Ill 



lectiug the down from the steui, pulling- it off with her jaws and tuck- 

 ing iu, over and about the egg, eflectually tilling the ca\'ity, the w^hole 

 oi)eration occupying about one hour aud a half. 



The second female conducted herself in much the same manner, ex- 

 cept that she constructed her egg cell just at the surface of the soil, 

 wdiich was also exactly at the base of the leaf stalk, aud, to my astou- 

 ishmeut, after placing her egg, tilled the cell with mud, and besides 

 drawing the damp earth up about the plant in such a manner as to cou- 

 ceal the spot entirely. The time occupied was about as with the tirst. 



The third began her labor as promptly as either of the others, but 

 punctured the bulbous root about half an inch from the surface of the 

 soil and about the same distance below the base of the leaves, and filled 

 the cavity, after ovipositing, with the loose material on the outside of 

 the root. Time nearly the same as in the others. 



The foregoing seemed to indicate to me that the females were with- 

 holding their eggs on account of their environment, and as a rule they 

 continued to do this until they died, after the 1st of May. There also 

 appeared to me to be a partiality for ovipositing in the plants some- 

 where near the surface of the earth, which would ordinarily, and iu the 

 fields, be near or just below^ the juncture of the leaf stems with the root. 

 Dissection of females revealed but few eggs in the ovaries, and these 

 about as large as previously indicated. 1, of course, know nothing of 

 the movements of these beetles before they came into my hands, but, 

 judging from my own observations, should not expect them to deposit 

 above a dozen eggs each, and that, under favorable comlitions, these 

 eggs might be deposited during March aud April or withheld until May, 

 if necessary. 



All of the eggs which were deposited iu the plants, under my obser- 

 vation, were sacrificed in the attempt to determine the egg period. 

 Two eggs were, however, deposited by other females, about the 3d of 

 May, on the inside of glass tubes, in which they were confined. I 

 watched the development of the larvte in these eggs, it being a very- 

 easy matter to do so through the "glass, aud that portion of the shell 

 which adhered to the w^alls of the tube. The larvae did not reach ma- 

 turity until nearly the middle of June, and ate through the shell, where 

 the latter was attached to the tube, od the 18th of same mouth. It 

 must be borne in mind that these eggs were in an unnatural environ- 

 ment, and the results are to be taken for just what they are worth. 



The" spemeafoveolatus Say oviposits in the stems of the Evening Prim- 

 rose, (Enofhera biennis L., in June. The method of ovipositiou is very 

 much the same as iu the preceding, the mother beetle covering the 

 cavity, after depositing the egg therein, by raking the epidermis of the 

 stem together, and fixing it in and over the hole, where it dries and 

 forms a sort of scab, remaining until after the wound has wholly or in 

 part healed. The eggs are rather larger than those of fragaricv, but 

 shaped and colored much the same. The insect, in all its stages except 



