New York Agricultural Experiment Station. 257 



requires a month from the time it hatches to obtain its full size. 

 In general, persons who have written anything regarding the 

 Etriped beetle, since Dr. Shimer's observations were made, have 

 given the same period for the development of the larva. As shown 

 by the author's dissection of female beetles, the egg-laying period 

 can extend from June 20 until the last of July. I have collected 

 half -grown larvae as early as July 10 and found larv£e still at work 

 as late as September 17 ; hence, if the eggs are all deposited by 

 the last of July, some of the larvae must require two months to 

 complete their growth. Probably the length of the larval period 

 depends on the food supply. 



F. H. Chittenden'^ says : " The larval period is passed in the 

 earth, at the base of the stalks, and larvae are often found within 

 the stems above ground." 



I have very rarely found the larvae within the stems of musk- 

 melon, which is apparently too woody for them to penetrate. 

 They are frequently found in the stems of cucumber and squash, 

 but I have not found them in such numbers in these places as 

 upon the rind of the muskmelon fruit where the latter comes in 

 contact with the moist earth. I have also found them working 

 on squash and ripe cucumbers in the same places. In a few in- 

 stances I have been seen them working on the lower surface of 

 squash vines where the latter come in contact with moist earth. 

 Close examination will reveal the fact that cucumber, squash, and 

 melon vines appear to be eroded at other points besides where they 

 are attached to the root and frequently the fruits will have the 

 same appearance. This is all caused, probably, by the larvae of 

 the striped cucumber beetle and of the twelve-spotted beetle, 

 where both occur. It surely is their work at the base of the 

 plants and on the fruits of the muskmelon. Hence the statement 

 that the larval period is passed in the earth at the base of the 

 stalks is partially correct, but all facts would be covered better by 



7U. S. Dept. Agr., Div. Ent., Bui. No. TO, n. ser.: 28. 

 17 



