396 Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. V, 
death feint and subjected to the same conditions as the normal 
ones, but not a one of them was found which would allow 
itself to be injured by the heat before attempting to escape. 
Several specimens were taken and the time of six successive 
death feints was determined, and found to compare very closely 
with the results given in Table 1. These individuals were then 
placed, ventral surface uppermost, on a thin glass plate which 
was in contact with a block of ice. For approximately one 
minute the curculios made no movement. Then the abdomen 
was raised upwards out of the wing covers, as though to remove 
it from contact with the cold glass. The wing covers were then 
slowly spread away from under the body until they were well 
open. The legs were partially relaxed, but the movement was 
so gradual as to be almost imperceptible. This position was 
continued for a short time, and then the wing covers were 
drawn to their former position, the legs again becoming rigidly 
contracted. The insects were again motionless, and continued 
so until removal from the glass, forty minutes later. After a 
short interval had elapsed from the time of their removal, 
activity was manifested almost simultaneously among them. 
It was now found very difficult to induce these individuals 
to feign death. 
A mixture of crushed ice and ammonium nitrate was now 
prepared and test tubes containing feigning curculios were 
placed in it. No movement whatever was manifested from the 
time they were placed in the test tube. When removed thirty 
minutes later, they were found to have sustained death as the 
result of the low temperatures (—15°C to —20°C) produced by 
this mixture. 
These results in general agree with those of Fabre (4) on the 
Buprestid, Capnoides tenebrinionis Lin; and Holmes (6) on 
Ranatra, who find that cold has the effect of increasing the 
duration of the death feint to a marked degree. 
Influence of Gases on Death Feint. 
Many curculios were induced to feign death, and test tubes 
containing a wad of cotton saturated with ether were slowly 
placed over them. Without exception, the curculios revived 
almost instantly, many of them recovering before the tube 
touched the table. The same experiment was made with 
