{r2i 



rROCEEDIXGS OF THE TIIIKD EXTOMflLOGIC AT. MEETING 



The grub comes out of the egg-shell b_y bursting it open at one end by 

 its hard mandibles and \\Tiggling out. A peculiarity noticed was that in 

 most cases two eggs were laid at a time side by side in a cavity but only 

 one grab was to be found in the cavity afterwards and the other egg or 

 the grab hatched out of it was missing. In one instance only the egg- 

 shell of the missing grub was to be found. This leads to the suspicion 

 that the more vigorous of the newly-hatched grubs eats its less fortunate 

 neighbour. 



Larva. The newly-hatched grub is about 2 mm. long and is whitish 

 in colour with brown well-developed mandibles. The thoracic region 

 has a swelling on the ventral side. The abdomen is made up of ten seg- 

 ments each of which has a short projection on the dorsal side with the 

 helji of which the segments may be counted. The whole body has a 

 slight curvature on the ventral side. Small short brownish hairs are 

 scattered all over the ventral side of the body and roimd the last two 

 Segments. The grub has neither thoracic nor abdominal appendages and 

 locomotion is effected entirely by means of the wriggling movements ■ 

 brought about by the contractions and relaxations of the muscles 

 of the body-wall. As soon as the grub comes out of the egg- it begins to 

 bore into the stem ; it makes a straight tunnel in the centre of the stem, 

 blocking up its entrance and a short distance inside it with excrement. 



The fiill-grown larva is a little over thirty-two millimetres in length 

 and has the ventral thoracic lump well developed. The segments of the 

 body ha\e the dorsal surface convex and the ventral surface plain. The 

 body has a glistening appearance and is covered all over by short hairs 

 which are yellow on the dorsal side and brown on the ventral. The 

 anal segment of the body is flattened at its hind end and has a circle of 

 bro\\ii hairs along its edges. 



The duration of the larval period is variable. Of the four grabs that 

 completed their life-history in captivity one pupated two months and five 

 days after hatching from the egg, another two months and 26 days, 

 a third three months and 16 davs and the last three months and 2i davs. 



