PSYCHE [February 



OUTLINE LIFE-HISTORY OF THE CHRYSOMELID GASTROIDEA 

 CYANEA MELSHEOIER. 



BY A. A. GIRAULT, WASHINGTON, D. C. 



During late June, 1907, adults of this species were observed feeding on the leaves 

 of a species of dock (Rumcx) in a garden at New Richmond, Ohio. On June 28, 

 a female beetle was captured which had a greatly swollen abdomen, and upon con- 

 finement in the laboratory, she deposited eggs in abundance. Other gravid females 

 were likewise confined and from their eggs a second gc -ation was obtained in July. 

 These notes briefly record the general outline of the cycle, together with a descrip- 

 tion of the es2- 



The Egg. 



The eggs of this species are uniformly bright orange yellow (Gamboge), with 

 one end rather conspicuously transparent in most cases. They are elongate oval in 

 shape, the ends somewhat obtuse, and one side slightly concaved. The surface is 

 glabrous and simple, and the micropyle inconspicuous. After several days the 

 transparent end becomes concolorous, through expansion of the embryo. The eggs 

 measure in length, 0.95 mm. They are deposited in conspicuous masses of from 

 20 to 40 on an average, side by side on the under surfaces of the leaves of dock, and 

 perhaps (?) other weeds. The egg-masses are irregular in shape. 



Table I. Durafion of the Period of Incubaiion, July 2-11, 1907. 



The eggs were all of the first reared generation. They were confined in the 

 laboratory in darkness, under the cover of paste-board boxes, and were supplied 

 moisture by the daily addition of fresh foliage. The egg-masses found in nature 

 were not exposed to the direct rays of the sun. 



No parasite were obtained from 40 eggs found on dock July 2, all hatching by 

 July 6. 



