350 EXPERIMENT STATION RECORD. 



17). — A summarized account is given of the fleas attacking domestic animals, 

 togetlier with a bibliography of the more important literature on the subject. 



The origin of the pigment and the color pattern in the elytra of the 

 Colorado potato beetle (Leptinotarsa decemlineata), R. A. Gortner {Amer. 

 Nat., .1,0 (1911), No. 5^0, pp. 7Jt3-755). — " It has been shown that Tower's state- 

 ments' as to the nature of the cuticula pigments, and the methods of pigment 

 formation, are based upon wrong interpretations of his results, and upon errors 

 in the application of chemical data. The cuticula pigment is not an azo com- 

 pound but belongs to the melanins. The pigmentation of the elytron of the 

 Colorado potato beetle is produced by the interaction of an oxidizing enzyni 

 of the tyrosinase type, and an oxidizable chromogen. The color pattern is 

 caused by the localized secretion of the chromogen." 



Calosonia sycophanta: Its life history, behavior, and successful coloniza- 

 tion in New England, A. F. Burgess (U. 8. Dept. Agr., Bur. Ent. Bui. 101, 

 pp. 9.'i, pis. 9, figs. 22). — This carabid beetle is one of the most important of 

 the natural enemies of the gipsy and brown-tail moths. It was first success- 

 fully importefl into this country from Italy and Switzerland in 1906, during 

 which year 093 specimens, together with 289 specimens of C. inquisitor, were 

 received at the Gii^sy Moth Parasite Laboratory. Since that time specimens 

 have been imported each year, a total of 4,046 C. sycophanta having been re- 

 ceived up to the close of 1910. 



Accounts are first given of methods of packing predaceous beetles for ship- 

 ment, the European distribution of C sycophanta and hosts attacked, and the 

 plan of work at the laboratory. A detailed account of the life history, habits, 

 methods of rearing, etc., of C. sycophanta follows. 



The longevity of the adults rendered the investigations somewhat difficult, 

 as is evidenced by the fact that nearly one-half of the beetles reared from eggs 

 in 1907 that emerged from the earth in the spring of 1908 survived the sum- 

 mers of 1908 and 1909 and went into hibernation in the fall. The eggs are 

 deposited in the earth, the time spent in the egg stage varying from 3 to 10 

 days, depending largely uiwn the temperature. The average length of time 

 spent in the egg stage, based on the hatching each mouth during the summer, 

 was: May, 7 days; June, 5.2 days; July, 4.4 days; and August, 4 days. The 

 larvae molt twice, the duration of time between the molts being influenced 

 greatly by high temperatures and food supply. Records kept of 9 larvae that 

 developed from eggs laid by beetles that emerged, normally show the average 

 length of time to be 2 days for the first stage, 3 days for the second, and 9 days 

 for the third, a total of 14 days. 



The larvse of this species secure food by searching for the caterpillars and 

 pupae of various lepidopterous insects. In addition to feeding on the gi'ound 

 they are able to climb trees and devour their prey upon the trunks or branches. 

 The larvae " appear to feed both by day and night, but their activity in this 

 direction is greatly stimulated if the weather is hot. As a rule the caterpillars 

 are attacked from the side or in the middle of the back, and if they are hairy 

 specimens the favorite place seems to be between the segments where the larvse 

 can more readily pierce the integument with their sharp mandibles. Newly 

 hatched larvae of C. sycophanta are able successfully to combat equally well all 

 caterpillars regardless of size. After the body wall of a caterpillar has been cut, 

 the Calosoma larvae feed upon the juices and apparently devour a large amount 

 of the fat body of their prey. The entire internal tissues of the caterpillars are 

 seldom eaten, and many specimens are injured to such an extent that they 

 eventually die, and thus more caterpillars are prevented from transforming 



lUniv. Chicago Decen. Pubs., 10 (1903), p. 33. 



