TIME OCCUPIED IN EGG-LAYING 11 



posterior to and above the first ones. In the case of the 

 Eice Grasshopper, just the opposite of this takes place. 

 The first eggs deposited are placed towards the back of 

 the egg-chamber, subsequent ones being shoved in 

 anterior to and above them (see Plate II, Fig. 4). 



When we consider the fact that the egg is pushed 

 out between the upper pair of valves, which have a pos- 

 terior position when the grasshopper is in the act of 

 laying eggs, it is very difficult for us to conceive how^ the 

 first eggs laid could be pressed against the anterior side of 

 the burrow, as indicated in Riley's figures. Careful obser- 

 vations made on the Rice Grasshopper, while in the act 

 of depositing eggs in the burrow, have shown conclusively 

 that only the upper or posterior pair of valves have to do 

 with the arrangement of the eggs. We are, therefore,, 

 constrained to doubt wdiether Riley's figures represent 

 the actual facts of egg-la3'ing in the case of Melanophis' 

 sprefus, while it is quite certain that they do not represent 

 conditions wdth the Rice Grasshopper. 



Another point of difference worthy of note, is the 

 direction of the burrow or hole. Riley figures it for the 

 Rocky Mountain Locust as curving obliquely forward,^ 

 while in the Rice Grasshopper, in all of the many cases 

 observed by us, the hole was practically straight and 

 slanted obliquely backwards. As pointed out above, the 

 arrangement of the eggs in the mass is the opposite of that 

 figured by Riley, the eggs slanting backward and upward 

 instead of forward and upward. 



The deposition of the eggs occupied, in the cases 

 observed, about thirty minutes. We have, therefore, for the 

 whole process the following periods : — 



Digging hole ... ... 30 minutes 



Forming egg-chamber ... 15 — 20 minutes 



Depositing eggs ... ... 30 minutes 



Total one hour and 15 — 20 minutes 



At times, the grasshopper remains in the hole for 

 a considerable period after the egg-laying is finished. 

 At other times, it leaves almost immediateh . On the 

 whole, the above figures agree fairly well with observa- 

 tions made in the field as to the length of time required 

 for oviposition. 



