214 ' Annals Entomological Society of America [Vol. XII, 



the Lake Laboratory, this report is incomplete in many respects, 

 but the data contained herein are presented with the hope that 

 they may serve as an added basis for future work. 



■ Several papers already published contain information on this 

 insect, but in all of them the data are meager and fragmentary, 

 the sum total representing a very incomplete account. Smith 

 (1890a; 1890b) discussed it under the name Botis nelumbialis, 

 giving account of the imago, mature larva, and pupa. Later, 

 Hart (1895) described in more detail the stages of the life- 

 history and presented a few biological features of the larva and 

 pupa. Recently, Chittenden (1918) recorded some interesting 

 terrestrial activities of this species. 



Coquillett (1880) described what he thought to be the larya 

 of "Botis penitalis, " stating that it fed on Indian hemp {Apocy- 

 num mnnabinum) . Chittenden (1918, p. 454), however, points 

 out ^ certain disagreement of Coquillett 's description with the 

 true larya of penitalis an^i suggests the probability that some 

 other spppies was under observ9,tion. Dr. J. McDunnough, in a 

 repent letter to the writer, CQnfirms the suspected error in this 

 record and states that the Appcynum feeder is the allied fuHlalis 

 Led. and that he has bred the latter in abundance at Decatur. 

 Jljipoip- 



The writer wishes tP ejcpress his indebtedness tp Dr. J. 

 McDunnQUgh for cpnlirmatipn pf the ifdentjfigatipn of this 

 specie^. 



TIJE LJFE-CYCLE. 



In the above-mentioned papers are found accounts of the 

 full-grown larva, the pupa, and the imago and further mention 

 is not required here. However, the eggs and place of oviposition 

 have heretofore remained undescribed. The writer, after 

 much searching, finally found, on July 28, a single egg-mass on 

 the upper side of a Nelumho leaf, which, when brought into the 

 laboratory and kept in an aquarium yielded larvae that were 

 unquestionably those of penitalis. This mass was amber- 

 colored, and approximately circular in contour, having a 

 diameter of 3 mm. About sixty eggs were present, surrounded 

 by an amber-colored matrix, and closely set together. On 

 hatching, the egg-shells lost the amber color and assumed a 

 dirty grey appearance. All of the eggs developed normally 

 and larvae" emerged, but since the exact time of the oviposition 



