158 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. I, 



in lilt.), he states: "In regard to the number of eggs, on page 

 237 of my paper, you will find a table with the number of eggs 

 laid by fifteen species of Leptinotarsa. In nature the average 

 for decemlineata is 450 — with a range of from 34 to 3700. I now 

 have a female which has been laying eggs since April 12, and 

 now has laid nearly 3,000 eggs. As she is in good condition, I 

 expect to get from 3,500 to 4,000 eggs from her. This is a special 

 race but shows the great range and the length of life of the adults. 

 The reproductive period is in this race from 3 to 4 months long." 

 It must not be understood from this quotation that the range of 

 oviposition of from 34 to 3,700 as there stated is given in the 

 place referred to (namely. Tower, igo6, p. 237, table 104), and 

 I have since received the following from Professor Tower in regard 

 to that statement (Tower, in Hit., April 21, 1908): "In regard 

 to the number of eggs laid by Leptinotarsa decemlineata, the 

 figures which I gave you last July were from unpublished data. 

 The data to which you refer in my paper of 1906 are quite in- 

 complete in regard to a lot of biological data which I did not feel 

 like publishing at that time. There are some races of various 

 species of Leptinotarsa which have laid eggs far in excess of 3,700, 

 but these of course are special races. There was no mistake in 

 giving the data. I simply gave you data which was unpublished. ' ' 



Professor Tower has therefore obtained races which produce 

 eggs far in excess of the normal beetles and which also have a 

 much longer period of reproduction. The' following account, of 

 course, concerns normal beetles only, and so far as it goes, exceeds 

 the averages obtained by Tower (1906) as far as reported for 

 normal beetles. 



Inasmuch as the period of oviposition and number of eggs 

 deposited varied with the generation, the following table has 

 been prepared showing the results obtained w^ith the few pairs 

 I was able to care for. Unfortunately, I was unable to keep a 

 parallel series under field or natural conditions. This table also 

 contains a number of observations closely connected with the 

 function of oviposition, but difficult to present in any other form. 



The table shows quite a range in oviposition according to 

 generation, but as I have already indicated the observations are 

 on too small a scale to allow general conclusions. 



The first two pairs of hibernated adults were captured while 

 mating in a potato field near New Richmond, Ohio, at 4 p. m., 

 May 29, 1907, and each immediately confined in a glass jar cov- 



