288 Report of the Entomologists. 



All material was preserved in 2 per ct. formaldehyde. In col- 

 lecting the beetles for preservation no effort was made to capture 

 more males than females. Those collected during June and July 

 were taken wherever the beetles were congregated on leaves to 

 feed and pair; with the exception of those taken Oct. 3 and 14, 

 those taken after July were collected in flowers of squashes ; those 

 taken on Oct. 3 and 14 were collected on the fruits of the musk- 

 melon. 



Indirectly the dissections show the excess of males over the 

 females at each period of collecting, but this does not prove that 

 the males exceed the females in number, as there is a possibility 

 that the females secrete themselves while depositing their eggs. 



In all about three hundred dissections were made in which the 

 males exceeded the females in the proportion of 3 :2. 



