264 



oviposition begins and continues for about a month. The eggs are 

 probably not fastened to the leaves. The duration of the larval stage 

 is from 30 to 35 days. Pupation occurs in the soil about the middle 

 of August or the beginning of September, the duration of the prepupal 

 period being from four to six days, and of the pupal from eight to nine 

 days. Both larvae and adults feed on the leaves, with the result that 

 the whole plant may be entirely defoliated. All stages of this beetle 

 are liable to attack by Sporotrichum globuUferum. 



Miller (J. M.). Oviposition of Megastigmus spermotropJms in the Seed 

 of Douglas Fir. — Jl. Agric. Research, Washington, D.C., vi, no. 2, 

 10th April 1916, pp. 65-68, 3 plates. 



Observations on the oviposition of the Chalcidid, Megastigmus 

 s])ermotrophus, Wachtl, in the cones of Pseudotsuga taxifoUa (Douglas 

 fir) were carried out in Oregon in 1914 and 1915. During 1914, adult 

 males began to emerge from stored seed on 12th April and females 

 on 16th April. The period of maximum emergence occurred between 

 23rd April and 11th May. The adults fed readily on sugar solution, 

 but though pairing took place frequently, no eggs were deposited in 

 yomig cones which had been placed in the breeding cage. In 1915, 

 the maximum period of emergence from infested seed was between 

 20th April and 2nd May in the laboratory, between 1st and 16th May 

 under outdoor conditions, and during the latter part of May and June 

 at elevations of 3,000 or 4,000 feet or more. Adults kept outdoors in a 

 partially shaded position paired between 18th April and 20th May, 

 and the first oviposition in young soft cones was observed on 20th 

 April. Dissection of the cones showed that the ovipositor reached 

 the seed only in a few cases ; these alone were successful, since larval 

 development is confined to the seeds. The act of oviposition is 

 described in detail. Egg-laying in the field was only once observed, 

 on 28th May. 



Merrill (J. H.) & Ford (A. L.). Life-History and Habits of Two 

 New Nematodes Parasitic on Insects. — Jl. Agric. Research, 

 Washington, D.C., vi, no. 3, 17th April 1916, pp. 115-127, 3 figs. 



While investigating the life-history and methods of control of 

 Saperda tridentata, 01., (elm borer) and the termite, Leticotermes 

 lucifugus, Rossi, at the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station, two 

 new Nematodes were found parasitic on these insects. In the case of 

 121 adults of S. tridentata, which were placed in breeding cages, the 

 death-rate due to Nematode parasitisation was apparently 100 per cent. 

 In several colonies of L. lucifugus a number of termites were killed 

 and examined and Nematodes were found infesting the head in varying 

 degrees. Of the colonies taken, 76 "92 per cent, were thus parasitised. 

 The parasitism of individuals in single colonies ranged from to 100- 

 per cent. Both species have been described as new by Dr. N. A, Cobb, 

 that parasitising S. tridentata being Diplogaster labiata, and the termite- 

 infesting species, D. aerivora. Descriptions of both are given^ 

 D. aerivora was successfully introduced into termites experimentally. 



