10 
deposition. A single female is said to be capable of producing from 
five hundred to a thousand eggs. Five hundred and twenty-five were 
observed by Girault and Rosenfeld in the case of one female, laid in 
masses of from 9 to 53, from May 21 to June 5. 
The entire life cycle from egg to adult may be passed in about four 
weeks. The beetles of the last generation issue early in autumn, feed 
for another three or four weeks, and then enter the earth for hiberna- 
tion. 
NATURAL ENEMIES. 
It has already been stated that atmospheric conditions, with the 
exception of extreme heat in its more southerly range, are not espe- 
clally important factors in the repression of 
this species; hence its fluctuation in num- 
bers, which is noticeable at least locally 
every season, must be accounted for by the 
activity of its imsect enemies, the numbers 
of which are legion. Several groups of these 
enemies are known, each of which contains, 
as a rule, many species. Among the most 
important are 
ladybirds,” many 
Fic. 4.—A ladybird (Hippodamia ; b 
convergens) Which preys on the COMMON Species ot 
Colorado potato beetle. En- 
larged (author’s illustration). which > 1 both 
their larval and 
adult stages, prey upon the potato beetle, 
destroying great numbers of its eggs and 
young larve. One of the commonest of 
these ladybirds is illustrated for compari- 
son with the Colorado beetle by figure 4. Fic. 6.—Lebia grandis, an impor- 
Several ground-beetles,” also of predaceous Neen ie iad 
habits, attack and devour the larve of this . a 
potato beetle, and of these the so-called great Lebia (Lebia grandis 
Hentz, fig. 5) is particularly attached to this species, following 
it wherever it goes and doing perhaps more effective service than 
any single natural enemy of which we have knowledge. Sev- 
eral soldier-bugs also attack it, one of which, the spined soldier- 
a'The ladybird enemies of this species are: Coccinella 9-notata Hbst., C. san- 
guinea L., Megilla maculata DeG., Hippodamia convergens Guér., H. 15-punce- 
tata L., H. glacialis Fab., Anatis 15-punctata Ol. (ocellata), and Chilocorus 
bivulnerus Muls. 
bCarabid enemies include the great Lebia (Lebia grandis Hentz), the fiery 
ground beetle (Calosoma calidum Fab.), Pasimachus elongatus Lec., Harpalus 
caliginosus Fab., Lebia atriventris Say, and Brachynus kansanus Lec. 
[Cir. 87] 
