XXXI, '20J ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS 



Into the cage thus provided were placed four females, 

 each bearing an egg mass or ootheca protruding from the 

 external genital orifice of the female reproductive tract. 

 The mouth of the jar was completely covered with a slab of 

 cardboard. Observations made during three successive 

 nights failed to yield results, but on the fourth night the fol- 

 lowing observations were made. 



At approximately 2:50 A. M. an individual with her man- 

 dibles began to scar and roughen the surface of the paste- 

 board slab which had been introduced into the cage to serve 

 as material upon which to oviposit. She chewed and munched 

 at the upper surface of the pasteboard until she had made 

 quite an appreciable dent or groove there, not dropping the 

 bits of pasteboard upon the bottom of the cage but mixing 

 them by means of the mouth parts with a secretion from the 

 mouth until they became a damp mass. This mass of finely 

 chewed pasteboard stuck to the surface of the pasteboard 

 from which it was chewed. 



At about 3:20 A. M. she crawled forward over the scar 

 with her abdomen bent anteriorly and ventralward, probing 

 about with the protruding ootheca until she located the scar 

 which she had made. Then she dragged the ootheca into it, 

 but the scar being too shallow the ootheca rolled out and fell 

 to the floor of the cage. The female turned about and with 

 her palpi sought for the ootheca. Finding it missing, im- 

 mediately she ran down the pasteboard, seized the ootheca' 

 by its flanged edge with her mandibles, straddled it with her 

 front legs, and thus carrying it returned to the scar. Upon 

 replacing it into the scar again she was unsuccessful at keep- 

 ing it there, for the ootheca dropped to the bottom of the cage. 

 A second time she ran down, seized the ootheca as she pre- 

 viously had done and set out to locate the scar. She ran 

 up almost to it, then becoming confused ran around to the 

 opposite side of the pasteboard, ran confusedly about, stop- 

 ping at intervals and holding the ootheca clasped between the 

 femur and tibia of one front leg, seemingly to rest. Again the 

 ootheca slipped from her grasp and fell. This time it bounced 

 to the far side of the cage. She ran down and rather promptly 



