350 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA 



may be seen by another observation following the one I have 

 just recorded. Three of these insects were found at the same 

 time, on an old oak stump. Two of these kept busy working 

 in the old punk-wood nearly six hours in each instance. In 

 still another piece of broken-off pine, near the stump, which 

 suited all requirements, I found four burrows, the average 

 number of eggs being fifteen in each. I gather from the many 

 observations I have made, that the process of oviposition is 

 accomplished as follows: 



The females lay their eggs between the last of July and 

 the last of September. She searches about on the ground, in 

 quest of a site, until she finds an old piece of wood, or stump, 

 but seldom is able to pick out a place, without first making a 

 number of trials with her ovipositor. Often, after boring quite 

 deeply in the wood, .she withdraws her abdomen, either from 

 taking fright, or not being satisfied with the physical conditions. 

 She uses her ovipositor by opening and closing the valves, and 

 turning the tip around on the axis of the abdomen, as it is 

 forced in between the fibres of the wood. In this way she 

 consumes hours, if the wood is quite sound. In old decayed 

 wood, where it has become very .soft, it is obvious that she 

 accomplishes the boring quite easily. The direction of the hole 

 is .slightly inclined l)ackward, and downward, going with the 

 grain of the wood, and extending about an inch in depth. Then 

 the eggs are slowly deposited. The first two eggs are laid side 

 by side in the bottom of the burrow; the third egg, deposited 

 just forward of the first, is .slightly elevated. The fourth is 

 laid beside the preceding, but it is still more rai.sed, so that 

 each succeeding egg is alternately raised on a little higher 

 plane than its com])anion; this process continues until the 

 burrow is filled to near the top with fifteen eggs, more or less. 

 As each egg is deposited, a light frothy .secretion is discharged 

 and used in gluing them together. The final process consists 

 in secreting enough of this mucoid substance to fill the remain- 

 ing part of the opening to the top, but when it hardens it 

 presents an outer concave surface. The alternating elevation 

 of each egg in the burrow is doubtless necessitated by the 

 narrowness of the burrow. 



The sprinkled locust, Chloealtis conspersa, is found over the 



