97 



might lay, and how they compared on the same date, six specimens, 

 taken on Jnly 16, were dissected, with the following result : 



Four specimens, taken August 6, gave the following result: 



As developed eggs were counted those that were of full size and of 

 a light-brown color, showing a completely chitinized coat. isTo. 1 of the 

 lot of August 6 was taken in copulation, and it may be assumed that no 

 eggs had yet been laid. The very large number of developed eggs — 

 124 — points to a very rapid oviposition, and this is borne out by ob- 

 servations in the held, the female flitting busily from hill to hill and 

 leaving an egg at every point. What length of time an individual 

 might live has not been ascertained. The insects are rather less com- 

 mon in New Jersey and do not extend over so long a period as they do 

 on Long Island, where Mr. J. V. D. Walker, of Jamaica, introduced 

 me to some very fine squash patches and likewise to a very choice arti- 

 cle of mosquito, far superior to anything produced in New Jersey. 



I had expected to spend considerable time on the Melon Louse, which 

 for two years had done great injury, and in 1801 had destroyed com- 

 pletely many acres of cantaloupes and cucumbers; but it made its 

 appearance this year only long enough to disappear. 



On June 27 I found a few winged viviparous females on melons; 

 some hatt just come along from somewhere; some were surrounded by 

 a small progeny, and sometimes a small progeny existed without any 

 stem-mother. 



The most rigid and careful search in fields on melons for the second 

 year, and which were badly injured in 1891, failed to reveal any sj)eci- 

 mens on the roots or in the soil, while the plants were not a bit more 

 infested than they were in neighboring fields. On a cucumber patch 

 in another locality I found the Aphids much further advanced, and 

 several colonies of the wingless product of the stem-mother were sur- 

 rounded by flourishing families of their own. Everything pointed to 

 a favorable season for observation then and next day, when I found 

 the same state of affairs at the opposite side of the State. Between 



