October, '08] JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC ENTOMOLOGY 399 



time required for their development. Many of the larvae which I had 

 under observation died after reaching full growth and before pupat- 

 ing. They would turn black and die in a short time. Some of my 

 pups suffered the same fate. No investigation of the cause of death 

 was made in these cases, but it seems probable that a fungus disease 

 similar to, if not identical with, the one which works upon the larvse 

 of P. punctatus was responsible for it. 



I failed to record measurements for newly-hatched larvas, but some 

 brief notes jotted down on May 28 are as follows: "Found two or 

 three newly-hatched larvae upon a clover leaf which contained eggs 

 laid during the twenty-four hours preceding the evening of May 22, 

 These may have been out a few hours, but not longer, I think. Larvas 

 are white, with black heads, and a transverse black bar just back of 

 the head, on top of the first thoracic segment, apparently." Some 

 larvae which appeared to be full grown and had stopped feeding were 

 measured on ^May 25. They averaged about 7 mm. in length, one 

 measuring 7.5 mm. 



As evidence that the egg-laying period of this species may extend 

 over a period of several days, I may say that on May 25 I put the 

 original five specimens (some of which had deposited eggs previous to 

 May 17) upon a potted clover plant under a bell jar and within 

 eight hours several eggs had been laid, some in the usual manner and 

 some otherwise. The unusual way in which part of the eggs were 

 laid in this ca.se was that a bunch of six, somewhat irregularly stuck 

 together, was deposited upon one of the leaves. 



Judging from my observations upon the feeding habits of this 

 species, and its near relative, it is an easy matter to determine from an 

 examination of an injured clover leaf whether this has been fed upon 

 by the adults or larva? of P. nigrirostris or those of P. punctatus. The 

 former eat small holes and slits in the leaves, often near the center; 

 the latter begin at the edges of the leaves and eat into them from 

 the outside. 



In closing these random notes on the lesser clover-leaf beetle, it 

 may not he out of place to add a brief note made by the writer in 

 northern New York (at Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co.) in 1902. The 

 date is July 17, and the note is as follows : ' ' Today I collected a larva 

 of this species, about one third of an inch in length, which was feed- 

 ing on clover. It was near the top and at the center of the plant, and 

 had destroyed a good deal of that portion of it. I put the larva into 

 a small bottle with some of the clover and left it. corked up, for some 

 time. About July 28 I saw that it had turned to a pupa, and on 

 August 1, I found the adult in the bottle." 



