428 The Ohio Naturalist. [Vol. IX, No. 3,. 



About the middle of July the larvae became very numerous 

 and the adult beetles decreased very appreciably in number. By 

 the first of August the larvae had practically all disappeared and 

 the adults were quite numerous again, and as further observa- 

 tions until the first of September failed to show another brood of 

 larvae, it is probable that the species is single-brooded in this 

 locality, and that the beetles hibernate through the winter and 

 with the warming of the ground in spring they appear and lay 

 the eggs for the production of the generation of larvae which 

 was beginning to appear when I arrived. 



Fig. 2. Beetle on Salix interior showing extent of injury. 



The adult beetles are oblong, oval and vary from 8 — 10 mm. 

 in length and from 4 — 6 mm. in width. The eggs are elliptical, 

 of a bright yellow color and have a finely reticulated surface; 

 they average .59 mm. in diameter and 1.74 mm. in length and 

 are deposited rather promiscuously on the sand under the host 

 plant, according to observations made in the insectary. This 

 method of egg deposition would seem to agree fairly well with 

 that of Disonycha xanthomelaena, yet whether or not this 

 method would prevail in nature cannot be said with certainty. 



The eggs require from six to seven days to hatch, the young 

 larvae escaping by a longitudinal slit near the end of the egg as in 

 xanthomelaena. The larvae are voracious feeders and grow rap- 

 idly during this entire stage which lasts from twenty-eight to 

 thirty days. 



A Coleopterous pupa case was found buried about three inches 

 in the sand under one of the willows and although the pupa was. 



