474 Report of the Department of Entomology of the 



leaves, and we have never found more than one egg on each side of 

 a bud. (Fig. 31, b.) However, the egg never extends through the 

 woody layer into the pith, as is the case with nigricornis. On elms, 

 the eggs are mostly placed in the corky area of large or small branches, 

 and they do not usually extend into the inner bark. Peach trees 

 are seldom selected by niveus for oviposition. The reason for the 

 apparent dislike of this species for this plant is not clear, since the 

 eggs of nigricornis have been observed in considerable numbers in 

 the current year's growth. In this connection it is of interest to note 

 that in one series of breeding experiments niveus oviposited quite freely 

 in the trunks and larger branches of a peach tree, but later the forma- 

 tion of gum was so great that the eggs were completely forced out of 

 their positions. Oviposition largely occurs during the latter part of 

 August and September. 



selection of plants for purposes of oviposition. 



Oviposition experiments in breeding cages were conducted in the 

 laboratory to determine what kind of plants the females preferred 

 for the reception of their eggs. Each cage contained one or two 

 males, with a single female. In the cages there were placed a short 

 piece of apple limb one or two inches thick, a piece of raspberry 

 cane with foliage, and a bunch of small, pithy weeds, mainly wild 

 carrot (Daucus carota). In a number of cages there were also 

 included short sections of branches, about one inch thick, of maple, 

 willow, elm and poplar. Eggs were laid only in apple, raspberry, 

 willow and elm. Of these, preference was shown for apple wood. 

 One cricket laid its eggs entirely in raspberry and two others deposited 

 a small part of their eggs in canes of this plant. One specimen laid 

 a few eggs in willow and another placed four eggs in elm. Observa- 

 tions in the field have shown that this cricket deposits its eggs in 

 a great variety of plants and that it prefers certain of them to others 

 for this purpose. About Geneva its eggs are most abundant in 

 apple, plum and cherry trees, and they are also somewhat common 

 in walnut and raspberry. One small elm tree was observed to con- 

 tain a large number of them and a few eggs have been found in peach, 

 witch hazel, chestnut, butternut, wild crabapple, hawthorn, red 

 oak, maple and lilac. Oviposition probably occurs in many other 

 plants which possess bark of desirable thickness and not too resistant 

 to the drilling operations of the insect. 



