56 journal of economic entomology [vol. 10 



Proportion of Males and Females 



A little data was accumulated to determine in what proportion the 

 sexes occurred. Following is data which was collected from El 

 Dorado and Abbott material. 



' The data would indicate that males and females usually occur in 

 equal numbers, but that there might be a variation with the season. 



Activities of Moths 



Period of Activity. Usually moths are active during the heat of 

 the day. Beginning with emergence as early as 6 a. m. most of them 

 will emerge at from 8 to 9.30 a. m. and by 10 a. m they are usually 

 in coitu. After copulation moths are usually on wing and quite active 

 until about 4 p. m. and by 5 p. m. they are frequently quite sluggish. 



Copulation. Moths were observed in coitu, under caged condi- 

 tions as early as 8 a. m. though the normal time seems to be at 10 a. m. 

 Moths have also been seen in coitu as late as 2.20 p. m. though this is 

 not generally the rule. Copulation in average cases seems to last 

 one hour though we have observed it to^last one hour and a half. 



OviPOSiTioN. In most cases the female begins to oviposit shortly 

 after copulation, but frequently immediately after. Oviposition oc- 

 curs usually during the warm part of the day, from 10 a. m. to 4 p. m. 

 After this time oviposition drops off. We have observed individuals 

 apparently attempting to oviposit after 5 p. m., but in no case did we 

 actually observe them deposit eggs. 



When a female is observed ovipositing she will be seen to wave her 

 ovipositor from one side to the other over the bark. Mr. Lee ob- 

 served the process of oviposition with a lens and found that the female 

 had fine hairs on the tip of the ovipositor which hairs were in touch 

 with the bark. With these hairs she was able to locate little cavities 

 and irregularities in the bark and in such places she deposited her egg. 

 It is to be noted in this connection that eggs are almost always de- 

 posited in little crevices, or, at any rate, not on elevated places of the 

 bark. Frequently the female feels for an egg which she has deposited 

 and deposits another beside.it. 



The actual act of depositing the egg does not seem to take more 

 than five to ten seconds. A female was timed to see how many eggs 

 she would deposit in a minute. Once she deposited ten eggs, again 

 five, and a third time eight eggs. The number of eggs per minute 



