Someone I know in Knott County just posted on Facebook about having a large number of June Bugs in his yard after not seeing any/many for quite a while and reminded me of this little event I saw almost thirty years ago. It involved a new hatch of June bugs leaving the ground. I was at the home of a local preacher, Gene Eason, who has long since left this area and retired. I was walking around in the yard and noticed a June bug walking up a leaf of grass. It sat there a minute, spread its wings out and shook them a couple of time and I realized they were wet. Then it flew off. A few seconds later another came up the leaf of grass and I realized there was a small hole in the ground below the grass they were climbing. I stood there and watched as several more came out of the ground, dried their wings, and flew away. It was the first time I realized that June bugs lay their eggs in the ground in late summer or fall and they hatch in spring or early summer, leave the ground, and fly away. What I told my friend in Knott County was that he has probably had a big hatch in his yard.
In Eastern Kentucky, nearly all of us grew up catching June Bugs and tying a sewing string to one of their legs and flying them around when we were children. It's not really a 21st Century kind of approved way to deal with nature but it was fun as a child.
