OF THE STATE ENTOMOLOGIST. 55 



EGG OF THE HORNED F ASS ALJJS— Passalus cormctus Fabr. 



In my last year's account of this fine beetle occurs the sentence, 

 " As larvcG only half-grown are found in company with those that are 

 full-grown, they require at least two years to mature." This conclu- 

 sion, though a very natural one, is entirely opposed to the facts. I 

 have been surprised at the rapid development of the species which I 

 have been able to breed from the egg. The eggs, which are deposited 

 under the loose bark of decaying logs, are ovoid, with an average 

 length of 0.12 inch, and diameter of 0.10 inch. The shell is smooth, 

 ilexile, but tough, and of various shades of olive-green, yellow, or 

 brown. The newly hatched larva differs only from its full-grown self 

 in having the legs relatively a little longer, the rudimentary pair mere 

 fleshy tubercles, and in having four superior equi-distant, longitud- 

 inal rows of stiff rufous hairs as long as the diameter of the body, and 

 each row one to a joint, except on the thoracic joints, where the late- 

 ral row is composed of several. The sides of the headand the ventral 

 surface of the penultimate and terminal joints are also armed with 

 such hairs. These hairs are very conspicuous, but in the mature larva 

 they are either wanting entirely — being indicated only by the minute 

 tubercle from which they sprang — or else are greatly reduced. 



The eggs hatch ail along through the month of July, and the lar- 

 Vt» acquire their growth and become pupre in the amazingly short 

 period of six weeks. It is for this reason that we find them of different 

 sizes at one and the same time. The rudimentary legs are capable of 

 a sudden and rapid side motion, which I have occasionally witnessed. 



My stricture on Mr. Walsh's use of the term ""decussated on the 

 sternum," in describing the position of these rudimentary legs, was 

 induced by a too restricted definition of the word, and is hardly war- 

 ranted, according to Worcester. 



EGG OF THE COMMON MAY BEETLE— Zachno6ter7ia querclna 



(Knoch). 



The eggs of this beetle, (Rep. 1, Fig, 88), which, so far as I am 

 aware, have not been described, are white, translucent, spherical, 

 with an average diameter of 0.09 inch. They are deposited between 

 the roots of grass, and are inclosed in a ball of earth, evidently formed 

 by the ovipositor of the fem.ale before deposition, as the cavity is suf- 

 ficiently large for the egg to roll about in. 



