the turf could
readily be lifted by the hand by the yard, and underneath were
_ thousands of the grubs feeding on the remaining fragments of the
roots. In one instance, a field had been so completely destroyed
that the farmer had set fire to the withered grass, with the hope of
scorching the enemy to death” Oe ats Entomologist, xiii, 1881,
p- 200). ,
Tae Ware Grup or THE May BEeEr.e. 9
A report from North Pawlet, Vt. (New England Homestead, Nov.
8, 1884), states: “There is, at a low estimate, between three hundred
and four hundred acres of land in this town that looks as barren
as our roads, so far as anything green is visible. In our back lots
a good deal of the dry turf has been turned over by skunks, coons,
foxes and crows, in search of the grub.”
To Corn.— The accounts given of its destructiveness to corn are
numerous. Not only does it cut off the young corn when a few
inches high, but it will also destroy full-grown corn over entire
fields. On Prairie Ronde, in Michigan, it appeared in such num-
bers as nearly to destroy many fields of corn. Upon examination
of a few corn stalks left standing in a field, the roots were found
eaten off to within a few inches of the stalk, and often from three
to five large grubs ina hill) Most of the corn was killed early in
the season, and the few stalks left were dying a lingering death,
without producing any grain (Practical Entomologist, i, p. 60).
A gentleman from Nine Mile Prairie, Missouri, writes: “They
are destroying whole fields of corn. JI have seen fields where they
have destroyed the corn in patches for rods around, leaving the
ground as bare as the traveled road. They seem to destroy the
tap-root first, and afterward prey on the laterals” (Practical Ento-
mologist, 1, p. 61).-
From Washington county, N. Y., we have this statement and
estimate of injuries to corn from the grub, in the year 1881: “A
large area of corn, in the aggregate, has been badly injured or
entirely destroyed. On my own farm they caused the loss of one
huadred bushels of corn alone; much of it would pull up by the
roots when struck by the knife, frequently exposing to view from
five to fifteen grubs” (Country Gentleman for Dec. 29, 1881, p,
851, c. 3).
Mr. Glover records their extraordinary abundance in Grayson
county, Virginia, in 1874, where as many as one hundred and ten
were counted in a single hill. They were also, during the same
year, quite destructive to corn crops in Huntineton county,
‘Indiana, and in Montgomery county, Missouri (Report of the
, Commissioner of Agriculture, for 1874, p. 129),
To Strawberries,— It has long been known as , especially addicted
_ to feeding upon the roots of the strawberry. Prof. Forbes, in his
excellent Address on Insects Affecting the Strawberry, read before
ad 5
10 BULLETIN OF THE NEw YorkK StTaTE MusEuUM.
the Mississippi Valley Horticultural Society, at New Orleans, on
February 22, 1883, represents it (page 27 of Author’s edition) as
“ perhaps the most unsatisfactory insect with which the strawberry-
grower has to deal, offering the fewest opportunities for effective
attack. The roots of the plant are often destroyed by it to a
degree to impair seriously the value of the plantation.” Mr. B.
D. Walsh has written of it that it “is particularly destructive to
strawberry beds and is probably one of the chief reasons why this
plant will not last more than a few years on the same spot of
ground in this country” (Pract. Ent., iti, p. 60). Dr. Packard
records its ravages at Salem, Mass., where many plants were killed
by its eating the main roots and thus passing from one plant to —
another (Third Report Inj. Ins. Mass., 1873, p. 6).
To Potatoes—In Washington county, N. Y., during the year
1881, the grub is charged with having devoured whole fields of
potatoes.
Hundreds of bushels were reported as having been made unfit
for market, in North Pawlet, Vt.,in 1884, by the grubs having
eaten holes into them (New England Homestead, for Nov. 8,
1884). :
To Wheat.— Of its injuries to wheat and other grains, Professor
Webster has written: ‘“ During autumn there is hardly a field of
wheat here in Indiana that does not, to a greater or less extent,
show the effects of their voracious appetites. Their method of
work in the grain fields seems to be much more erratic than in
grass lands, as the many clusters of from two to twenty, or per-
haps more, dead plants that have been eaten off below the surface,
illustrate. Their work in spring wheat, and oats during spring, is
usually less noticeable, and we have never observed the grubs,
feeding on the roots of spring-sown grain later than the fifteenth
of May.”
To Barley.— Professor Webster also reports that the larvee
were observed in the University Experiment farm at La Fayette,
Ind., cutting off the roots of the full-grown and fully-headed grain.
As late as the twenty-eighth of June they were causing whole
stocks of the straw to wither and die before the kernels had filled —
(Ann. Rept, Comm. Agriculture, for 1886, p. 575). -
THe WHITE GrRus oF THE May BEETLE. ati
INJURIES BY THE BEETLE.
Many of our insect pests are injurious only in their larval stage,
except through the evil that they originate in the deposit of their
eggs. Of this class are all of the extensive order of Lepidoptera,
embracing the butterflies and moths, which, in their winged stage,
are unproyvided with jaws for biting. Their slender and flexible
tubular proboscis, fitted only for imbibing liquids, can not be used
for any serious harm —in this particular, unlike the rigid, stouter
proboscis of the Hemiptera or bugs, which is capable of inflicting
serious and varied injuries. The powerful jaws with which many
of the Coleoptera, or beetles, are armed, are often fitted for, and
employed as, formidable instruments of offense. The May-beetle
while, from the character of its food and a life-period of short dura-
tion, it is less injurious than its insatiate and long-lived grub, is
still chargeable, as a leaf-eater, with extensive depredations at times
upon many of our fruit, forest, and shade trees. Dr. Fitch has
_ written of them as “gathering by night upon the trees and eating
the leaves, sometimes in such numbers as to wholly strip the
foliage from the choice varieties.” Prof. Riley states: “I have
known the Lombardy poplar to die, in consequence of the utter
denudation they caused; while groves of both pin and post oaks
[Quercus palustris and Q. obtusiloba] * * * were thoroughly
and suddenly denuded by them” (first Report Ins. Mo., p. 157).
Of the fruit trees, the cherry and plum appear to be preferred.
Tt was thought by Mr. Walsh that their swarming upon these trees,
as they occasionally do, was not usual, except in the eastern States,
as he had not known it to occur in the valley of the Mississippi
(Practical Entomologist, 1, 1866, p. 62). But that they are, at times,
quite as abundant in that region appears from the record, that in
Cameron, Missouri, “ they swarmed during the last of May, 1866,
making a noise on the trees like the coming up of a storm of wind
and rain” (American Entomologist, i, 1868, p. 37). Among other
trees, the beetle is recorded as feeding upon the oak, the maple, and
the beech. |
Mr. W. L. Devereaux, of Wayne Co., N. Y., writing in 1886,
states: “The May-beetle is very abundant in this county this year,
_ and it has completely stripped the foliage from most of the late
infoliating trees like the species of walnut, ash, and oak (The Hus-
bandman for June 23).
12 BULLETIN OF THE New York STATE MUSEUM.
ABUNDANCE OF THE BEETLE.
The immense numbers in which the insects sometimes congre-
gate in seasons of their unusual abundance is so well known that
two notices only will be given of such gatherings. . A correspondent
from Central Maryland has sent me the following paragraph :
The land seems to be full of them. They lie quiet during the
day, but in the night, in the neighborhood and around and among
the branches of two weeping willow trees near my house they make
a continuous humming noise with their wings, and after the
sultry evenings the noise made by them is a continuous roar all
through the night.
In the Rural New Yorker, of July 10, 1886, is the following
notice of an extraordinary flight of the beetles :
An immense swarm of June-bugs settled down on Pekin, Illinois,
Monday evening. Millions of them flew against an electric light
on a street corner, and were burned to death. Five wagon loads
were gathered up afterwards from the ground beneath the lights,
and thrown into the [lliois river.
LIFE-HISTORY.
When I say that the life-history of this insect is not known, I
offer the best reason for our inability to give effectual means for
preventing the heavy annual losses that it inflicts upon us. The
brief outlines ofa history that are to be found in our entomological
reports appear to have no better foundation than a presumed agree-
ment with that of the Huropean cockchafer, Melolontha vulgaris —
a very poor basis, it may be remarked, for, long as that notorious
pest has been known and studied, the knowledge of its transforma-
_ tions is far from complete. Dr. Harris gives no details, but con-
tents himself with the very broad statemerft that “the habits and
transformations of the common cockchafer of Europe * * *
will serve to exemplify those of the other insects of this family.”
Even so accurate an observer as Dr. Fitch, thoughtlessly and
unwisely, we think, committed himself to the following statement:.
“Every thing known respecting the history of our May-beetle and
its transformations concurs to show that it is exactly analogous to
the cockchafer or May-bug of Europe.” In truth, the European.
cockchafer, of whose excessive abundance and ravages at times we
have had such graphic accounts, is not closely allied to our May-
bug. It belongs to another genus — Melolontha — which is entirely
unrepresented in this country.
Tae Ware Grup of THE May BEETLE. 13
Professor Riley presents the following history, unaccompanied
with the authority or observations supporting it: “Soon after
pairing, the female beetle creeps into the earth, especially wherever
the soil is loose and rough, and after depositing her eggs, to the
number of forty or fifty, dies. These hatch in the course of a
month, and, the grubs, growing slowly, do not attain full size until
the early spring of es third year, when they construct <=,
an ovoid chamber, lined with a gelatinous fluid, change +
into the pupz [shown inthe accompanying figure],andsoon {¥
after into beetles. These last are at first white, and all &
the parts soft, as in the pupa, and they frequently remain #¢
in the earth for weeks at a time, until thoroughly hard- ‘
ened, and then, on some favorable night in) Mary, they ise.s)) ae
in swarms and fill the air. It is very probable that under pupa of the
favorable conditions some of the grubs become pup, and “2% Peete.
even beetles, the fall subsequent to their second spring; but grow-
ing torpid on approach of winter, remain in this state in the earth,
and do not quit it any sooner than those transformed in the spring.
On this hypothesis, their being occasionally turned up in the fresh
beetle state at fall ploughing, becomes intelligible” (Hirst Report
Dist Mo. 9. ls).
In all thus far written of the transformations of this insect, the
element of uncertainty largely prevails. It does not appear that
the larval life-duration has in a single instance been ascertained, and
many such determinations would be required in order to establish
arule of uniformity or the range of variation. Observations
sufficiently reliable for use in building up a life-history are almost -
wholly wanting. The following are of some value:
In Clinton county, Missouri, the beetles swarmed late in May of
1866, from which eggs were doubtless deposited in June (the
female is said to live for about a week). The grubs [from these
eges| were small, and not very injurious in 1867. They were
“full-crown, fine, fat fellows,’ in the autumn of 1868 (American
Entomologist, i, 1868, p. 37). From the above we educe: If the
larvee were then as reported, full-grown, the beetles from them would
appear in May of 1869, three years from their preceding appear-
ance. The grubs may have either transformed into pup in the
autumn of 1868 or spring of 1869 —in the third year of their life.
Their larval period would then have been either two and one-third
or two and three-fourths years.
14 BULLETIN OF THE New York Strate MUvUsEvM. |
Dr. Packard records his having found the pupz “in little rude
cells or chambers, about six inches under the mould * Es -
in Maine, late in May” (8d Report Ins. Mass., 1873, p. 7).
I will here quote, from its obscure resting place, where it seems
to have been overlooked, a somewhat circumstantial history of the
transformations of this insect, which from the absence of techni-
calities and its general character, would seem to be the personal
observations of the writer, and, therefore, of considerable value.
It is from the Patent Office Report for the year 1852, Pt. ii, Agri-
culture (p. 219), and is a portion of a report upon the crops of
Ulster county, N. Y., made by David L. Bernard, of Clintondale.
Corn is extensively cultivated in this county, and is considered
most remunerative at present. It seldom fails with us to pro-
duce a fair yield, except in seasons when the larve of a beetle are
present with us. When these grubs prevail to a considerable
extent, neither good husbandry nor high manuring can secure us a
crop; and per haps no other county has for the past twenty years
suffered more loss from this, than Ulster. This formidable enemy
to agriculture seems evadually to be leaving us, in all probability —
to appear in some ‘other place, and there to renew the same
destructive process practiced on us. In order to give this beetle a
slight introduction to whom it may concern, I will give a brief
description of its general appearance and habits. The bug or
beetle is about three-fourths of an inch in length, of a dark brown
color, and may be seen in large numbers flying through the air, in
the early part of the evening, about the last of April or first of
May. They deposit their eges generally in the month of June,
on grass land, on soil that is ight or loamy. The larva is hatched
from the egg during the month of August, and feeds upon the roots
of vegetables until the ground becomes frozen ; it then descends
below the frost, and there remains in a state of torpidity until the
following spring. As the frost leaves the ground it ascends to the
surface (exhibiting no increase of growth during the winter), and —
again resumes its former mode of living, carefully secluded from
the rays of the sun; feeding on the roots of almost all kinds of
grasses and vegetables. Its movements are slow and sluggish ; its
color nearly white, with the exception of the head, which is red ;
it has six legs, three on each side; it is at this age about one inch
in length. It continues its destruction of all ereen vegetable
matter with which it may come in contact, until the eround
becomes frozen again. This is its most destructive season through
its progress of change. As the ground becomes frozen, it again
descends below the frost (in some instances six feet below the sur-
face), as before remains torpid until the next spring, when it again
appears at the surface, being now about one and one-quarter inch
in length. It continues to feed as usual upon vegetable piel 2S
THE WHITE GRUB OF THE May BEETLE. 15
- until about the middle of June, when it ceases to feed, descends
deeper into the earth, and becomes torpid until about the middle
of August, when a complete change occurs. It opens lengthwise
from the head, back near one-half its length, and forthwith appears
in the chrysalis state, in which it remains nearly inactive until
about the last of September, when it changes into a_ perfect state
or beetle, and still remains in a nearly torpid state until the
following spring, when, about the last of April, it ascends to
the surface and immediately commences to reproduce its species.
Té has thus far baffled the ingenuity of man to prevent its
ravages, while fields of tiffothy have, within a few weeks, been
entirely destroyed by this grub, and thousands of acres of corn
have been totally lost in this county by its ravages.
According to the above statement, the larval stage proper would
be of the duration of two years.
DISTRIBUTION.
This insect is one of very extensive distribution, being found in
all parts of the United States, and extending northward into British
America, where it occurred in Kirby’s collections in north latitude
54° — the latitude of Labrador and Hudson’s bay.
Its ENEMIES.
An excellent reason for the amount of injury which this insect
imposes upon us is found in the few insect or other enemies that
prey upon it, protected as it is by its subterranean life in its first
three stages, and its unusually brief final stage. Only one insect
parasite is known to attack it. It has, however, several vertebrate
‘enemies which render good service in restraining its unlimited
increase ; these will first be noticed :
The Skunk.— There is abundant testimony of the service ren-
dered by skunks in the destruction of the grubs, and to the expert-
ness which they manifest in the discovery of their presence, and in
making them their prey. It has been thought that one reason
among others for the multiplication of the’ grub in localities in
_ the Western States and elsewhere is to be found in the wholesale
slaughter of the skunk since their skins have obtained commercial
value asa fur. In the Country Gentleman of December 1, 1881
(p. 778, col. 2), we have the following observations: “A few years
ago, before skunk skins became so valuable as furs, I had a pair of
half-tamed skunks which I used to let out every evening to dig for
erubs, and it was wonderfully interesting to see their infallible
16 BULLETIN oF THE New York Strate Museum.
scent or instinct in discovering the location, and then their aston-
ishing celerity in digging out and gobbling the grubs. But most
astonishing of all was the quantity of grubs those two little beasts
would devour every evening. I have often watched them, and,
incredible as it may seem, I could not say that they ate less than
half a bushel daily!” To the above statement, the suggestion is
added, that avery valuable ally might be obtained in our war against
the white grub by removing the odoriferous glands from the skunk,
and domesticating him for employmenf as a grub killer.
Mr. Hoard, of Wisconsin, has: made the following statement:
I once had eight acres of hops, in which the white grub was very
destructive. I went through the hops one morning, when there had
been a couple of skunks in the hops in the night, and I found by
actual count that they had investigated 400 hop hills, and I thence-
forth became a very firm friend of the skunk (Zrans. Wise. St.
| Agricul. Soc., xix, 1881, p. 298).
A Poirccpandeus of the Practical Farmer had watched the habits
of skunks for twenty years, and found their natural food to be
insects. He had a field of corn attacked by the white grub, in
which he afterwards observed numerous small, round holes where
these insects had been taken out by the skunks and deyoured. He
believed that the skunk should stand first in the list of insect.
destroyers, as it fed upon other noxious insects in addition to the
white grub (Country Gentleman for Jan. 25, 1877, p. 527).
A correspondent from Washington county, N. Y., gives this testi-
mony: “Before skunks began to be hunted, we had no trouble
with the white grub, and I think they kept them down. I often
found my.corn-hills rooted into, evidently by skunks in search of
erubs. Those dug into early in the season made a fair crop, while
those untouched until later were destroyed. I have also seen the —
same signs in meadows and pastures” (Country Gentleman, Dee. 29,
1881, p. 851).
Not only are the grubs so eagerly sought for and devoured by
this animal, but it is also, according to Dr. Fitch, a natural destroyer
of the beetle, its food consisting almost entirely of this insect dur-
ing the short period of its existence (Third Fitch Rept. Ins. N. Y.,
p: 55). This is in accordance with the statement of Dr. Harris, to
the effect that the beetles are devoured by the skunk, whose bene-
ficial foraging is detected in our gardens by its abundant excrement
filled with the wing-cases of these insects. .
Tar Waitt Grup oF THE May BreEtie. 17
The Raccoon.— Dr. Thomas (Sixth Rept. Ins. Iil., p. 98) names
the raccoon as one of the carnivorous animals that prey upon this
insect, but does not state to what extent it destroys it.
In the report from North Pawlet, Vt., page 9, it is mentioned
as one of the animals that had been digging in the dry turf for the
erubs that had caused the death of the grass.
The Fox.—In the same report, this animal is also included
among those which had been rendering good service to the farmer,
and the following suggestion is added : “ There is now a bill before
the Legislature Lapuoriine the State to pay one dollar a head for
all foxes killed in the State. Now, if these grubs continue with
their sad havoc from year to year, I should think it a wise legis-
lative act to pass a law prohibiting the killing of all wild beasts
and birds which subsist in part on these grubs.”
The Mole.— Professor Claypole, a careful observer of the habits
of insects and other animals, permits us to claim the mole as an ~
auxiliary in our warfare against the white grub. The following is
what he saw, writing from Yellow Springs, Ohio: “In. digging
potatoes this year, I observed the runs of a mole in all directions
through the ground. It was a piece of old sod, and very much
infested with white worms, the larva of the cockchafer, Lachnos-
terna fusca. Many of the potatoes had been partly eaten, by these
worms, but I observed that wherever a mole-run traversed a hill
of potatoes no white worm could be found, even though the half-
eaten potatoes were proof of his former presence. The inference
is fair that the mole had found him first and eaten him, and very
likely the mole’s object in so thickly tunneling this piece of ground
was to find these grubs” (Canadian Entomologist, xiv, p. 17).
A writer in the Indiana Farmer says: “ Last year I put twelve
moles in my strawberry patch of five acres to catch the grubs, and
they did the work. I never had a dozen plants injured during the
summer, either by the grubs or moles. I know some people do
not care for moles on their farms, but I want them in my straw-
berry patch.”
The Gopher.— In Michigan, upon some new land badly infested
with white grubs, and where the gopher was also abundant, the
attempt was made to exterminate these animals, until they were
observed, in the autumn, busily engaged in digging up and eating
the grubs.
et
3
18 BULLETIN OF THE NEw York STATE MUSEUM.
The Frog.—This animal undoubtedly destroys large numbers of
the beetle, at the time when their destruction would be of the
ereatest benefit, during the night of their emerging from the
ground and before they have deposited their eggs. Dr. Hoy, of —
Racine, Wis., relates that on the twelfth of June, having occasion
to go across a little piece of prairie, he saw a large spotted frog,
hana , very large and hardly able to jump. He captured and
opened him, and to his surprise found within him eight May-
beetles. Others were caught and examined, and each was found
to contain from one to four of the beetles (Trans. Wisc. St.
Agricul. Soc., xix, 1881, p. 297).
Other Mammals.— Among the mammals appointed to check the
ravages of the cockchafer and allied leaf-beetles in Europe, accord-
ing to Latreille, are the badger, weasel, marten, bats, and rats.
The same animals, no doubt, render more or less service in
restricting the increase of the May-bug in this country.
Domestic Fowls.—Tf these be watched as they follow the plow
in our gardens and fields in search of such imsects as may be
brought to the surface, it will be seen that they show a special
fondness for the white grub. Their presence during the operation —
of plowing should, therefore, always be encouraged.
The Crow.— The common crow feeds upon both the beetle and
the grub. It is believed by many that its frequent occurrence in
corn-fields is the result of its fondness for the grub, which is prey-
ing upon the young corn, rather than for the corn itself. The
studies that have been so ably conducted during the last few years
upon the food of birds should have settled ere this the question
beyond all doubt, whether the crow is to be driven from, or invited
to, our corn-fields.
Mr. Glover states that this bird has been observed to return on
the appearance of the dor bug or May-beetle, and to feed greedily
upon it both in its winged and larval stages.
Other Birds.— The beetles have been found in the stomach of —
the king-bird, Tyrannus Carolinensis, shot in the month of May.
The robin, black-birds and jays are also said to feed upon them.
The grub has been taken from the stomach of the sparrow. —
hawk, Falco sparverius. |
Insects.— The grub has also enemies among its own class, which ©
prey upon it. Several of the predaceous beetles are said to —
THt Waite Grup or THE May BreErte. 19
devour it — species of ‘the rapacious Carabide, probably Calosoma
-calidwm and others, but their names have not been recorded.
A Parasite-— While many insect attacks are restrained through
“the beneficent aid of other insects, ee in our Sous, we are
apt to regard as specially com- 2
Beesioned to perform this duty
for our protection, thus far we
‘know of but a single parasite
‘which is waging warfare upon &
‘the white grub. This insect
was described and figured by 5 Tie wet
‘Professor Riley, in his Sixth Report on the Insects of Missouri
(1874, pp. 128, 124), as the white grub parasite — Tiphia inornata.
‘It is shown at a in the accompanying figure. It is one of the
digger-wasps, and the ease with which these creatures are able to
burrow in the ground enables this one to discover the grub in
its concealed retreats, and by depositing an egg upon the
body, to provide for its progeny its needed food, and to
insure the death of the attacked grub. The parasitic larva,
shown at c, having matured, it incloses itself for its changes
in “an egg-shaped cocoon of a pale golden-brown or buff color, and
with a soft exterior surface, in touch as well as color. * * *
Upon cutting this cocoon open, it will be found to consist of about
a dozen delicate layers, the outer ones soft and loosely spun, the
inner ones more and more compact and paler in color.” The cocoon
is shown at d in the ficure. Their presence in the ground (from
‘the above description and figure they may be easily recognized)
‘Serve to show the parasitic attack. They have in some instances
been met with in such numbers, in association with a formidable
grub attack, as to arrest attention and to induce inquiry into their
character.
_ For an interesting mention of a secondary parasitic attack — the
Jarva of the Tiphia, in its turn and while within its cocoon,
ds destroyed by a beetle known as Rhipiphorus (Hmmenadia)
pectinatus Fabr., var. ventralis — see Riley, loc. cit., p. 125.
_ From a paper recently read by Mr. Otto Lugger, before the
Baltimore Naturalists’ Field Club, it appears that the Rhiphophora
parasite above mentioned, which destroys the Tiphia parasite, has
a parasite which also destroys it. Mr. Lugger had found within
‘the Tiphia cocoons small hymenopterous parasites— the species
\
20 BULLETIN oF THE New York Stare Museum.
not stated—showing this interesting order of events: The larva
of a large Coleopterous insect (Lachnosterna fusca) is destroyed
by a hymenopterous larva (Tiphia inornata); this in turn by a
Coleopterous larva (Rhipiphorus pectinatus) ; and this again by a
Hymenopterous larva ( ). Birt
In connection with the parasitic attack on the
|| white grub, it is of interest to note that Dr. F.
i) Brauer has lately discovered a yery interesting
parasite upon S/uzotreqgus, an European genus
belonging to the same group with Lachnosterna.
! Within its nearly formed pupa, he has found the
; /, second larval stage of a dipterous insect, Hirmo-
I
h neura obscura— one of the bee-fiies, the genus of
/ ~ which is represented in the United States. It is
i still not known when and in what manner the para-
site enters the Rhizotrogus grub, brtt it was thought
to be while the latter is in the larval state (Science,
il, April 18, 1884, p. 488).
The White Grub Fungus,— For another destroyer
of the white grub, and the most interesting of all
that we have referred to, we have to turn to the vege-
table kingdom—to that low class of plants known
as fungi. From its.being so often found upon this
species, it has been popularly named the white grub
fungus. Scientifically, it is known as Cordyceps
Ravenelii Berkeley.” * Tt was described in 1857, but
its economic importance in its association with the
white grub was not known until brought to notice
by Walsh in 1867 (Practical Entomologist, u, 1867,
p- 116) upon the reception of specimens from a
A sce large number of the grub killed by this growth,
SS ee _ which had been plowed up in a field in Iowa. Its
i A character was not understood at the time, Mr.
4 ks Walsh suggesting that, but for the numbers found,
<7) the grub might have swallowed a seed which sub-
sequently Serunted and grew. Later, its fungoid
character was disclosed. Its general appearance
Era. 5. The white is that of a pair of elongated horns, green at first,
grub attacked by a
fungus. but subsequently changing to brown, issuing from
* Originally described as a Cordyceps, and subsequently referred to other
genera, it has recently been restored to the Cordyceps of Fries, in Sylloge.
Fungorum of P. A. Saceardo (vol. ii, 1883, p. 573).
y
Ture Wuitre Grup oF THE May BEETLE. 21
the lower side of the larva, between the head and the first joint.
In length they vary from less than that of the larva, to three or
four timesas long. Its appearance, when it has attained the latter
length, is shown in Figure 5.
This interesting parasite occurs at times, in considerable abund-
ance, more particularly in the West, and South.* It has been
met with occasionally in New York, specimens having been received
by me from ex-Governor Seymour, occurring upon his farm
near Utica, and from others.
- It has been suggested that this fungus attack ee be extended,
through propagation and distribution of the spores of the fungus,
but I am not aware that the experiment has ever been made.
ht PREVENTIVES AND REMEDIES.
_ Passing now to the more practical portion of this paper, we will
consider what may be done to control the ravages of the insect of
which we have been speaking, and first, the preventive means that
promise protection.
Ashes.— It is stated that for strawberries, which are very liable to
attack, an efficient protection is found in placing a quantity of ashes,
either leached or unleached, upon the ground, before setting the
plants. This is upon the authority of Dr. Barnes, of Owasso,
Mich. ; ;
Tobacco.— A gentleman from Westwood, N. J., states that by
digging [burying] tobacco stems into strawberry beds, the injury
of the grub may be prevented _( Countr y Gentleman, Oct 21, 1875,
p: 669).
Rolling, ete— Compacting the surface of the ground by treading
it with sheep or cattle, or by the use of heavy rollers, might give
protection from the deposit of eges, by the inability of the beetle
(if this be its habit) of excavating the earth for the purpose, and
might also serve to prevent the easy passage of the grubs, if in the
soil, from one root to another. But this method, which has been
urged for use against many insects by English writers, seems so
opposed to the condition of looseness and pulverization of the soil
which is well known to stimulate vegetable growth, that we
incline to the belief that whatever protection it might yield from
insect injury would be counterbalanced by a stinted crop.
eee AN SIN SOS MOVAT INN Ok
x *Mr. Wm. Trelease has found it proving very destructive to white grubs
in the neighborhood of Madison, Wis. (Psyche, ili, 1881, p. 279).
q
29 BULLETIN OF THE NEw York State Museum.
we ae
Gas-lime.— Although not tested by experiment, I have great
faith in the efficacy of gas-lime, as a protection from the deposit of
the eges of the beetle, or, if the protection be but partial, then, for
the destruction of such eggs as may have been deposited. Upon
eround to be seeded or planted, the lime, fresh from the works,
might be distributed and worked into the soil, but where the crop
to be protected is already upon the ground, the lime should first
undergo such atmospheric exposure as would permit of its use as
a top-dressing without harm to the vegetation. It should be
applied during the month of May or June, or as soon as the beetles
are seen upon the wing. For different methods of its application —
I would refer to my First Annual Report, where I have treated at
some length of gas-lime as an insecticide.
In referring to this preventive, Miss Ormerod has written :
“‘Gas-lime has been tried, sprinkled broadcast, without keeping off
the chafers, but if it was shoveled on in a thin layer, so that the
chafers could have no cognizance by any natural instinct of what
was beneath, and also could not penetrate into the soil without first —
fairly scuffling their way through the gas-lime, one might hope for
good results. It would be well worth while to try whether shovel-
ing ashes or dry earth, well sprinkled with spirits of tar, or with
phenol, might not be of great service; or again, mulching over the
roots with any suitable material that could be moistened from time
to time with soft (or whale oil) soap (Agricultural Students’
Gazette [Cirencester, England], April, 1883, i, p. 738).
Air-slacked Lime.— There is good reason to believe, fromthe many
statements that have been made, that the foliage of trees threat-
ehed by destruction from the beetle, may be saved by a thorough
dusting of air-slacked lime above and below, as far as possible,
while damp with the dew — better if done in the morning. The
pests dislike gritty food, which is apparently repulsive to them,
and while the greater part of the caustic quality of the lime thus
slacked is gone through the slacking, yet doubtless there is enough
remaining to make the taste of it obnoxious.
According to the Livermore (Cal.) Herald, Mr. Julius Schrader,
who owns a fine vineyard and ‘orchard west of that town, saved —
his crop of apricots from the attack of June bugs by the use of —
air-slacked lime. His trees were swarming with the insects, which _
had begun to destroy the fruit as fast as 16 ripened. He applied —
the lime by dusting it through the trees, with the result of driving
Tue WHITE GRuB oF THE May BEETLE. 23
away every insect, and saving the remainder of the crop unin-
jured. (D. W. Coquillet, in the Pacific Fruit Grower, i, September,
1887, p. 132).
Infusion of Burdock Leaves.— A correspondent of the New
England Homestead gave the following as an effectual remedy for
an attack of the onion maggot:
Take green burdock leaves and stalks, run them through a hay-
cutter, put them in a large kettle or tub, and mash them with an
old axe or mall, adding water, and pounding them to a pulp. Let
it stand over night, have the decoction strong, and when you see
the first sign of the maggot, use this, and it will be found a dead
shot for the worm. Put it on all of the onions as a preventive. I
have used it for forty years on onions. I use a sprinkler, taking
off the nozzle, and pouring the solution along the rows. I seldom
have to apply it the second time.
If the.above was what it claimed to be—an effectual preventive
of the attack of the persistent onion maggot, which no application
hitherto had served to repel—it seemed that it should be equally
efficient if used to prevent attack of the white grub: A test of its
efficacy was, therefore, suggested to Professor C. H. Peck, who
had applied to me for aid against the ravages of the white grubs
in his garden. The results of its use by him were so entirely
satisfactory, that a communication, in which they are detailed,
made to the Country Gentleman of November 25, 1886, p. 893, «. 4,
is herewith given :
Epirors Counrry GENTLEMAN.— In April last the writer moved
into the country, and started agarden. Inone part of it, 300 straw-
berry plants were set. The ground had previously been in grass,
and was well stocked with the white grub—the larva of the
troublesome May-beetle, Lachnosterna fusca. Any experienced
-strawberry-grower would probably say that it was a foolish opera-
tion to set strawberry plants in such land, but as no other was
available, the risk was taken, and the difficulties encountered. No
sooner had the plants fairly commenced growing than they began
to die, one after another. The withered and drying plants were
found to be nearly rootless, and, in most instances, the white grub
that had eaten the roots was found in the ground under the plants.
As a first attempt to stop the destruction, the earth between the
rows of plants was dug over, and the grubs thus found (about
forty) were killed. But all were not found. The destruction still
went on, though perhaps less rapidly than before. Wetting the
ground about some of the plants with chamber slops was tried,
but proved ineffectual. At the suggestion of the State Entomolo-
: gist, Prof. J. A. Lintner, the burdock remedy, which has been
‘
24 BULLETIN OF THE NEw YorK STATE MUSEUM.
reported as effectual against the root maggots of the onion and
cabbage, was tried. A bundle of burdock plants was gathered, cut
and pounded according to directions, and soaked in water over
night. With this infusion a dozen or more of the strawberry plants
in different parts of the patch were watered. Under two of them,
as special-test plants, living grubs were placed, that they might be in
a convenient position to eat the burdock-watered roots, if they were
so disposed. But they did not eat them, nor to this day have any
of the plants thus treated at that time been attacked. After the —
lapse of about two weeks, wishing to see if the remedy was still
effectual, another live erub was placed in the soil, at the roots of
one of the special-test plants ; but he, like his predecessors, declined
the proffered roots. In the meantime, the untreated plants were
dying, one after another, from the loss of their roots, till now nearly
half the number have been destroyed.
But the experiment already tried had given me such confidence
in the burdock remedy that the vacant places in the patch were
filled with new plants, and these, together with the untreated older
ones, were given a dose of burdock water. This put an end to the
attacks of the white grub for at least six weeks. Then two of the
late-set plants suddenly wilted, and were found to have their roots
partly eaten. With this exception, no treated plants have been
lost to this day. JI am unable to explain the failure in the case
of these two plants. Possibly they may not have received so
thorough a wetting as the other plants. Notwithstanding their loss,
my confidence in the ability of the burdock remedy to “protect the
strawberry plant against the white grub is unshaken. It may pos-
sibly be necessary to apply it twice in a season, but with the excep-
tion of these two plants, one application has been sufficient in this
case. It does not appear to be at all detrimental to the growth or
vigor of the plant.
We may pass now to remedial measures, “and first those eee
to the destruction of the beetle.
Tree-shaking.— The May-beetle has a habit in common with
many other species of becoming gregarious, in times of its great
abundance, when it assembles in multitudes for the night upon
fruit trees. This habit permits of its destruction in large num-
bers, and the reduction of the following brood to the extent that -
its eges have not at this time been deposited, by shaking them
from the trees upon sheets spread underneath. Dr. Harris
records, that in this way two pailfuls of beetles were collected on
the first evening of the experiment— the number decreasing upon —
following evenings until the fifth, when only two beetles were to
be found. He adds: “The best time, however, for shaking the
trees vs 5 5 is in the morning, when the insects do _
t
> Se oe oe
THe Waitt Grup or THE May BrEerte. 25
not attempt to fly. They are most easily collected in a cloth
‘spread under the trees to receive them when they fall, after which
they should be thrown into boiling water to kill them, and
may then be given as food to swine” (Treat. Ins. ee ae
1862, p. 31).
Dr. Fitch, in referring to this remedy, gives the time in which
the trees may be shaken with the best results, as between midnight
and daylight, as would appear from the observations of Mr. Milo
Ingalsbe, of South Hartford, Washington county, N. Y. “He had
seventy plum trees and a number of cherry trees of the choicest
varieties, which never gave fairer promise of an abundant yield
than at that time. But a swarm of these May-beetles suddenly
gathered upon the trees, many of them being then splendidly in
bloom, and in two nights, the fifteenth and sixteenth of May,
wholly stripped them of their foliage, so that many of them were
as naked as in winter. With their humming notes, these beetles
were flying about the trees every evening until about 10 o'clock,
when they would settle in clusters of eight, ten, twenty or more,
and would thus remain until daylight, when they would tumble
down from the trees, flying but little, however, and hiding them-
selves wherever convenient to stay through the day (Third Kitch
Feept. Ins. N. Y., 1859, p. 54).
Attracting to Light.—The beetles, in their evening fights, are
readily attracted to light, as is shown in the frequency with which
they fly in at the open windows of our dwellings, public halls,
churches, etc., in warm evenings, and the numbers that may be
seen circling about the electric lights of our streets, or lying upon
the pavements beneath, to which they have fallen. This well-
known propensity of the beetle may be utilized to lure them to
their destruction. If a lantern be placed above a vessel of water
upon which two or three tablespoonfuls of kerosene has been
poured, many of the beetles drawn to the light and striking against
it will be thrown into the water and killed. Many other noxious
insects may at the same time be killed by this method.
In our efforts to destroy the larva, we are met with several
difficulties, of which these may be given :
1. Applications to the ground of sufficient strength to invariably
‘Kill the grub, of which several might be mentioned, ve also
be destructive to a growing crop.
4
26 BULLETIN oF THE New York State Museum.
2. The strongest applications that may with safety be applied,
would be so impaired in strength in entering and penetrating the
eround as to become inefficient at a moderate depth.* ae
8. The grub has the ability of withdrawing itself from the
obnoxious application by burying itself deeper in the ground.
In consideration of the above and like difficulties, effort should
be directed toward the discovery of some substance which will act
upon the grub through other means than its exceeding strength.
Should it be of such a character as simply to be repulsive to its
taste, there is reason to believe that, rather than to feed upon roots
that are saturated with it, it would die of starvation. In this -
manner, perhaps, may be found the reputed efficacy of the bur- —
‘dock infusion and of the application next to be noticed. Experi-
ments in this direction are very desirable.
Salt.— The application of salt has been pronounced an effectual
remedy, while it has also been said to be of no avail whatever. ©
The remedy would be so simple, and withal so expensive, that
the claim made for it should be tested by careful experiments. It
is possible that the reputed success may have resulted from its
employment in the year of the greatest ravages — that preceding
the transformation to the beetle, for during this latter year (next after
the application), the newly-hatched grub will have made so little
progress in its growth that there would necessarily be a com-
parative immunity from its injury. On the other hand, the
ascribed failure may have followed a too economical use of the
cheap material— perhaps through fear of injury to the crop.
A gentleman who strongly recommends this remedy, presumably
from having thoroughly tested its value, deems it essential
that the salt should be used in large quantity. He writes:
“The great error with those who have used it with unsatis-
factory results has been its scanty application. I can assure the
reader that grass or potatoes will grow luxuriantly under an appli-
cation of one ton and a half per acre, which quantity would be sure
to result in the complete extermination, not only of the grub, but
every other kind of worm, and prevent the scab and other excres- —
*Some of the Lachnosterna grubs ordinarily feed at a considerable
depth. Thus the larve of Polyphylla decemlineata Say, has been found by ~
Mr. Rivers at a depth of from one foot to two feet among the root-fibers of
a coarse grass and roots of a Californian laurel, Umbellularia Californica —
(Bull. Cala. Acad. Sci., 1886, ii, p. 69).
THE WHITE GRUB OF THE May BEET te. DATS
cences which sometimes appear on potatoes, as well as preventing
rot. A less quantity, say half [three-fourths of a ton], or even
two or three barrels to the acre, though of course not as effectual,
will accomplish much” (Country Gentleman, for Aug. 3, 1882, p.
1601, c, 2). |
If the above testimony to the value of salt as a grub-killer shall |
be sustained by further experiment, I would strongly urge, in view
of the periodic character of these attacks in localities, that the salt
‘be applied in the year of the abundant appearance of the beetle,
and preferably during the month of August or September, although
no injury from the grub may be apparent. At this time the young
erubs which are produced from the eggs deposited in June are
within reach of the application, and may be killed far more readily
than when they have attained additional powers of resistance in
another year’s growth.
Caustic Lime wash.— Mr. Daniel Batchelor, of Utica, N. Y., in
a paper on “Lawns and Lawn Grasses,” read before the Western
New York Horticultural Society, at its annual meeting in January,
1885, in referring to the destructiveness of the white grub to the
roots of grasses, states :
_Its presence is made known by the appearance, in patches, of
dead and bleaching grasses, and then is the time to attack the
depredator. My method has been to pierce the sod with a steel
bar to the depth of about.six inches, and to make the perforations
the same distance apart. Into these holes I pour caustic lime wash
from the spout of a watering pot, and the pulpy fellow is done for.
After the lapse of a few days the denuded surface is thoroughly
raked, and some lawn seed sown.
_ Rooting out by Swine.— The value of swine in freeing infested
grass lands from the grub has often been urged, and we think is
not overestimated. I believe that this remedy will prove success-
ful, if good rooters be employed, when other methods fail. Dr.
Fitch has written of it: °
“T would recommend the placing of a temporary fence around
that portion of the meadow or pasture which is so thronged with
these grubs, thus for a while converting the patch into a hog pasture.
The propensity of these animals for rooting and tearing up the turt,
we are all aware, is for the very purpose of coming at and feeding
upon the grubs and worms that are lurking therein; and who
knows but that this rooting propensity, which has all along been
complained of as being the most vicious and troublesome habit
28 BULLETIN oF THE NEw York StaTE MusEvUM. |
which belongs to swine, may after all turn out to be the most valua-
ble and necessary to us of any of the habits with which they are
endowed. I can not but think that these animals, confined
upon a spot so overstocked with grubs, would in a short time ferret
out and devour every one of them, leaving the soil cleansed,
mellowed, manured and well prepared for being immediately laid
down to grass again, or for receiving any other rotation of crops for
which the proprietor may deem the spot best adapted.”
Mr. Walsh, formerly State Entomologist of Illinois, had equally
strong faith in the value of this method of overcoming the white- ~
grub attack. After discoursing upon the great increase in the
insect as observed in a few preceding years, its growing injury to
young nurseries, and its violent irruption upon corn, which had
formerly been exempt from it, he adds: “I suspect that the above
phenomena are to be wholly or partially attributed to the introduc-
tion of improved breeds of hogs in the place of the old, slab-sided,
long-nosed prairie-rooters, and to the passage of laws compelling
people to keep their hogs under fence, instead of allowing them to
run at large. * * * Within the last few years such laws have
been very generally passed in the WesternStates. * * * Hence,
J am inclined to infer that the presence of the white grub is often
to be attributed to the absence of the hog.”
Digging out.— When a valuable crop has been found, too late
for other remedies, to be suffering from a severe attack of the grub,
e
threatening its entire destruction, it has been saved by digging out
the grubs by hand — popularly known as grubbing. In a pamphlet
recently published by Mr. R. C. Haldane, upon the “Coffee Grub
in Ceylon,” the writer, in the discussion of several methods, states:
“When coffee is thoroughly attacked, I know of but one cure—
dig out the grub. Itis slow, weary work, but it pays. I gave my
men small dagger-shaped wooden pegs, and a cocoanut shell. .
Another man brought a bucket round into which he emptied the
shells, and then took the collected grubs and put them in a five-
gallon drum of boiling water.” By the above method from 100 to
150 grubs could be collected at each bush, and in one season (1882) |
twelve tons of coffee grubs were picked from a field, in Lindula, of —
eighty acres.” !
Without occupying more space in a review and discussion of :
various other methods that have been proposed for destroying the —
THe Waite Grup or THE May BEeEre. 29
erub, I will refer to but one other, which I regard as an effectual
one, wherever it may be resorted to:
Starvation. As soon as the attack is discovered, upon the
removal of the crop, collect and burn, as far as practicable, all the
vegetable material upon which the larve could feed. If the
ground has been cultivated for vegetables, gather all the stalks,
stems, vines, etc., together with the roots, in piles, and burn them.
Tf the land be in grass, after feeding as closely as possible, plow
thoroughly, and follow during the autumn with such additional
plowings and harrowings as shall best tend to destroy all vegetable
life. At this time, gas-lime, if procurable, should be applied.
Repeat these operations in the following spring, and allow the land
to lie fallow for the year. Compliance with these directions would
not only starve out the white grub, but also whatever wire-
worms, cut-worms, and other underground larve there might be
present.
The fallowing of the land for an entire year may be found to be
unnecessary. It is not improbable that it might be preferable
that the thorough breaking up of the ground in the autumn and
spring be followed with a crop of buckwheat. Wonderful efficacy
has been claimed for this plant, in freeing the ground from wire-
worms — the larvee of other beetles, and we know not why it may
not be equally efficient when employed against the white grub.
By all means, let thorough tests of its value be made, since the
trial is so simple. Hon. A. B. Dickinson, after experimenting
with salt and lime for destroying wire-worms, has stated : “I have
only proved one remedy for the rascals, and that is, to break the
sod and sow it to buckwheat; plow late and as often as possible
in the fall, and then sow it to peas in the spring; with the like
plowing next fall, they will not disturb any crop the next season.” '
In England, a crop of mustard is regarded as an antidote against
the wire-worm. In an address before an agricultural society there,
the speaker, after detailing some successful experiments upon a
small scale with mustard, stated as follows: “Thus encouraged by
these results, I sowed the next year a whole field of forty-two
-acres, which had never repaid me for nineteen years, in conse-
quence of nearly every crop being destroyed by the wire-worm ;
and I am warranted in stating that nota single wire-worm could be
found the following year, and the crop of wheat throughout was
superior to any that I had grown for twenty-one years.” Certainly
30 BULLETIN oF THE New York State MUSsEvm.
this very successful experiment, confirmed as it is by many others
—
that I find recorded, deserves to be faithfully tested with the —
white grub.
Srupy oF THE INsEcT DESIRED.
I have now given the characters by which the notorious white
erub may be recognized; have narrated so much of its life-
history as is known to us; have told of its ravages and of the
enemies that prey upon it; and, so far as I am able, have pointed
out the principal means for the prevention of its depredations,
indicating those which are deemed the best.
To me, and perhaps to many others, it is not the satisfactory
exhibit of knowledge of the species that is desirable. As before
stated, there are several points in its history upon which infor-
mation is still needed. May I ask, and in return be favored
with the aid of the farmers of our State toward supplying what
is lacking? They have the opportunities for making valuable con-
tributions with but little effort, and of a kind that may not be
obtained from other sources. I would, therefore, beg of them,
and of all others who are interested in the eminently prac-
tical work in which we are engaged, to make observation and to
send me the results from time to time of some of the following
points. Even in a communication of two or three lines, quite
important information may be contained :
1. The earliest and the latest appearance of the May-beetle in
any year.
2. The comparative abundance of the beetle in different years,
particularly noting such years of unusual abundance, as may
appear to indicate a periodicity of three years.
3. The presence or absence of eggs in the female beetle, to be
ascertained by. cutting open the abdomen and examining the contents. —
The female may be told by the three-leaved (when spread apart)
terminal club of the antennz being but about one-half the length
of that of the male. My observations tend to the probability that
the eggs are deposited before the beetle comes abroad for flight
and food. It is important that this point should be determined.
4, The reéntering the ground (if so) by the female for deposit-
ing her eggs; the character of the soil entered: as to its degree of
compactness; and the crop cultivated thereon.
5. The manner of oviposition, if in a mass within a ball of earth as
stated, or singly —the number of eggs, and depth at which placed. —
THE WHITE Grup oF THE May BEEttLe. 31
It is thought that this can be ascertained the most easily by taking
a few examples of each sex when freshly turned out from the
ground while yet in their pale color, and confining them in a box
of sod-covered earth, and, after their death, carefully examining
the soil for the eggs that may have been deposited. Or the beetles
uncovered by the plow in the early spring might be sent to the
State Entomologist for his observation.
6. The effects of gas-tar water, ammoniacal liquid when it can
be obtained, guano, phosphates and superphosphates, hog manure,
kainit, sludge acid, alkali waste, bisulphide of carbon, etc., employed
either as preventive of ege-deposit or for killing the larve. Even
negative results from the use of any of the above applications
should be recorded.
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